WiWavelength

HTC EVO 4G LTE has arrived:

http://www.phonescoo...cle.php?a=10191

To quell some of the rumors, here are the facts:

• aluminum/plastic body
  
• kickstand
  
• non-removable 2000 mAh battery
  
• S-LCD 720p screen
  
• 32 GB microSD card support
  
• dedicated camera shutter release
  
• $199 on-contract price point
  

AJ

Talked to a gent today that works for a company that makes radomes. He said they run, like, 39 GHz. Must be able to carry quite a bit.

39ghz doesn't give it the ability to carry more data. All depends on the width of the channel and the modulation scheme they can pull off.

A MHz of bandwidth at 1 GHz is the same MHz of bandwidth at 2 GHz, 10 GHz, 39 GHz, etc. All other factors being equal, it has the same information carrying capacity. Now, that said, available spectrum is far, far more prevalent around 39 GHz than it is at those lower frequencies, so licenses/allotments around 39 GHz may be of much greater bandwidth. In other words, it may be possible to occupy 100 MHz of available bandwidth around 39 GHz, while that would be all but impossible around 1 GHz.

To use an analogy, available spectrum around 1 GHz is like Manhattan real estate. Available lots are relatively small in size and few in number, not to mention they will cost you a mint. In contrast, available spectrum around 39 GHz is like eastern New Mexico real estate. For the price that you would pay for one small lot on Manhattan, you could buy thousands of acres in New Mexico, where there is plenty of available land.

AJ

How do you arrive at "10 bands, 7 antennas"? I count the following seven bands:

Lower 700 MHz

Cellular 850 MHz

GSM 900 MHz

DCS 1800 MHz

PCS 1900 MHz

AWS 2100+1700 MHz

IMT 2100+1900 MHz

And I see one WWAN antenna covering those seven bands, plus a secondary MIMO/Rx diversity antenna for W-CDMA/LTE operation in at least four of those seven bands.

AJ

And if so, was she in a coma?

Oh, no, oh, is she in a coma?

AJ

Duffman, how many Sprint sites in DFW were knocked offline?

AJ

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http://youtu.be/kpNPw4H6_tU

Scott, the bigger question is: did irev have sex with the jerk store employee's wife?

AJ

Thanks for sifting through the data to find that out. Now, does anyone have these relatively obscure devices?

I see quite a few "bad ESN" Conquers listed on eBay. If I can pick one up for <$50, I would be willing to do that for testing purposes (though I would probably need to ship it off to one of you who can run QPST on your Windows OS).

AJ

Good news. I have done some more digging, and the Samsung Conquer 4G (SPH-D600), Samsung Trender (SPH-M380), and Huawei Express (M650) explicitly support and have been certified for CDMA1X band class 14 (PCS A-G blocks).

https://apps.fcc.gov...html?id=1457558

https://apps.fcc.gov...html?id=1441475

https://apps.fcc.gov...html?id=1506030

AJ

I am afraid that the PCS G block enabled testing PRL is a non starter. In looking over FCC OET filings, I have not found a single Sprint branded handset that has been certified beyond the traditional PCS A-F block range. Maybe some do exist, but I have not found them. So, I surmise that only specially certified or waivered testing devices will be able access CDMA1X/EV-DO Network Vision trials in the PCS G block.

AJ

Additionally, as Robert will tell you, if you are hanging out on a WiMAX "license protection site," then electrical/mechanical downtilt (lack thereof) at the antennas will also have a great effect on propagation.

AJ

Guys, please be careful with your generalizations. Lately, I have noticed many "WiMAX is this, WiMAX is that" type of assertions. But most of those assertions are regarding ~2600 MHz propagation/attenuation. Signal wise, essentially nothing inherent to the WiMAX downlink makes it inferior to the LTE downlink, as both OFDMA link structures are really quite similar. So, nearly all of you are commenting on BRS/EBS 2600 MHz path loss, not on WiMAX itself, which can be deployed in almost any spectrum band.

AJ

As I archived all of the supposed before and after merger LTE coverage maps from AT&T's "astroturfing" web site, mobilizeeverything.com, before AT&T unceremoniously pulled the plug, perhaps someone would like to put together a mashup of all the maps so that we could compare AT&T's so called limited LTE coverage absent the merger to Sprint's projected LTE coverage.

AJ

For easy comparison, here is a Sprint native/pseudo native (because it also includes Sprint Rural Alliance partners) coverage map that comes directly from the Sprint coverage tool:

AJ

@saschasegan posted a picture of what sprint's LTE network footprint will look like once NV is fully rolled out in 2014. Doesn't say where he got it from. Looks like some kind of presentation. Anyway thought it was interesting.

 

https://twitter.com/...0/photo/1/large

Robert, at first glance, the map appears to include accurate Sprint market boundaries. Based on your GIS work with digiblur, is that correct?

AJ

West Kansas coverage is from NexTec, which I believe is treated as native for Sprint customers. However, Nextec probably doesn't have spectrum to deploy its own LTE. Perhaps one day Sprint and Nextec will come to an agreement for them to deploy LTE on G Block there.

The western part of Kansas is Nex-tech wireless out of Hays that is a Roaming Alliance Partner. They have no public LTE plans as of now.

Nex-Tech (based in Hays) covers primarily the northern half of western Kansas, while United Wireless (based in Dodge City) covers the southern half of western Kansas. As I recall, both share each other's footprints as pseudo native coverage, as does Sprint.

AJ

My phone seems to bump to 1x while receiving text messages quiet often...

I'm in central, Ohio.

SMS is delivered generally via CDMA1X paging or traffic channels, not via EV-DO. So, your phone has to drop to CDMA1X to receive SMS.

AJ

http://phandroid.com...e-memory-rumor/ Didn't see this link so..

Phandroid's sources sound of questionable validity. Internal Sprint sources unequivocally indicate that the HTC Jet will have NFC. Now, the Phandroid sources state that the Jet will have an upgraded "full metal casing." Here is the problem: the HTC One X has a solid polycarbonate body in order to support NFC. The HTC One S has a full metal casing but does not support NFC, reportedly because of the full metal casing. So, something seems amiss.

AJ

Back in those days Taco Bell served breakfast. They had this sausage, country gravy, hash brown and egg burrito that was only 79¢. Man I loved those things when I was in college. I wish Taco Bell would bring back breakfast!

Robert, it sounds like you need Spangles. See the breakfast bowls.

http://www.spanglesinc.com/menu.html

AJ

I'm using PRL 12117 (Network Vision Corporate/Network Vision Business PRL which has 3G roaming etc...) and I'm seeing channel 425 pop up under 1x Engineering in the debug menu which is in the 800Mhz range (CDMA AMPS) from my understanding. My femtocell seems to be configured to broadcast on that frequency.

While just coincidence, channel 425 happens to be a common CDMA1X carrier assignment for both Cellular 850 MHz and PCS 1900 MHz. To further the possibility for confusion, channel 425 also happens to be in the Cellular B block and the PCS B block. But CEL 0425 and PCS 0425 are two very different channel assignments separated by approximately 1 MHz.

In your case, your screenshots indicate band class 1 and that in turn indicates PCS 0425. For CDMA1X, band class 1 is PCS 1900 MHz, while band class 0 is Cellular 850 MHz.

Furthermore, you appear to be in Cleveland, where Sprint holds a PCS B3 block 10 MHz disaggregation from the old AT&TWS, and PCS 0425 is the first standard channel assignment in the PCS B3 block. Sprint also holds its original license, the PCS D block 10 MHz, which contains PCS 0325, 0350, and 0375, of which you have noted the first two channel assignments.

AJ

For the remaining markets, it is a relatively safe bet to add a band class 10 ACQ index entry with channels 476 and 526 to these SIDs:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArY31Mr219-ydEZublJOa3l2ZGl0Z1B0QmNmMG5nOEE

Robert and I have not been able to confirm any CDMA1X 800 SIDs beyond those that we have already announced. But those that we have announced have followed the pattern of PCS G block assigned SIDs (as laid out in the spreadsheet).

AJ

I did a little comparison between LTE signal strength between the wife's RAZR and my Nexus.... Lets just say that I almost regret getting the Nexus. Almost.

Motorola seems to utilize Qualcomm chipsets for CDMA1X/EV-DO and its own Wrigley chipset for LTE, while Samsung has recently eschewed Qualcomm for VIA Technologies and/or Samsung's own CMC chipsets. Take this with a grain of salt, as it is largely anecdote, but many think that Samsung is going cheap, that the chipsets are junk compared to the brand name Qualcomm and/or Motorola chipsets.

AJ

I don't know how many versions Apple will want to keep track of, and they've given no indication of supporting ESMR 800 MHz band in any way whatsoever.

3GPP band class 26 will take care of that. Band class 26 is a superset of band class 5 (Cellular 850 MHz) and band class 18 (SMR 800 MHz). Since both Cellular and SMR are adjacent and use the same 45 MHz FDD offset, it makes perfect sense to consolidate them into one band class.

AJ

...since AT&T will have to use AWS from the get-go...

All AT&T LTE devices do support AWS. But there is no verification thus far that AT&T has deployed any LTE in AWS. And now it may never happen. The post merger break up transfer of AWS to T-Mobile has so diminished AT&T's AWS holdings that AT&T may not be able to justify the separate planning and expense to deploy AWS in just a few markets.

I rounded up the data and produced a graph last week. AT&T now holds scant AWS but ample PCS across the top 100 markets. One thought is that AT&T may drop AWS and go PCS for its second LTE band class. Regardless, AWS looks like an uncertain or at least highly limited prospect for AT&T.

https://twitter.com/...4613376/photo/1

AJ

Sort of interesting because the Wells Fargo analyst recommended Sprint and the stock shot up. Nobody on S4GRU was complaining then, lol. Goes both ways.

I cannot speak for others, but my reaction to Moffet's comments has little to do with the positive/negative tenor of his assessment (though I do agree with others that Moffet needs to bone up on Sprint spectrum analysis before he spouts off).

More generally, I just think that human, psychological elements (e.g. woefully imperfect information) render the stock market an irreparably flawed system.

AJ

It was not behind a paywall when I cut and pasted. I have trimmed it. Please PM me next time rather than posting publicly so that I am notified of my error in a timely manner. I do not follow every thread either.

Just to be clear, my post was not meant to call you out, Duffman. Rather, I intended it more as a PSA for all members to know the quoting guidelines and to help each other keep a mindful eye on posts that might unintentionally deviate from those guidelines.

AJ