Nortel demonstrates OFDM, MIMO at super high speeds

Nortel has achieved another wireless technology milestone, demonstrating a significant increase in data throughput using beyond 3G (third generation) MIMO (multiple-input, multipleoutput) and OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) The demonstration took place at Nortel`s Wireless Technology Lab in Ottawa. Nortel will highlight its 3G MIMO and OFDM success and recent learnings from its lab at CTIA Wireless 2005 in New Orleans (Ernest N Morial Convention Center, Hall C, Booth #3125) March 14-16. MIMO and OFDM will make it possible for wireless subscribers to download bandwidth-hungry applications - large file transfers, streaming video and mobile gaming - at speeds higher than today`s commercial 3G networks. Nortel has invested in advanced development of OFDM and MIMO for the past six years and has demonstrated the benefits and commercial feasibility of these technologies to more than 100 customers.

"Nortel is innovating beyond 3G to develop future wireless broadband technologies that will leverage existing service provider investments and enhance the subscriber experience through feature-rich services and multimedia applications," said John Hoadley, vice president, Next Generation Wireless Access, Carrier Networks, Nortel. "We believe that OFDM and MIMO will be vital to service provider success and will be the foundation of future wireless broadband networks."

OFDM and MIMO together can support up to two times more subscribers than OFDM alone. This will position service providers to make more efficient use of existing spectrum. In Ottawa, Nortel demonstrated large information transfers with peak data rates at 37 Mbps over a standard 5MHz PCS mobility band, taking into account noise and fading conditions found on a real-world cellular network. The test network showed that with OFDM and MIMO, wireless subscribers can download a 128 MB file in approximately 30 seconds - four to 10 times faster than today`s 3G wireless networks.

OFDM is the base radio technology used by WiFi (802.11) and WiMAX (802.16). MIMO is an advanced antenna and space-time processing technology. The first broad deployment of standards-based wireless wide area networks employing OFDM technology is anticipated in 2006 with the introduction of WiMAX 802.16-2004 products. In addition, Nortel is also proposing OFDM/MIMO as its evolution vision beyond HSDPA/HSUPA and CDMA 1xEV-DO into 3GPP and 3GPP2 wireless standards.

In 2001, Nortel completed an extensive propagation trial in central London, England, proving the feasibility of MIMO to provide substantial performance gains in an urban deployment. In February 2003, Nortel demonstrated OFDM and MIMO peak data rates of 20 Mbps over a standard 5MHz PCS band. The recent Ottawa demonstration nearly doubled that speed.

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Nortel is an industry innovator and at the forefront of all broadband access technologies, including wide area cellular, wireline and wireless LAN. In 2004, Nortel`s Wireless Technology Lab in Ottawa filed 62 new patent applications, and 33 previous applications were granted. Nortel is a member of many wireless industry and standards bodies, including the WiMAX Forum, Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), 3GPP2, the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA), IEEE, the Wi-Fi Alliance, and the Wireless Communications Association (WCA). www.nortel.com

Nortel has designed, installed and launched more than 300 wireless networks in over 70 countries. Nortel was the industry`s first supplier with wireless networks operating in all advanced radio technologies (GSM/GPRS/EDGE, CDMA2000 1X and 1xEV-DO, UMTS and WLAN) and is the only end-to-end provider of all next generation wireless solutions, as well as edge and core network solutions for IP, ATM and optical transport.