Topic: Experimental Super 3G network could reach 300Mbps

[Amker]

Japan-based NTT DoCoMo announced today that it plans to begin testing on an experimental "Super 3G" system for extra-high-speed data on mobile devices. The country's largest mobile carrier said that it hopes to achieve an impressive 300Mbps down in its tests over the wireless network. The company has already begun accepting proposals from suppliers and hopes to implement the Super 3G system in Japan by 2009.

The company said that it planned to start experimenting with Super 3G in an indoor setting with only one transmitting antenna and one receiving antenna. From there, NTT DoCoMo plans to expand the experiment by using four Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) antennas on both the transmitting and receiving side. The ultimate goal will be not only to achieve 300Mbps down but also to look at how well handovers will be handled between towers.

Super 3G is another name for High Speed OFDM Packet Access (HSOPA), which is meant to come next after HSDPA and HSUPA technologies, as published by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Super 3G succeeds 3G in both data rates and spectrum efficiency, and NTT DoCoMo hopes that implementing Super 3G in Japan by 2009 will help the company make a smoother transition to 4G technologies in the future.

Of course, Americans dreaming about using Super 3G connections one day can probably keep dreaming for a while. Carriers in the US are still working on available and attractive options for the general public. Some progress has been made on offering a nationwide WiMAX network, but it seems to continually be "just around the corner" and never quite here. Unless, of course, you live in Canada.
ars technica