picoChip has launched the PC8219E, said to be the world’s first Class 3 femtocell reference design that brings femtocell technology to campuses, rural areas or "metrozone" hot-spots. The turnkey solution builds on picoChip’s PC8208 and 8209 PHYs to provide a complete extended-reach HSPA femtocell baseband.
The PC8219E’s eight user capacity, 2km range and support for vehicular mobility make it well-suited for low-cost, wide-area open access femtocell deployments in areas where carriers need to cost-effectively enhance coverage and capacity. Although femtocells are often thought of for residential applications, there is a growing recognition that the advantages they deliver, in terms of capital and operating expenditure, can be more broadly applicable.
Running on picoChip’s current production silicon, already deployed in volume by OEM customers with mobile carriers, the PC8219E provides a seamless migration path to picoChip's PC3xx picoXcell SoCs. As such, it offers manufacturers an easy way to address this emerging market segment.
The PC8219E is a programmable, flexible, easily integrated product that builds on picoChip’s experience with field-proven, robust and fully compliance-tested PHY. It caters for multiple users, has self configuration features and backhauls via the internet. Featuring industry-standard FAPI and FRMI interfaces, as defined by the Femto Forum, the PC8219E also has fully-compliant security functions. The new design includes a network monitoring function that allows the femtocell to reconfigure itself to behave like a handset receive chain, synchronizing with a macro-base station nearby, improving network planning and providing the basis for Self Organizing Network (SON) functions.
This new variety of mobile cells has been termed "greater femtocells" or "superfemtos". Such products are similar to the 3GPP "Local Area Basestation" or traditional picocells, but add the femtocell’s capabilities to use standard backhaul and to self-configure for interference management. The Femto Forum has recently standardized femtocells into Class 1 (typically residential), Class 2 (primarily indoor for enterprise) and Class 3 (for rural, metro and wider area deployment). The picoChip PC8219E product is the world’s first solution for Class 3 femtocells.
picoChip
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