4G World, Chicago, New Jersey, USA & Bath, UK, 25 October 2011– Aricent, a global innovation and technology services company, and Picochip, the leaders in small cell technology, today announced the launch of a joint LTE eNodeB reference framework (eNBF). The carrier-class product is a complete solution design, from RF interface through to S1 and X2 interfaces and includes Aricent base station software stacks integrated with Picochip baseband and silicon. Rigorously tested for functionality and performance, the base station solution is designed to help telecom equipment manufacturers (TEMs) deliver high-performance base stations in multiple form factors, including femto, pico, metro and micro-cell configurations and is available for both LTE FDD and TD-LTE variants.
According to the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), LTE is the fastest developing mobile technology ever. With 24 commercial LTE networks already launched in 16 countries and 166 LTE networks deployments being planned in 62 countries, there is a big market demand for high-capacity, cost-effective LTE base stations of all form factors.
“For equipment manufacturers, delivering compelling radio access solutions is a key component of their overall LTE strategy,” explains Rakesh Vij, vice president of business development, wireless and convergence for Aricent. “We are thrilled to partner with Picochip to deliver our proven, high-performance integrated LTE eNodeB framework that will help vendors accelerate the deployment of LTE base stations in a fast growing 4G market,” Vij added.
“For LTE to deliver its full potential, extended capacity will be required. Picochip is one of the few companies that provides the small cell technology to make this possible,” said Nigel Toon CEO of Picochip. “We have extensive experience in small cell technology from HSPA+, and our collaboration with Aricent will allow us to deliver a complete, robust, carrier-class system implementation, with proven interoperability and full conformance.”
Technical specifications
The Aricent-Picochip eNBF reference framework includes Layer 2 and Layer 3 software from Aricent, which is optimized on the Cavium 56xx, 58xx, and 63xx processor family and integrated with Layer 1 software on Picochip’s PC7608/09 platform. The reference framework supports both Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD) modes of operation and a variety of carrier frequencies. It also supports LTE advanced features like 2×2 DL MIMO, etc and has an upgrade path to LTE-A and Release 10. The integrated framework has been comprehensively tested for interoperability with both test UEs (Signalion and Aeroflex) and with commercial terminals, ensuring ready-to-build platform for TEMs. It has also passed IOT testing with commercial packet cores.
The Aricent-Picochip eNBF reference framework will be on display at the LTE Summit / 4G World Conference in Chicago, October 24-27. Onsite engineers will showcase the performance of Aricent’s Layer 2 and Layer 3 software on Picochip’s hardware.
