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NTT DoCoMo's 4G Tests Hit 300Mbps

haunebu writes "'Your brand-spankin'-new 3G phone is nearing obsolesence: NTT DoCoMo reveals the results from a new 4G test system.' says TheFeature. While in a car moving at 30kph, DoCoMo engineers managed a peak throughput of 300Mbps and a sustained transfer rate of 135Mbps with their new variable spreading factor orthogonal frequency code division multiplexing (WSF-OFCDM) downstream technology. Who comes up with these names, and how does Japan manage to stay lightyears ahead of everyone else in wireless?"

29 of 259 comments (clear)

  1. Your brand-spankin'-new 3G phone by Matey-O · · Score: 5, Funny

    'Your brand-spankin'-new 3G phone is nearing obsolesence:'

    Not in America it ain't.

    --
    "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus."
  2. Just what I need... by the_rajah · · Score: 5, Funny

    A cell phone that's equivalent to 87.66234 T-1 lines..

    "Do the Right Thing. It will gratify some people and astound the rest." - Mark Twain

    --


    "Do the Right Thing. It will gratify some people and astound the rest." - Mark Twain
  3. their secret is... by Digitus1337 · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...that it's a very small island, just put big transmitters on mountantops and you're good to go

    1. Re:their secret is... by mrm677 · · Score: 5, Informative

      ...that it's a very small island, just put big transmitters on mountantops and you're good to go

      Actually this is not funny. The United States is, for the most part, sparsely populated compared to most of Europe and Asia. This is why the U.S. carriers hesitated to adopt GSM in the early 90s, which has a fixed number of supported users/frequency and has a maximum cell size due to being time multiplexed. On the other hand, CDMA is able to create much larger cells at the expense of a higher noise floor (hence less users). It was promised to be better suited to sparsely populated areas, yet still tuneable to suit New York City and etc. Whether or not CDMA IS-95 met those goals is debateable.

      Japan is indeed under less contraints. Their cell sizes are very small meaning the required transmission power is reduced. If anybody ever saw a Japanese PDC phone from 10 years ago, and was blown away at how small it was, this is the explanation.

    2. Re:their secret is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah, but when a giant lizard (who shall remain nameless) tears down those transmitters every couple of years and they have to be put back up, thats when you see how resourceful the Japanese truely are.

    3. Re:their secret is... by brianjcain · · Score: 4, Informative

      Motorola's GSM base stations offer extended range cells (120km radius) which do implement the coverage density/cell size tradeoff you describe. I'd imagine it might be easier for CDMA to offer a larger set of grades than these do, though.

    4. Re:their secret is... by kryonD · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Actually, we are waging a cultural battle that we are never going to win. Most of my friends in Tokyo who are in their 20's and still not married still live with their parents. And they average about 60K in income. Stop and think for a second how many toys you could buy for that kind of cash at the expense of still living with your parents. No place to make out with your girlfriend (I know this is slashdot, but work with me on this...), no problem, just go to a love hotel with the waterfall themed room and only pay $30 for 3 hours of sweet loving. Yes, eventually you'll get married and get a place of your own and be back in the poor house, but by then your tired of having the bleeding edge in fashion and tech and are just happy with something that works. No hurt to the economy as there is a generation of youngsters rolling almost their entire bank into having cell phones that double as credit cards/train tickets/PDAs/TVs/Digital Cameras/Radio telescopes. Just imagine if every young american was buying a new cell phone on an average of every 6 to 12 months....the companies would be forced to innovate to give us something better than we bought 6 months ago or lose us to a competitor who say, already is developing wotking 4G technology.

      --
      I've dirtied my hands writing poetry, for the sake of seduction; that is, for the sake of a useful cause. --Dostoevsky
    5. Re:their secret is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful
      And which the (minor by comparison) exception of pearl harbor they do not carry a history of sensless genecide.
      You have got to be kidding. Americans are so fucking ignorant about world history it makes me weep.
    6. Re:their secret is... by AmericanInKiev · · Score: 3, Informative

      yeah - AC has a point (perhaps 2) here.

      The Japanese were fairly brutal during the war.

      They killed maybe more than hilter and Stalin - mostly east asians, chinese and Koreans

      Nasty.

      My Bad

  4. Total area to cover by Fiz+Ocelot · · Score: 5, Insightful
    "how does Japan manage to stay lightyears ahead of everyone else in wireless?"

    Simple, smaller area to provide coverage = lower cost. That's why in places like South Korea you can get a LOT of bandwith a whole lot cheaper than here (U.S.).

  5. WiFi Anyone?? by dukeluke · · Score: 5, Interesting

    After reading this article - it has led me to analyze the benefits of this versus traditional 802.11x and the application of 4G in the broadband arena.

    At a proposed sustained rate of 1G, this technology could revolutionize the Internet as we know it today. And, with more and more bandwidth readily available, there will be better multiplayer games online, as well as streaming on-demand cable-like tv off the Net.

    I understand that the technology is proposed for gadgets such as a phone or wristwatch that can also watch HDTV - but imagine a world where everyone has a video-phone conference & everyone also has a 1G up/down broadband connection :)

    In a word - WOW.

  6. Names by bsd4me · · Score: 4, Informative

    Who comes up with these names...

    Assuming the poster is referring to ``variable spreading factor orthogonal frequency code division multiplexing (WSF-OFCDM) downstream technology'', the name describes exactly how the technology works. Without reading a technical paper on the technology, I don't know the exact details, but I know what it is doing and what it isn't doing.

    --

    (S(SKK)(SKK))(S(SKK)(SKK))

    1. Re:Names by borroff · · Score: 5, Insightful

      At least physicists have the decency to choose names like "gluons" instead of "strong nuclear force gauge bosons". Unless I'm in the field, neither "gluons" nor "variable spreading factor orthogonal frequency code division multiplexing" is going to mean that much to me, but "gluons" is a lot easier to say.

  7. Population density helps by giliath · · Score: 5, Informative
    Who comes up with these names, and how does Japan manage to stay lightyears ahead of everyone else in wireless
    Part of the reason they are able to stay ahead of everyone else is the density of the country. It is a lot easier to deploy new technologies like this when they don't have to worry about huge land masses like found in China/USA/Russia, and even somewhat in Europe.
  8. Ahem! by orthogonal · · Score: 4, Funny

    their new variable spreading factor orthogonal frequency code division multiplexing (WSF-OFCDM) downstream technology

    This is a lie!

    I had nothing to do with this!

    (And I don't do variable spreading of my factor. And certainly not in a car going 35 mph.)

    (Ok, now that you've laughed at me, "Vote" in my unofficial presidential poll.)

  9. How Japan is "lightyears" ahead of us... by Nerviswreck · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Japan is small, The US is huge. Converting the entire japanese network is a meager task compared to converting the entire US network, or even in all the major cities in the US.

    --Nerviswreck

  10. Because Cell phones weren't distracting enough by VanWEric · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now we can drive with one knee, eat with one hand and watch /.-The Movie at 90mph.

    There is a race in technology : Things That Distract Drivers vs Things That Replace Drivers (TTDDvTTRD). If automatic nav doesn't catch up, we will all be victims of our own entertainment.

    Cheers!

    --
    www.olin.edu
  11. Bandwidth by aardvarkjoe · · Score: 3, Funny

    That's all very nice, but the real question is: what's the bandiwdth of a station wagon full of telephones barrelling down the highway?

    --

    How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
  12. So let's see... by moehoward · · Score: 5, Funny


    That means that they got....let's see....carry the one...

    135Mb of data through before the battery ran out.

    Pretty good.

    --
    "If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid." - Epictetus
  13. Yes Yes.. by Rytr23 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    High speed data is fantastic..but will it prevent me from having dropped calls?

    --
    So many injustices..so little time..
  14. why Japan is lightyears ahead is... by nomad63 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    because the alternative they have, which is to rewire the humongous buildings that they have in the very limited amount of space available.

    Same story with Chine from a different perspective. Wiring the old buildings for phone communications is not feasible fianncially.

    At the end, when alternative is very expensive, people tend to be more creative than what is expected of them. Can be applied to anything, not only wireless or technology...

    --

    __________
    The more I know people, the more I love animals
  15. Rehtorical question? by epiphani · · Score: 4, Informative

    how does Japan manage to stay lightyears ahead of everyone else in wireless?

    Might have something to do with the fact that they have 130 Million people in an area slightly smaller than california.

    Lot less area to provide coverage for. Not to mention 26 million people in Tokyo alone, making it the highest density city on the planet.

    --
    .
  16. Simple, they want the best, we want the values. by blanks · · Score: 4, Interesting

    From what I understand (never been to Japan), everyone wants the best coolest *insert random item here*. People will upgrade their phones and other gadgets every month, and get rid of their old ones.

    In the US (live in US so cant say the same about other countries), yes people will buy the latest greatest, but will keep it for years, how many people do you know that have cellphones that are 2-3 years old.
    People will only upgrade when their gadgets break, or a new technology comes out they really need. so new phones come out slower, and cheaper (cheap = break easy).

    No point in rushing out the newest greatest items when people will allways wait.

  17. Re:Eat that DSL and Cable by tux_deamon · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yeah, 135 Mbps would prove great for full motion streaming video, but how good will all that porn look on a 1" LCD?

  18. Lightyears ahead of everyone... by raistphrk · · Score: 3, Funny

    how does Japan manage to stay lightyears ahead of everyone else in wireless?

    By protecting their secrets with giant anime robots.

    Either that, or they found some ancient, advanced, lost wireless technology and got a patent on it.

  19. Note: Requires L-O-S to the base station... by Assmasher · · Score: 3, Informative

    It would be nice to mention that before the furor erupts...

    --
    Loading...
  20. Density of wealth amongst populace by Peter+Cooper · · Score: 4, Interesting

    More specifically, financial density. Japan is the world's second biggest economy, with an economy roughly half that of the US, or three times bigger than the UK, but with only double the population of the UK. Money is also more equally spread between the rich and poor in Japan. This leads to a relatively high monetary density country-wide, meaning lots of people who can afford high-end services.

    This would explain why other densely populated counties, like Bangladesh, aren't riding high on the wagon.. it's because Japan is rich, has wealth more fairly disitributed, and has a dense population. Scandinavia also has its wealth more fairly spread between its citizens, and also boasts some of the world's most impressive mass technologies.

  21. As someone who worked with NTT.. by FatPaulie · · Score: 3, Informative

    NTT is a surprisingly large company (now a group of companies), and the bureaucracy of such a company is staggeringly prohibitive to actually getting anything accomplished.

    We tried launching Wireless access there in 2000 and 2001, and the endless meetings and forms were more than discouraging.

    But the real answer to how NTT DoCoMo (a division of the monster) manages to turn around so fast is that their researchers work with cell researchers from KDDI, J-Phone (now Vodafone), and that other one who nobody uses (TUCA).

    Where does all the funding for research come from? Well, in a country of now 135 million people, there are over 80 million cellular subscribers. A good portion of these are also cellular internet users, paying an extra 100 yen here, 100 yen there for different services.

    There is a LOT more income on a monthly basis to Japanese cellular providers than there is in America, or anywhere else in the world.

    The easy bottom line is that all this cash can be thrown at research, and that this research is further supported by companies like National/Panasonic, Toshiba, Sony, etc who make the phones for Japan.

    The average turn-around time in phone ownership in Japan is 9 months. Your $150 top-of-the-line video-camera/mp3/digital still camera/phone is made obsolete in that short span of time. The furthering of technology by DoCoMo/Vodaphone/etc allows the phone manufacturers to move more units.

    The consumer gets new features at the same monthly price (more or less), a new phone to show off to friends, and better service.

    The providers and hardware manufacturers rake in the cash.

    The cycle supports itself, and it makes everyone happy.

    --
    Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible.
  22. Re:magic numbers? by muonzoo · · Score: 3, Informative
    How do they get 3bits per cycle? Nyquist frequency limits mean 100MHz could optimally carry 50Mbps, not 6 times that in an actual test.


    Hmm. Perhaps you should consider the technology name. Much like the old quadrature based encodings, the orthogonal nature of the encoding will permit multiple bits per cycle. Othogonal carriers would be independent of one another, and therefore, be something that could be sampled independently.

    Do not confuse what Nyquist has to say about sampling a single signal with the numbers presented. Each orthogonal component is a new axis upon which they can mux a data carrier (in the simplest sense).