Product category:
Design and Development Software
News Release from: picoChip Designs | Subject: HSUPA-femtocell reference design
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 13 February 2007
Femtocell reference design for fast 3G
uplinks
picoChip has announced what it believes to be "the industry's first HSUPA-femtocell reference design.
Picochip has announced a HSUPA-femtocell reference design Femtocells or 3G access points allow carriers to compete with Voice over WiFi, improving coverage at home and improving service
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 4 Dec 2002 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Baseband technology sorts out 3G infrastructure
A new complete baseband platform for 3G infrastructure is claimed to solve the three critical problems confronting manufacturers.
Software system on chip cuts 3G infrastructure
picoChip Designs has sampled its first device, the PC101, which delivers a massive computational power of 30GMACs per second.
The new PC8209 adds HSUPA to Picochip's industry standard reference design, as used by Ubiquisys, IPAccess and Dekolink among others.
For 3G data HSUPA adds faster uplink and reduces latency, especially important for wireless Web 2.0 applications or online gaming.
The new PC8209 software will run on the same hardware platform as the company's PC8208 product, currently shipping to manufacturers and operators.
Further reading
Demo proves software-defined basestation concept
picoChip Designs has demonstrated the first 3G call using a software-defined basestation.
3G basestation reference design comes on a CD
picoChip Designs has developed the industry's first software reference design for 3G basestations.
Soft basestation extends to 3.5G for faster data
The industry's first high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) solution has been added to the novel "3G basestation on a CD" reference design from picoChip Designs.
This common hardware approach allows customers to add HSUPA capabilities to their base stations including those already deployed in the field with only a software upgrade.
The PC8209 will be generally available later this year.
HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink Packet Access) increases the maximum theoretical 3G physical-layer link speed to 5.76Mbit/s, significantly increasing efficiency when used in conjunction with its downlink equivalent, HSDPA.
Just as importantly, HSUPA reduces network latencies and can allocate capacity to users with shorter delays and greater flexibility; essential features for real-time packet-based applications and response-critical services such as multiplayer gaming.
Picochip's PC8209 product fully supports the critical 2ms TTI (transmission time interval) specification which enables these features, as well as more responsive power control.
"HSUPA is a critical technology that will help service providers deliver low-latency broadband applications over 3G wireless networks", says Gabriel Brown, chief analyst at Unstrung.com and author of a recent research report on femtocells.
"Equipment manufacturers are looking for low-cost, standards-compliant components and reference designs that reduce time to market and meet the price points necessary for this market to take-off".
"Picochip is the leader in femtocell technology", says Guillaume d'Eyssautier, president and CEO of Picochip.
"No one else has shipped HSDPA femtocell base-station technology, and we are now in pole position with our new HSUPA offering".
"We are pleased to be extending this lead and enabling our customers to do the same".
Picochip's established PC8208 femtocell reference design enables an OEM to develop a product with dramatically lower bill of materials costs and faster time to market.
The new PC8209 design combines a modem that is fully compliant to 3GPP Release 6 for four users with a 200m range, supporting 7Mbit/s HSDPA and 2Mbit/s HSUPA.
The reference design includes all baseband processing (sample rate, chip rate and symbol rate operations), as well as MAC-hs scheduler, operations and management (OAM) functions and protocol termination.
The PC8209 software upgrade will be released this year, allowing carriers to trial it by upgrading femtocells already installed.
The Picochip modem software is suited to a variety of deployment architectures, including Iub over IP, UMA (through a partnership with Kineto) and all-IP (SIP or IMS based).
Figures from ABI Research predict that there will be 102 million femtocell users worldwide by 2011.
Mobile operators are attracted to the concept because it allows them to counter the potential threat from converged WiFi, VoIP and fixed telephony services, whilst offering users the opportunity to use existing 3G handsets.
The femtocell (or home base station) handles cellular calls locally and traffic is then carried to the operator's core network via broadband, typically DSL or cable modem.
This not only reduces the need for multiple handsets (or expensive dual-mode terminals), it also allows network coverage and capacity to be increased in a cost-effective manner, exactly where they are most needed by the end user.
• picoChip Designs: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Electronicstalk email newsletter
• Electronicstalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
