Huawei halves LTE voice call setup time

Chinese vendor Huawei said it has completed an interoperability test for an “ultra-flash” circuit-switched fallback solution that shortens the time it takes to switch from the LTE network to 2G in order to set up a voice call by 50 per cent.

The test was undertaken at Huawei’s research and development facility in Shanghai with chipmaker Qualcomm and the Chinese firm claims it enables LTE users to set up voice calls in three seconds. According to Huawei, the solution is now ready for commercial deployment in networks.

The technology makes “special use” of a single radio voice call continuity (SRVCC) process to shorten voice set up times on LTE networks. SRVCC allows a call in an LTE packet to be moved to a legacy voice domain, such as GSM, UMTS or CDMA.

Huawei claims the solution reduces cost and complexity compared with standard CSFB solutions, which it claims typically require upgrades to the entire existing 2G and 3G networks. It added that its solution also helps operators to smoothly migrate from using CSFB to enabling VoLTE services.

Huawei supplied an end to end network solution for the test, which encompassed the RAN network as well as EPC and CS core networks. Qualcomm supplied test handsets. The test results revealed that there is no need to modify smartphones to be able to use the solution; chipsets that support SRVCC will suffice.

As of December 2013, Huawei said it has deployed CSFB in 50 networks and has won 14 commercial VoLTE contracts.

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