picoChip Powers Axiom for Industry First Multi-protocol Femtocell Architecture

(Business News & Technology News, 21 Apr 2007)

Axiom Wireless Inc., a manufacturer of mobile broadband infrastructure, has announced its new "One Phone Service Enabler" product family. This complete system architecture includes the ACF-400 switch and two femtocells: the A-Pro2100 for WCDMA (HSPA) and the A-Pro3500 WiMAX. This is the first WiMAX femtocell, and the first femtocell architecture expressly designed to integrate different wireless standards, starting with these but adding more. With the One Phone Service Enabler, carriers will be able to offer in building service coverage without modifying their existing network, at lower cost, with higher reliability and more flexibility.

Axiom Wireless has chosen picoChip's PC202 multi-core DSP and the PC8208 software reference design as the solution platform for its UMTS Femtocell implementation. In a single device, the PC202 integrates high-performance DSP functionality, specialized accelerators and an ARM 9 processor. The powerful multi-core DSP runs picoChip's PC8208 HSDPA modem reference design, while the ARM runs the control code and application stacks used to interface to the carrier's network. At the end of the year, Axiom will be able to upgrade the A-Pro2100 to include picoChip's PC8209 software to include HSUPA functionality. The same platform can also support WiMAX and other standards (cdma2000, EvDO and TD-SCDMA).

"The combination of our previous experience in developing and deploying Pico and Micro IP Base Stations with picoChip's reference designs enables carriers around the world to offer improved low cost indoor coverage and capacity. We have designed our system to easily integrate with carriers' networks, no matter which standard they use, and are launching with the two fastest growing wireless protocols. The flexibility of picoChip in supporting different standards was a major attraction," said Jake Han, CEO and Founder, Axiom Wireless.

"picoChip is pleased to add Axiom Wireless to a list of highly capable companies that have chosen our solutions for the femtocell market," said Guillaume d’Eyssautier, President and CEO, picoChip. "Axiom's innovative architecture and control platform allows it to easily support many standards, increasingly necessary as carriers move to a mix of protocols."

The PC202 is the most advanced multi-core DSP on the market, delivery ten times better MIPS/Dollar than legacy processors. This performance allows it to support different wireless standards purely from software. picoChip has reference designs for WiMAX (both 16d and 16e), WCDMA (HSDPA and upgrade to HSUPA) and other standards are in development (CDMA2000, EvDO and TD-SCDMA).

Femtocells, sometimes referred to as 3G access points or "LCIB" (low cost indoor basestations), allow carriers to improve in-building coverage, without needing more macrocell basestations or subsidizing costly new handsets. The advantages to users include better coverage, cheap (or free) calls and the freedom to use any handset they wish. As such, they deliver FMC (fixed mobile convergence) but with none of the disadvantages of VoWiFi or expensive dual-mode handsets.

picoChip
Axiom Wireless