With operators pouring money into LTE and WiMAX networks, is there a place for upgrades of CDMA technology in a next-generation world?
The answer, according to a Monday panel at 4G World in Chicago, is yes.
"It's not a question of when or if. CDMA is going to be here for a long time and it's going to co-exist with LTE," said Adolfo Masini, vice president of Alcatel-Lucent's CDMA unit.
Masini compares the state of CDMA in 2010 to the state of GSM networks around 2000: The rise of new technology doesn't mean legacy technology is dead. Carriers will continue to use and invest in legacy networks for some time after new technology comes to market.
The panel listed several reasons operators are choosing to upgrade their CDMA networks to EV-DO and beyond even as they move toward LTE.
Paul Challoner, vice president of CDMA access product management at Ericsson, cited the network load balancing capability of DO Advanced, a software upgrade from EV-DO Rev. B. DO Advanced adjusts unevenly loaded networks by shifting traffic from heavily loaded base stations to lightly-loaded base stations.
"DO Advanced represents a significant opportunity to improve the user experience," Challoner says. "That whole suite of features provides a 50-100 percent opportunity for improvement in capacity."
Challoner also argued operators should consider upgrading their networks to CDMA2000 1X Advanced because it increases the capacity of the 1X network, allowing more spectrum to be allocated to EV-DO data traffic.
Others argued that CDMA upgrades were necessary to compete with operators upgrading 3G networks based on different standards.
"Almost none of the operators can project in two years whether their network can handle the traffic," says Sean Cai, deputy general manager of ZTE's WiMAX product line. "If we're competing with HSPA+ and onward, Rev. B is a solution that's out there."