OFDM achieve 300 Mbps

July 27, 2004

Motorola, by combining results from field experiments and research conducted by Motorola Labs, has proven existing Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technology can support high-speed mobile networks with a peak downlink speed of up to 300 Mbps. This research demonstrates that future all-IP mobile networks using OFDM technology have the capability to provide a broadband user experience that was previously thought to be unattainable.

"Motorola Labs, through extensive research and field tests over the past four years has established OFDM as a key technology in the next generation of heterogeneous wireless networks," said Padmasree Warrior, chief technology officer, Motorola.

Motorola Labs recently completed a series of mobile wide area broadband wireless field experiments using OFDM on a 20 MHz bandwidth channel with multiple antenna handheld devices. Applying data from the field experiments in laboratory tests, Motorola Labs validated that a 20 MHz mobile OFDM channel can support peak uncoded channel data rates of up to 300 Mbps.

The field tests of Motorola Labs' mobile OFDM system were conducted in the greater Chicago area in both urban and suburban environments. In the field tests Motorola Labs attained data throughputs exceeding 20 Mbps with a latency of just 25 milliseconds while simultaneously demonstrating real-time applications including videoconferencing, multi-Mbps streaming video, and voice over IP and traveling at typical highway speeds (in excess of 100 kilometers per hour or 62 mph).

The promise of faster wireless networks that can meet the demand for mobile broadband that supports multi-media applications has great appeal to operators.

"As the telecomm industry becomes more complex and competitive, operators need to get the most efficiency and speed from their networks while delivering a superior end user experience at a greatly reduced cost per bit," said Adrian Nemcek, president and chief executive officer of Motorola's Global Telecom Solutions Sector. "Several leading telecom operators from around the world have witnessed our continuing OFDM field trials in Chicago and have been favorably impressed with the performance."

Motorola will be sharing its OFDM research experience in cooperation with IEEE, ITU, ETSI, 3GPP and 3GPP2, and will be an active contributor in introducing OFDM to the standards bodies. Motorola also recently joined the WiMAX Forum as a principal member. The WiMAX Forum promotes and certifies compatibility of wireless broadband products based on the IEEE 802.16 standards.