A-MASTM- 3i Receiver for Enhanced HSDPA Data Rates

Delivering broadband data rates over a wider coverage area is a key operational driver for network operators. Deployment of HSDPA enables operators to offer broadband data rates to their customers. Advanced receivers are implemented in user terminals to improve the HSDPA data rates further. Already two-branch receive diversity-based type-3 receivers are entering the market to improve the delivery of data rates. The data rates delivered by type3 receivers can be further improved by adding inter-cell interference cancellation capability. This paper looks at an ArrayComm Multi-Antenna Signal Processing (A-MAS) advanced HSDPA receiver, known as A-MAS-3i. ArrayComm has developed A-MAS-3i as an extension of the type-3 receiver to enhance HSDPA data rates. A-MAS-3i is fully compliant with the 3GPP standard and requires no change in the infrastructure. Over-the-air data was collected on 3 UK’s operational HSDPA network and was postprocessed to evaluate the potential gain of A-MAS-3i. The field validation proves that in certain cell-edge interference scenarios, A-MAS-3i can improve the average achievable throughput relative to a type-3 receiver by 29%.