"Ultra-flash" Huawei solution limited to own end-to-end networks

Infrastructure vendor Huawei has said that its “ultra-flash” circuit switched fallback solution, which halves the time it takes to switch from LTE to 2G to set up voice calls on an LTE network will only function on end-to-end Huawei networks.

“Operators need to use end-to-end Huawei networks for Ultra-Flash CSFB solution to implement at the RAN, CS core and EPC side,” a spokesperson for the firm told Telecoms.com.

According to the spokesperson, Huawei execs have also been discussing the solution with standards body 3GPP since November last year. They are now confident that the solution will be approved by 3GPP, according to the progress in those discussions the vendor has seen so far.

The vendor said that its technology has been used in over 70 LTE commercial networks globally, but did not reveal how many of those were end-to-end deployments.

Huawei’s ultra-flash CSFB solution makes “special use” of a single radio voice call continuity (SRVCC) process which enables operators to shorten voice call set up times to just three seconds on LTE networks. SRVCC allows a call in an LTE packet to be moved to a legacy 2G voice domain,.

Huawei also said that the solution reduces cost and complexity compared with standard CSFB solutions. The vendor said standard solutions typically require upgrades to the entire existing 2G and 3G networks.