Qualcomm, Ericsson make first LTE-to-3G call handover
updated 11:10 am EST, Thu February 2, 2012
Qualcomm, Ericsson use SRVCC to handover call
Mobile device chipmaker Qualcomm and network and communications gear Ericsson on Thursday announced they've reached a significant milestone by handing over a call from an LTE network to a WCDMA network using a single radio. They used the Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC) 3GPP specified feature to hand off the Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) call when a user left the coverage area to the more widespread 3G network. The hand-off was made on December 23, 2011 on the Ericsson network on a handset using Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 processor at the heart of new phones and tablets.
SRVCC is seen as the next technology for switching links, following up on circuit-switched fallback (CSFB) that launched in 2011. Both allow a single radio to dynamically switch from an LTE data connection to a 3G connection and back during a call. Either supports LTE and 3G radios on a single chip. Qualcomm supports both CSFB and SRVCC technologies.
Based on our hands-on experience with Verizon's VoLTE tech at last year's MWC, the user is likely to notice a slight difference in the call quality between 3G calls and those on the LTE network. The person on the other hand isn't likely to hear a difference, however.
The companies will hold similar demonstrations at the MWC show in Barcelona that kicks off on February 27.
