STAYING ONE step ahead of its peers, Japan's NTT Docomo has just claimed to have recorded a data throughput of 250 Mbit/s on a 4G download link.

Impressively, the figure was achieved in an outdoor test of an experimental system which Docomo calls Super 3G but which most of us know as LTE (Long Term Evolution). Effectively it's 4G, too.

LTE, of course, stands a good chance of becoming the first global cellular standard since the CDMA fan club has expressed interest in helping to formulate it.

The 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) has already approved the core specifications for LTE but it's got to get passed the 3GGP2 – the mob which North America backs.

Part of LTE/Super 3G involves the utilisation of four MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output ) antennas for base station transmission and handset reception.

At its R&D labs in Yokosuka near Tokyo, DoCoMo is employing 20 MHz of bandwidth which is the maximum allowed under Super 3G standards.

Significantly Docomo is testing the handover from one base station to another as well as checking how well it works in indoor environments.

So, in effect, Docomo is getting very close to claiming to have a working 4G network. µ