iOS 4.2 has Nokia Siemens cell congestion tech

iOS 4.2 has new technology to reduce the overhead of the iPhone on cellular networks, Nokia Siemens Networks revealed today. Although unpublished by Apple, the update brought a technique known as Network Controlled Fast Dormancy that helps a smartphone go quiet without going completely idle. The method keeps the iPhone in a limbo state that saves it from having to reconnect to the network, not only eliminating the flood of traffic from a reconnect but improving its battery life by limiting the necessary traffic.

The strategy has real-world effects, Nokia Siemens said. In North America, tests so far have shown a 50 percent drop in signal creation, possibly leading to a reduced traffic load. An unnamed Middle Eastern carrier saw phone battery life on what's likely a non-iPhone extend from six hours to 11 just by switching to the new technology.

Using NCFD requires both the new firmware and a network with sufficiently modern Nokia Siemens equipment at the cell sites themselves, since it requires a handshake between the two. Nokia Siemens is known to have deployed equipment in North America, but it's unclear how much of this is at AT&T. As the most severely impacted by heavy iPhone traffic, however, it's likely to have been the inspiration for the move. Canadian carriers such as Telus have made deals in the past.

The implementation if completely realized could be critical to AT&T keeping customers in some of its more publicized trouble spots, including the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City. Testing has suggested the iPhone's approach to making connections was at least partly responsible since other devices haven't had similar problems, but NCFD could regardless help AT&T reduce the need to install new cell sites in those cases where a software fix would be enough.

By Electronista Staff