Apple's 2009 iPhone to support faster 3G networks - report
A new report indicates that the next iPhone hardware release will offer "a significantly faster Internet connection," harmonizing with previous coverage of AT&T's network upgrade plans.
The posting, by Dan Frommer of Silicon Alley Insider, only cited "a plugged-in source in the mobile industry," and the only speculated about what that might mean for new iPhone hardware.
However, at last year's Morgan Stanley Communications Conference, AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega outlined the company's plans for upgrading its US networks during a presentation to atendees. He commented on the matter again this February in an interview with Engadget.
Handset and mobile network speeds
After describing the company's ongoing efforts to expand use of its 850MHz spectrum to strengthen 3G reception in cities, de la Vega said, "we're also looking to improve the speeds of our 3G network. As I mentioned before, we have the infrastructure capability to go to 7.2 [Mbit/s]."
The current iPhone 3G's hardware only supports mobile downloads up to 3.6Mbit/s. A phone hardware upgrade would be required to take advantage of the new level of 7.2Mbit/s HSPA service AT&T is now provisioning.
The original iPhone was similarly linked to an enhanced rollout of EDGE service, and last year's iPhone 3G stressed AT&T's fledgling 3G network, which was also bolstered in conjunction with Apple's launch. Apple itself installed 3G transmitters in its retail stores.
HSPA, HSPA+ and LTE
How fast this year's new iPhone will get actually depends upon the radio components Apple can source. AT&T's long term plans include an upgrade to 3GPP Release 7 (HSPA+) and later Release 8, also known as LTE (Long Term Evolution). LTE refactors UMTS service as an entirely IP-based, fourth generation network based on orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing technology.
"We've already got HSPA [networks built out] and when we go to Release 7," de la Vega said, "we can go all the way up to 20 megabits per second." Some UMTS networks in other countries already support 20Mbit/s HSPA+ Release 7 (also referred to as 3.5G), and many have supported 7.2Mbit/s HSPA for some time, making it straightforward for Apple to launch a new iPhone with support for 7.2Mbit/s HSPA mobile networks, if not the even faster 20Mbit/s HSPA+.
"We are, right now, capable of taking our network and improving the speed of it up to 20 megabits per second. So we think that carries us through the next year, year and a half, then I think you begin to look at LTE as the next step [in the 2010-2011 time frame]," de la Vega said.
[Update and clarification: As originally noted at first publication, the current iPhone 3G's hardware only supports mobile downloads up to 3.6Mbit/s.
According to an interview GearLog conducted with Apple's Greg Joswiak, the iPhone 3G uses "the HSDPA 3.6 high-speed network standard, which is faster than the HSDPA 1.8 standard previously reported."
Wikipedia's notes on AT&T's currently deployed US 3G networks: "Speeds up to 7.2 Mbit/s are available in most markets. Areas that use UMTS instead of HSUPA as the uplink protocol are limited to 1.8 Mbit/s speeds."
An earlier update to this article indicated that the current iPhone 3G used Infineon's X-GOLD 608 platform and could apparently support faster speeds, based on comments made by iFixIt, which correctly identified a power management chip designed to be used with that platform, but did not state that all the platform's chips (which can support 7.2Mbit/s networks) were being used in the iPhone 3G. They apparently are not. ]
The posting, by Dan Frommer of Silicon Alley Insider, only cited "a plugged-in source in the mobile industry," and the only speculated about what that might mean for new iPhone hardware.
However, at last year's Morgan Stanley Communications Conference, AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega outlined the company's plans for upgrading its US networks during a presentation to atendees. He commented on the matter again this February in an interview with Engadget.
Handset and mobile network speeds
After describing the company's ongoing efforts to expand use of its 850MHz spectrum to strengthen 3G reception in cities, de la Vega said, "we're also looking to improve the speeds of our 3G network. As I mentioned before, we have the infrastructure capability to go to 7.2 [Mbit/s]."
The current iPhone 3G's hardware only supports mobile downloads up to 3.6Mbit/s. A phone hardware upgrade would be required to take advantage of the new level of 7.2Mbit/s HSPA service AT&T is now provisioning.
The original iPhone was similarly linked to an enhanced rollout of EDGE service, and last year's iPhone 3G stressed AT&T's fledgling 3G network, which was also bolstered in conjunction with Apple's launch. Apple itself installed 3G transmitters in its retail stores.
HSPA, HSPA+ and LTE
How fast this year's new iPhone will get actually depends upon the radio components Apple can source. AT&T's long term plans include an upgrade to 3GPP Release 7 (HSPA+) and later Release 8, also known as LTE (Long Term Evolution). LTE refactors UMTS service as an entirely IP-based, fourth generation network based on orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing technology.
"We've already got HSPA [networks built out] and when we go to Release 7," de la Vega said, "we can go all the way up to 20 megabits per second." Some UMTS networks in other countries already support 20Mbit/s HSPA+ Release 7 (also referred to as 3.5G), and many have supported 7.2Mbit/s HSPA for some time, making it straightforward for Apple to launch a new iPhone with support for 7.2Mbit/s HSPA mobile networks, if not the even faster 20Mbit/s HSPA+.
"We are, right now, capable of taking our network and improving the speed of it up to 20 megabits per second. So we think that carries us through the next year, year and a half, then I think you begin to look at LTE as the next step [in the 2010-2011 time frame]," de la Vega said.
[Update and clarification: As originally noted at first publication, the current iPhone 3G's hardware only supports mobile downloads up to 3.6Mbit/s.
According to an interview GearLog conducted with Apple's Greg Joswiak, the iPhone 3G uses "the HSDPA 3.6 high-speed network standard, which is faster than the HSDPA 1.8 standard previously reported."
Wikipedia's notes on AT&T's currently deployed US 3G networks: "Speeds up to 7.2 Mbit/s are available in most markets. Areas that use UMTS instead of HSUPA as the uplink protocol are limited to 1.8 Mbit/s speeds."
An earlier update to this article indicated that the current iPhone 3G used Infineon's X-GOLD 608 platform and could apparently support faster speeds, based on comments made by iFixIt, which correctly identified a power management chip designed to be used with that platform, but did not state that all the platform's chips (which can support 7.2Mbit/s networks) were being used in the iPhone 3G. They apparently are not. ]
Comments
I am so ready for something faster than the 50Kbps I get on my iPhone with EDGE.
I am pretty much an Apple fanboy, but even I feel like I fell for this on the 3G model. I would still like the amazing speed promised on the last revision.
That hook looks awfully familiar.
I find wireless "g" to be intolerably slow in accessing the internet, and everything else is some degree slower than that at the moment. If the top speed of the 2010-2011 iPhone is not faster than today's wireless g then none of this is even remotely important anyway because "sucking slightly less" is not really an improvement.
Even though the article fails to compare them, it seems from the wiki that the "super speed" far in the future 3G would still be slower than the worst Wi-Fi.
Maybe the tipster just meant Apple would choose a better partner network that can actually deliver on the promise of their marketing BS.
Personally I would assume 7.2 mbit downlink, or possibly 14.4 mbit, for the iPhone.
The Swedish telecom company Telia (the first company in Sweden to offer the iPhone) have just launched an upgrade that will take their network (at least in cities with more population than 50 000) to 14.4 mbit. Though they say they still don't have the 3G modems available to support it.
Another telecom company here in Sweden have announced that they are aiming for 21 mbit networks soon.
The Swedish telecom provider Ericsson demonstrated 42 mbit 3G networks at the MWC congress held a month or so ago.
I believe that other providers (Huawei?) have also shown 42 mbit technology.
One point to consider is that the higher the speed the higher the power consumption, so possibly 7.2 mbit downlink would be a fair point to aim for for the iPhone (possibly 14.4 using USB tethering?)
This would have to be supported by higher speed CPU:s (and possibly GPU:s) to make use of the increased speed (that is, to reduce web page render times etc.).
I would also assume that Apple will support increased uplink speeds (HSUPA), maybe around 1.5 to 2.5 mbit?
After that, possibly an LTE version. LTE has benefits (not only speed) compared to 3G, but of course it will take a considerable time for operators to build their network coverage for that.....
No offence, but that chart is pretty useless as a description of anything. What would help more is a discussion (and a chart) of relative speeds. There's a few crumbs spread throughout the article, but a chart of relative speeds of various radio networks and where we are today would have made the article a lot more intelligible.
I find wireless "g" to be intolerably slow in accessing the internet, and everything else is some degree slower than that at the moment. If the top speed of the 2010-2011 iPhone is not faster than today's wireless g then none of this is even remotely important anyway because "sucking slightly less" is not really an improvement.
Even though the article fails to compare them, it seems from the wiki that the "super speed" far in the future 3G would still be slower than the worst Wi-Fi.
Wireless g shouldn't be your problem for slow internet, nor is it the slowest WiFi standard. Even wireless b shouldn't bottleneck your internet.
What good does having a iphone that supports 7.2Mbit/s HSPA do to you if AT&T wont's serve you not even 1/2 of 1 Mbit/s?
You know what I've been saying?
What good is playing games and listening to music on your phone if you have to charge it twice a day?
In Sweden for example (Stockholm is mobile phone Silicon valley) where we've been at 3,5 G 7,2mbit for years and the 4G LTE network is being built and tested right now.
Telia, the mobile provider selling iPhone in Scandinavia, today announced that it's entire nework will be upgraded to" turbo-3G+" with a teorethical top speed at 14,4 Mbit/s. As of today 4 million subscribers in Sweden (total population of 9 million) can access the upgraded network.
A new iPhone with only 3+ Mbit would be totally unacceptable for Telia and it's customers. Especially since teethering will be available in the upcoming handset.
http://www.teliasonera.com/press/pre....itemId=415711
I find wireless "g" to be intolerably slow in accessing the internet, and everything else is some degree slower than that at the moment. If the top speed of the 2010-2011 iPhone is not faster than today's wireless g then none of this is even remotely important anyway because "sucking slightly less" is not really an improvement.
Pretty odd thing to say. I have a hard time believing that your 50 Mbps wifi connection is holding you back as much as your 2 Mbps internet connection, don't you think?
I find wireless "g" to be intolerably slow in accessing the internet
Presumably you are talking specifically about 802.11g with an iPhone, and not just 802.11g in general? 802.11g can sustain about 20 mbit/s real throughput, most people's internet connection is much slower. I've got about 5 mbit at home and that's plenty fast enough for everything apart from downloading huge (100s of MB) files if I'm in a hurry.
If the top speed of the 2010-2011 iPhone is not faster than today's wireless g then none of this is even remotely important anyway because "sucking slightly less" is not really an improvement.
That even 802.11g is slow on an iPhone should give you the clue that the problem isn't the data rate to the phone. The problem is that the CPU can't process the data fast enough. Web surfing has become quite a cpu intensive affair - we don't notice now on our 2 GHz+ dual-core multi-issue pipelined CPUs, but go find a Mac or PC with 500 MHz CPU and 256 MB RAM and see what the browsing experience is like even with a super-fast internet connection. It'll probably be similar to the iPhone - irritatingly slow.
It is entirely logical and most likely IMO that HSUPA uplink support is (at least part of) what is being referred to from these rumor sources with the "faster internet" comment. That said, I am not sure about the current state of HSUPA supporting chipsets and their availability or lack thereof for current cellphones.
No offence, but that chart is pretty useless as a description of anything. What would help more is a discussion (and a chart) of relative speeds. There's a few crumbs spread throughout the article, but a chart of relative speeds of various radio networks and where we are today would have made the article a lot more intelligible.
I made one a while ago, will post again... Unfortunately, I just reformatted and don't have the XLS in front of me, so here is an old screenshot from a while ago. It is NOT perfect, particularly in regards to LTE/4G since the tech is changing so fast, but it gives a good general idea.
Maybe if 3G would even work like it supposed to it would be great... What a waste that was. With all the fucking tech we have and we can't get much more than EDGE (not talking about WIFI folks) in real-world use. Apple/AT&T/Whoever I pay to make it work - just make it work.
Do you live or work in an area with 3G coverage?
RT
www.online-privacy.pro.tc
There simply is no alternative for Apple, they have to put the faster hardware in the next gen iPhone, since the phone is so big in countries that are way ahead of the US in mobile technology.
In Sweden for example (Stockholm is mobile phone Silicon valley) where we've been at 3,5 G 7,2mbit for years and the 4G LTE network is being built and tested right now.
Telia, the mobile provider selling iPhone in Scandinavia, today announced that it's entire nework will be upgraded to" turbo-3G+" with a teorethical top speed at 14,4 Mbit/s. As of today 4 million subscribers in Sweden (total population of 9 million) can access the upgraded network.
A new iPhone with only 3+ Mbit would be totally unacceptable for Telia and it's customers. Especially since teethering will be available in the upcoming handset.
http://www.teliasonera.com/press/pre....itemId=415711
The current phone is 3.6. The new phone will be 7.2. It's in the article.
- The air interface speed is for raw data. Usable payload speed, e.g. surfing, is lower.
- Air interface speed is affected by distance between cell and phone.
- Air interface speed is shared between all users in that radio sector.
- Backhaul transmission (connection between cell site and "the Internet") needs to be upgraded to match the air interface. For some carriers, this has been the problem limiting the throughput, and not the air interface.
This will remain true for the foreseeable future.