RAN performance and in particular the RBS performance has a large impact on capital and operational expenditure when deploying and operating a WCDMA radio network. Ericsson's WCDMA RAN is designed to optimise operators' expenditures and it is characterised by a superior radio performance, a comprehensive RBS portfolio, excellent in service performance and a scalable architecture providing a future proof platform that facilitates a smooth evolution path to Mobile Broadband and other functionality.

First with HSDPA in commercial operation
Ericsson has since October 2005 HSDPA in commercial operation. HSDPA is the first step into WCDMA evolved and gives operators new revenue opportunities by offering broadband access over the 3G networks with similar performance as earlier only been possible over fixed networks. Ericsson has, as of June 2006, 15 commercial HSDPA networks with more than 15000 RBSs in operation.

Advanced 3G services
Ericsson's WCDMA RAN has all the functionality to support Mobile Broadband, Mobile TV, voice, video calls and messaging. Mobile TV covers real-time content streaming, progressive downloads and downloads whilst Mobile Broadband supports "everywhere" access to Internet or corporate LANs.

Superior radio performance
Ericsson superior radio performance is exemplified by providing most output power available for traffic of all vendors and the best receiver sensitivity. As an example Ericsson's 20W class provides up to 67% more output power for traffic than other vendors. This is the result of unique RBS features, which also provides a highly stable output power over temperature and time without field calibrations. The higher traffic output power and excellent receiver sensitivity directly corresponds to fewer sites required for a given coverage or capacity. Ericsson offers up to 30% better coverage than traditional RBSs. The importance of output power has increased with the introduction of HSDPA, where one carrier from Ericsson has similar capacity as two carriers from traditional RBSs.

High capacity scalable RNC
The RNC 3800 family's state-of-the-art architecture features scalable capacity and dynamic allocation of resources between packet data, circuit data and voice. The architecture provides the smallest start configuration in the industry with only 1/3 cabinet, thereby minimising initial investments. The compact design gives the RNC the highest capacity over footprint ratio in the industry. The Ericsson RNC is prepared to handle a dramatic increase of packet data traffic, which is expected to happen with Mobile Broadband powered by HSDPA and Enhanced Uplink.

Efficient RAN transport
Transport in Ericsson's WCDMA Radio Access Network is built around the Connectivity Packet Platform (CPP), which has been developed in response to the specific requirements associated with transport and networking in 3G wireless access networks. The RNC, RBS, RXI (RAN aggregator) as well as Core Network Media Gateways (MGw) are based on this common telecom platform.

All necessary functions for building AAL2, ATM VC/VP switching on PDH//SONET transport, and the upcoming full support for efficient IP transport over PDH/SONET and Ethernet networks, is provided by the platform.

The advanced Iub optimization gives operators the means to set up combined radio- and transport traffic handling mechanisms for optimized link utilization.

The support for IP transport in all WCDMA RAN nodes provides flexibility in IP introduction when and where required.

Comprehensive operation & management System - OSS-RC
The functionality and tools in OSS-RC provides support for every stage from network rollout or expansion to tuning and day-to-day management. OSS-RC ensures fast network deployment, optimized performance and minimizes time to solve performance critical problems by identifying and isolating the root cause.

In-Service-Performance @ GSM level
Continuously challenging and improving in service performance is vital to secure and grow revenues whilst maintaining low operational expenditures. Ericsson's WCDMA network coupled with our extensive field experience in tuning and optimisation of large and heavily loaded commercial networks have already resulted in performance equalling or exceeding GSM.

A secure 3G investment
Ericsson products are built on a true 3G platform providing scalable capacity and smooth and cost efficient evolution to higher data rates. This is enabled with HSDPA, Enhanced Uplink, Multiple Input - Multiple Output (MIMO), IP transport, multimedia broadcast and in the longer run, 3G Long Term Evolution capabilities.