ZTE and Qualcomm collaborate to boost UMTS system performance

Qualcomm and ZTE have announced their collaboration to significantly enhance the capacity and performance of UMTS systems with the integration of Qualcomm's uplink interference cancellation (ULIC) technology into ZTE's next-generation UMTS base station products. Using this technology, operators can boost their UMTS data throughput by up to 60% and deliver a user experience that is comparable to LTE in a similar channel bandwidth. The technology also enables UMTS operators to increase voice capacity by up to 45%, according to the companies.

ULIC technology can deliver improved system capacity by eliminating interference from multiple uplink data streams. In other words, the design is scalable and supports cancellation for a large number of simultaneous users and transmissions on the uplink, the companies said.

"Interference cancellation is helping to redefine the performance characteristics of UMTS by improving system capacity and delivering data throughput that is on par with LTE networks," said Jing Wang, executive vice president, Qualcomm Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. "It not only provides faster speeds, but also creates a better experience for the growing number of people using mobile devices to upload and share data-intensive content, such as photographs and videos."