14 Nov 2013

Japanese telecoms giant NTT DOCOMO has announced that it has achieved what it claims to be ‘the world’s first transmission exceeding 1.2Gbps’, by utilising a single-size antenna and Smart Vertical multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) technology for LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems. According to a company press release, NTT DOCOMO’s new transmission technology uses adaptive grouping of vertical antenna components and can achieve throughput equivalent to that of a four-antenna system. Smart Vertical MIMO, on other hand, reduces the cost and space of installing antenna equipment and improves spectrum utilisation efficiency, as space reduction is particularly beneficial for deployments in congested urban areas.

According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, in February 2011 NTT DOCOMO launched field tests to evaluate LTE-Advanced in real radio environments in the cities of Yokosuka and Sagamihara in the Kanagawa Prefecture, and confirmed that in trials of the ‘true’ 4G platform in its R&D centre, it achieved transmission rates of around 1Gbps (downlink) and 200Mbps (uplink). Meanwhile, in February 2013 DOCOMO signed agreements with Nokia Solutions & Networks (NSN) and Panasonic under which the vendors will help deploy LTE-Advanced infrastructure.