Comments on: VoLTE Could Slash Smartphone Battery Life by 50%?

By: Champion1229

Champion1229 — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 22:52:00 +0000

This is kinda to be expected! Its just like when you listen to Pandora or any other music streaming service. If you set it to pull the higher quality audio it WILL consume more power!

By: Narflar

Narflar — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 16:49:00 +0000

if it was the same phone then it still had the 3G radio active. That’s why LTE eats so much batt life, you’re running two radios. If they got rid of the 3G radio I bet the batt life would be on par with 3G if not better.

By: Mr Furious

Mr Furious — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 14:09:00 +0000

There are some significant changes that will happen when Verizon leaves 1X (2G) in favor of LTE for voice calls. First is that they will be changing from a proven channelized technology to a new VoLTE packetized deployment. This is a major change in how Verizon voice will operate for the first time in almost a decade. The reliable voice network that you have taken for granted for years will be replaced. This is similar to what ATT did when it changed to GSM years ago. ATT went from having rock solid voice services to an unreliable mess that wasn’t straightened out for years (some think that it still is sub-par).

The second thing is defiantly battery life. Packetizing voice has more overhead then channelized voice. The more aggressive the codec, the more CPU overhead. CPU cycles that are not currently used for 1X calls. Think of it as having a service like Pandora (without a buffer) running the whole time that you are on a call, but while you are talking your phone is also packetizing and broadcasting your side of the call back out.

What can be done to improve this? Well instead of using software compression (CPU), Verizon can eventually offer phones with hardware compression. This would be a dedicated hardware DSP chip, tuned to Verizon’s Codec installed in each phone. Of course, this is only part of the equation and transmitting the RTP and signalling data will still take more power then 1X.

Why would Verizon do this? Like everything its about money. They can use less towers for more calls. They will also be able to force upgrades and simplify support with a single type of tower. Less towers, more calls, cheaper support (internal network support, not end user). Quality will suffer particularly for early adopters, but hey – you already signed a contract right?

By: michael arazan

michael arazan — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 13:16:00 +0000

This sounds like testing that they would be doing in Europe now that they have started putting LTE in. I’m thinking Europe because the carriers here could care less about their customers and power on their cell phones. The EU actually looks out for their citizens as customers and care about them having the the best and not letting corporations decide for the customer.

Last year the EU wanted Apple to make all their devices have the ability to have Flash on them, and were prepared to penalize Apple if they didn’t comply, and them 3 months later Adobe announced they were discontinuing Mobile flash for html5, it’s a conspiracy I tell you

By: r0lct

r0lct — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 13:12:00 +0000

Well considering they have another couple years to work it out before it’s widely available I’m sure they’ll figure out a way to reign it in.

By: MKader17

MKader17 — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 06:16:00 +0000

It don’t matter. I keep my GNex on charge 24/7 running Google Music, Pandora, Navigation, etc…

By: MKader17

MKader17 — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 06:14:00 +0000

Dats not good riiight?

By: Former Verizon Customer

Former Verizon Customer — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 05:49:00 +0000

Just wanted to mention that Verizon sucks. Pass it on.

By: Gizmo

Gizmo — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 05:14:00 +0000

Are you familiar with both waveforms and how they’re processed on a client device? A more refined and spectrally efficient waveform doesn’t always equate to simpler processing. If anything, it usually means more processing and thus more resources.

Anyone know how much battery life has changed on CDMA only phones? Maybe a comparison of dumb phones over time?

By: Gavo265

Gavo265 — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 04:27:00 +0000

Interesting.

Guess I won’t be able to try it out myself because I accidentally turned off my LTE on my Bionic and can’t get it back -.-

By: Justin Myers

Justin Myers — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 03:57:00 +0000

That phone…. *shutter*

By: Ken Klucina

Ken Klucina — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 03:53:00 +0000

Significantly more complex is not entirely true. CDMA has not changed in years, including the power required. Every tech has a finite life span. LTE was designed with low power in mind. Even lower than current “3G/4G” technologies. You are correct in the fact that it is not matured like CDMA in devices we use, only because the cost to mass produce such chip is still way more than can be passed to a typical consumer. However, it is very much refined and will become way less power hungry than CDMA is in consumer devices, with time.

By: Ken Klucina

Ken Klucina — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 03:46:00 +0000

Come on, look at the year this was published. Research/Tech papers take time to publish/leak. this was probably done on a dual chipset, that is CDMA and LTE separate, device. It was only this past year that single chipset devices went public. Also by the looks of it, this is planned release, not a leak judging by the name on the slide.

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 03:41:00 +0000

It’ll be worth it for the call quality. The first few phones will probably be like the Thunderbolt, but the ones after with bigger batteries and more efficiency will be awesome.

By: Diablo81588

Diablo81588 — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 03:32:00 +0000

VoLTE is also significantly higher bitrate audio from what I understand. It only makes sense it would use more power.