Continuous Computing, picoChip and Cavium Networks have collaborated to produce the world’s first complete Long Term Evolution (LTE) femtocell reference design. Available immediately, this solution helps accelerate time to market for product developers, femtocell access point manufacturers, network equipment vendors and operators.
The reference design is the industry’s first to include the LTE modem (PHY), radio frequency (RF) and packet processors, protocol software, intelligent router functionality and a complete Evolved Packet Core (EPC) simulator.
Femtocells – small, low-cost cellular basestations designed for deployment by end-users – are being seen as key to delivering improved mobile communications services in a wide range of contexts, and are expected to play a crucial role in upcoming LTE networks. LTE femtocells will enable operators to deploy their new networks more efficiently and cost effectively. By employing small cells, operators can build their LTE networks in line with demand, thereby matching investment with revenue while reducing capital expenditure.
According to Nigel Toon, CEO and President picoChip, “Femtocells are the key to providing the experience that users will expect at a price that operators can afford. We believe that LTE femtocells ultimately will carry the vast majority of indoor mobile data traffic while also providing vital improvements to outdoor coverage and capacity, in both major cities and remote areas. While there are numerous vendor demonstrations of a subset of the functions of an LTE femtocell, this reference design represents the world’s first integrated and fully-tested solution.”
“The demand for LTE femtocells is unquestionable. We are already seeing operators asking for small cell access points to start testing in the second half of this year. Femtocells represent the key to avoiding the difficulties surrounding the first 3G deployments where rollouts cost too much, took too long and did not meet user expectations,” said Mike Dagenais, President and CEO, Continuous Computing. “This LTE femtocell reference design is the culmination of a major three-way effort and represents highly sophisticated, state-of-the-art engineering and integration.”
The LTE femtocell reference design consists of a microTCA system including a chassis with a picoChip modem, mezzanine RF card and Layer 1 physical layer (PHY) software, together with Cavium Networks’ OCTEON(R) Plus multi-core MIPS64(R) processor. Continuous Computing provides Trillium LTE Layer 2/3 protocols, the eNodeB reference application and a complete EPC Core Network Emulator (CNE). Continuous Computing’s Trillium LTE eNodeB protocols have been optimized on Cavium’s Simple Executive software environment to provide market-leading performance and reduced latency.
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