Alcatel and Philips Demo High Speed EDGE Services

Alcatel and Royal Philips Electronics have announced the success of a series of interoperability tests performed with Alcatel's EDGE-ready Evolium network solutions (radio access and core) and Philips Nexperia Cellular System Solution. The tests, carried out on a scale 1 reference terminal in November of this year, achieved a successful uninterrupted download of 30 Mbytes at 220 kbit/s. This is a best-in-class speed achieved in a live EDGE operational environment, and a major improvement on GPRS performance.

All Evolium base stations shipped by Alcatel in 1999 and 2000 include an option to seamlessly host plug-and-play EDGE transceivers and since 2001, EDGE has been an integral part of Alcatel's standard product offering. In addition all Evolium base stations delivered by Alcatel are fully EDGE-equipped at no extra cost. This means that all Alcatel GSM/GPRS mobile infrastructure customers can simply boost their existing network capabilities by upgrading to EDGE as required.

Built around the Philips Nexperia Cellular Multimedia Baseband chip (PCF5213), RF Tranceiver (UAA3537), Power Amplifier (BGY284E), power management unit (PCF50603) and software package, the Philips' market leading Nexperia Cellular System Solution supports worldwide GSM roaming as well as GPRS and EDGE for the unmatched availability of 4 downlink channels and 2 uplink channels, with protocol stacks fully validated by IOT (Inter-Operability Tests).

"With Evolium, Alcatel provides GSM operators with a very efficient and future-proof solution to seamlessly introduce EDGE as a natural evolution to existing GSM/GPRS investments," Marc Rouanne, Chief Operating Officer for Alcatel's mobile activities declared. "And for those operators eager to take up the challenge of 3G/UMTS, Alcatel considers EDGE and UMTS as two complementary mobile broadband options. 3G/UMTS best matches the needs of densely populated urban areas, while EDGE corresponds to an additional national coverage, thus paving the way for true nation-wide mobile broadband data services." Rouanne added.

"In line with our Connected Consumer vision, the Nexperia Cellular System Solution provides handset manufacturers with a flexible, future-proof, low-risk and cost-effective approach to handset designs," said Peter Baumgartner, Senior Vice President and General Manager Global Market Segment Mobile & Personal, Philips Semiconductors. "The proven interoperability of our EDGE system solution with Alcatel's leading Evolium? EDGE-ready solution strengthens our position as the partner of choice for all EDGE handset manufacturers."

Posted to the site on 20th November 2003