Few people think about the meaning of generally accepted terms, especially technical ones. We often use words like USB or HDMI, having a good idea of what they mean, but not even guessing how these abbreviations stand for. Today we will talk about the term related to mobile communications, namely the HSPA protocol. It is not as well known as 3G/4G, but is a full part of wireless technology.
HSPA – what is this standard, where is it used
The evolution of mobile communications is aimed at improving the speed and quality of signal transmission. The third generation of the protocol , 3G, is today the most common standard compatible with the vast majority of cell phones, including push-buttons. At the same time, it provides the opportunity to have high-speed Internet access, albeit not as good as a wired connection, but sufficient for normal surfing, as well as for organizing videotelephony and watching streaming video.
So, 3G networks, or rather, that part of them that uses the UMTS cellular communication standard, is based on the use of the HSPA data transfer protocol.
One of the first releases of the HSPA mobile network standard provided for the possibility of data transfer at a speed of 2 Mb / s. However, the theoretical and practical indicators differed by almost an order of magnitude, which limited the ability of subscribers to visit websites and listen to music. It was possible to watch video at speeds not exceeding 300 Kb / s only in highly compressed form. With the explosive development of wired communications, this turned out to be completely insufficient, so the developers from 3GPP (an organization that promotes cellular standards ) in 2006 introduced a new version of the protocol with a transfer rate of up to 14.4 Mb / s.
This meant that the HSPA standard, which formed the basis of 3G, could already be used for full-fledged viewing of streaming video content, for online games and fast downloads of large files. High Speed Packet Access technology consists of two components: HSDPA (signal transmission from the base station to subscribers, or downlink) and HSUPA (uplink, signal transmission in the opposite direction). Usually, downlink is meant by network speed, since uplink is always less, in this case – 5.7 Mb / s. Without going into technical details, we note that it was possible to achieve a sharp increase in speed thanks to the use of several advanced technologies, which consist in increasing the amount of data transmitted in each burst of pulses.
Further improvement of the protocol made it possible to increase the uplink speed to 21.5 Mb/s due to further growth in the throughput of data transmission channels. This technology is called HSPA+. The next round of technology development led to the emergence of the DC-HSPA standard, where the speed increased to 42.2 Mb / s.
From all of the above, we can assume that HSPA is 3G, and the standard has nothing to do with 4G. This is only partly true, since these evolutionary branches can be called transitional to fourth-generation networks. So, HSPA + is considered a 3.5G network, and DC-HSPA +, which is a two-channel HSPA + protocol, is classified as a 3.75G network, that is, the standard comes close to fourth-generation networks. At least in terms of signal transmission speed.
Characteristics of the HSPA standard
The first generation networks were in line with the spirit of the time – for those times, 10 Kb / s was not a bad indicator, given that then cell phones practically did not go online. But the rapid development of technology led to the emergence of second-generation networks, which used several independent protocols. Some of them have survived to this day – for example, GPRS with speeds up to 171 Kb / s, as well as EDGE with twice the speed (384 Kb / s).
Phones with 2G support could already surf on text versions of sites (WAP technology, many should remember it). The proliferation of smartphones forced developers to look for further ways to increase speed, and the development of the HSPA standard made it possible to switch to third-generation networks, which are the most common today.
The maximum download speed under the HSPA protocol was 14.4 Mb/s. Theoretically, this is enough to watch good resolution video on a small screen. The data upload speed is less – 5.76 Mb / s, but for ordinary users it is the downlink that is important. True, in reality, the numbers again turned out to be far from the maximum, due to the presence of many limiting factors.
Theoretically, the appearance of MIMO technology in 3G networks would more than double the speed, but it was not possible to implement 64QAM and MIMO simultaneously, therefore, in the HSPA + standard, the speed could be increased relatively slightly, up to 21 Mb / s.
But the breakthrough was not long in coming: in the eighth specification of the standard, developed in 3GPP, called DC-HSDPA, the downlink speed was increased to 42 Mb / s, uplink – up to 11 Mb / s.
The HSPA protocol in its pure form and with later variations is supported by almost all mobile devices, it is enough to have 3G support in the device specification. Coverage is another matter: at the moment it is not available everywhere, since the deployment of high-speed networks is a financially costly undertaking for mobile operators.
If you doubt whether you can use the speeds available in 3G networks in a particular area, ask your provider, he will not refuse to provide you with a coverage map.
What is the difference between HSPA+ and HSPA
The main difference is speed. HSPA has a maximum speed of 14.4 Mb/s, while HSPA+ has a maximum speed of 21.6 Mb/s. The difference isn’t big enough to worry about if your phone only supports the first protocol. But such a smartphone is still worth looking for – most cellular phones have long switched to the HSPA + standard, including many models of push-button devices, by and large not intended for using high-speed Internet.
But if you are interested in which protocol your phone supports, then when performing actions that require maximum speed (for example, when downloading a large file), try to find the position of the device at which the H + symbol will appear in the status bar.
This will mean that the phone supports HSPA + and in this position the download speed will increase significantly. Note that in 3G networks , the terrain is important. The presence of man-made and natural barriers has a strong influence on the data transfer rate, so the best signal will always be in open areas.
It should be noted that the dual-channel implementation of HSPA + allowed to increase the theoretical speed limit to 42.2 Mb / s, but the coverage here is even worse, and cellular operators are already deploying 4G networks with might and main and testing fifth-generation networks.
How relevant is the HSPA standard in 2020
Technology advances rapidly in almost every area of life. 35 years ago, the ability to carry a phone in your pocket was perceived as fantastic, but after 10 years this technology has become a global brand. Today, third-generation networks are being actively replaced by the 4G standard, but a replacement has already been prepared for it. 5G networks provide fantastic speeds even by today’s wired standards – up to 25 Gb / s. This record figure was even exceeded during the tests, but the introduction of this technology can be greatly delayed, since it involves not only the re-equipment of cellular transmitters, but also a multiple increase in their number.
It can be stated that today 4G coverage is present in large cities, in smaller settlements such a connection is not guaranteed, unlike 3G networks. There is no doubt that they will be in demand in the medium term, although the HSPA standard has not yet penetrated everywhere.
ATTENTION. All speed indicators given here are theoretical. In practice, the speed is almost always lower. In cities, this is due to the presence of a large number of barriers that interfere with signal transmission. Network congestion also plays a role. In areas far from repeaters, the speed drops due to signal attenuation. Ideal conditions will be near cell towers and in open areas.
Concluding the above, we note that HSPA, despite the emergence of more advanced protocols, will be able to maintain its position for several years, although today it is worth thinking about purchasing a gadget that supports 4G / 5G networks .
