Operators Move to Optimise Spectrum Capacity

Nokia Siemens Networks has said that it has completed testing of Orthogonal Sub-Channel (OSC) support for Voice services over Adaptive Multi-user channels on One Slot (VAMOS) handsets with the mobile chipsets provided by MediaTek.

For operators, the benefit is that they can further reduce the spectrum capacity required for GSM.

Orthogonal Sub-Channel makes VAMOS GSM handsets, which boost receiver capacity, work even harder. OSC is a GSM feature that has been commercially available since 2011.

It supports up to four devices in one radio timeslot, providing up to double voice capacity in GSM.

Nokia Siemens Networks is the inventor of OSC and the feature is currently in commercial use in networks serving more than 500 million users.

By enhancing OSC with support for VAMOS handsets, an average capacity increase of 5% can be provided, helping operators further reduce the capacity required for GSM and dedicate more network resources to WCDMA and LTE when they are re-farming spectrum.

Successful compatibility testing with VAMOS capable chipsets is a major milestone in this development.

“Enhanced VAMOS chipsets have been available since December 2012, which was fully in line with Nokia Siemens Networks’ expectations,” said Jeffrey Ju, general manager of the Smartphone Business Unit at MediaTek. “VAMOS functionality has now become a baseline feature of MediaTek powered handsets.”

Nokia Siemens Networks has over 70 OSC customer references today. Nokia Siemens Networks’ OSC support for VAMOS handsets has been available since the end of 2012 and is compliant with 3GPP GERAN release 9.