HSDPA refers to a High-Speed Downlink Packet Access. It is also called 3.5G or super 3G in mobile phone terminology. It offers a high speed method of downloading data across a 3G mobile phone network. HSDPA networks support download speeds of 1.8 Mbps. The uplink speed for HSDPA is 384Kbps. HSDPA handles transmission from the network to the user equipment. With HSDPA, you can download the full music album instead of individual songs. It will also improve the quality of streaming video, while making video downloads much faster.

A quick look at 3G

3G is a technology for transferring data, be it voice data like phone calls or non-voice data like email, video calls or downloadable music and videos. The maximum speed on 3G is 384kbps which lets you download a 3MB file in a minute. HSDPA is an improvement over 3G and it provides more bandwidth, making it faster to get content, whether it is video / audio streaming, or downloading movies, music or games. HSDPA is a more advanced technology that allows data to be transferred at a much faster rate. With HSDPA, download speeds of 1.8 Mbps, 3.6 Mbps, 7.2 Mbps and 14.4 Mbps are possible as discussed earlier.

An overview of HSDPA

Even though, today's smartphone subscribers are not satisfied with just the basic services. They are demanding more, in terms of video chat, network TV, high-speed internet access and so on. The introduction of HSDPA technology enables to meet the requirements of mobile multimedia much better. HSDPA is a technology for improving the downlink speed of WCDMA networks. Data service is the motivating factor behind the development of HSDPA. It is considered to be the most important technology of mobile broadband operation. HSDPA makes use of three key technologies - Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ), Adaptive Modulation and Coding (AMC) and fast invoke.

It's Importance

With HSDPA the data transmission rate of the radio network can be increased and subsequently the transmission delay and transmission cost can be reduced to a great extent. Large number of subscribers can access high-speed data service at the same time with the help of HSDPA. With HSDPA you can enjoy broadband service any time, any where. Owing to increased data rates, the operators can now launch an array of new and value-added services. Business users can benefit by way of rapid download of emails with attachments and high-speed internet access. It facilitates easy download of DVD quality music, full length movies, advanced games and high-resolution images.

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