RF&WirelessBlog

New SDR demo board is credit-card sized

A new Software Defined Radio (SDR) demonstration board from CML Microcircuits, the DE9941, is a credit card sized demonstration platform for a complete linear modulation-based SDR for wireless data applications. It is designed to be small and low-cost with minimal components. The small form factor of just 83mm x 55mm is made possible by the high integration of key functions provided by CML’s RF and Baseband product offerings: the CMX998, CMX994 and CMX7164.

MWC 2012: Tensilica and mimoOn demo LTE PHY reference platform

A demonstration of LTE User Equipment and an eNodeB PHY with real-time downlink and uplink traffic was shown by Tensilica and mimoOn at Mobile World Congress. The software programmable radio demo is built on Tensilica's Atlas LTE reference platform using its ConnX BBE16 DSP and Tensilica Dataplane Processors (DPUs). It uses mimoOn's mi!MobilePHY software for LTE handsets and their LTE Intermediate Library, which has now been ported to Tensilica's ConnX DPUs. The demonstration is software upgradable so it can also support HSPA+ and WiMAX.

MWC 2012: ZTE introduces commercial basestation for LTE-Advanced with inter-band carrier aggregation

Chinese infrastructure vendor ZTE Corporation has today launched an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) inter-band dual-carrier commercial basestation at Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona, Spain.

The new LTE-A basestation is based on the company's SDR hardware platform, and introduces inter-band carrier aggregation and MIMO (multiple input and multiple output) technologies. These technologies can double peak rate for individual users, enabling high-speed downloads of up to 270Mb/s in the downlink and meeting growing data service demands. During the congress, ZTE also demonstrated the basestation's inter-band carrier aggregation capabilities on two bands: 20MHz at 2.6GHz and 20MHz at 1.8GHz.

As frequency resources are becoming increasingly valuable, carrier aggregation technology will help assist operators with separate and discontinuous frequency resources because it can aggregate multiple carriers and increase frequency utilisation rate. This technology also enables greater bandwidth, higher user throughput and can solve the problem of rapid throughput decrease in the cell edge.

At the same time ZTE launched a next-generation TD-LTE multi-mode picocell basestation, aimed at mitigating problems associated with rapidly increasing mobile service data requirements. It also provides comprehensive coverage and capacity offloading to supplement macro coverage - it can be deployed in hot spots, blind spots, cell-edge spots and indoors dependent on traffic. It is also compatible with micro, macro and femto basestations.

Based on ZTE's SDR platform it supports LTE and WiFi simultaneously. Because of this, operators can configure Pico to work in WiFi to attract users at the initial stages of LTE construction, and later transfer them to TD-LTE/WiFi dual-mode as the LTE network matures. Moreover, the Pico can work in CPE mode and use TD-LTE as wireless backhaul while simultaneously working as a WiFi access point. The relay-assisted product also enables operators that lack wireline backhaul resources to efficiently develop their advanced heterogeneous LTE networks.

ZTE's LTE products are in use with high-end operators in Europe, North America and Japan. As of the end of 2011, ZTE had won 30 LTE commercial contracts across the globe, including with CSL, H3G, Vodafone, Softbank, Zain and others. The company has also deployed test networks in cooperation with more than 100 operators all around the world, including in Europe, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East.

SDR architecture for military comms promises smaller, interoperable field radios

Cambridge Consultants has introduced a new architecture, ModStar, for the design of low power and highly efficient software defined radios (SDRs) for military communications. ModStar promises to enable smaller and more flexible high performance SDRs  for operation in the field.

In recent years, defence organisations around the world have invested in a variety of custom radio systems, using many different air interfaces, to perform specific tasks. However, a key challenge for operations today is ensuring that all of these different air interfaces can be interoperable in the field, and that seamless communications can be conducted on any of the legacy systems. SDR can provide exactly this capability, delivering support for multiple air interfaces within a single, flexible implementation.

Direct conversion I/Q demodulator targets SDRs

CML Microcircuits has added a new Direct Conversion Receiver IC (DCRx) to its family of RF ICs. The CMX994 targets the next generation of multi-mode Software Defined Radios (SDR) for wireless data and two-way radio applications. The company says the design of the CMX994 provides the optimum route for on-board integration, allowing a small RF receiver to be realised with a minimum of external components in both zero IF and low IF systems.

mimoOn’s LTE PHY software on TI’s new femtocell SoC

LTE software for SDR company mimoOn is collaborating with TI on its 3GPP compliant LTE PHY software. TI will offer complete PHY software for LTE Release 8 and 9 for its’ KeyStone multicore architecture, with a specific focus on its newest TMS320TCI6612 and TMS320TCI6614 SoCs. These devices are especially designed for small cell base stations in the enterprise, pico and metro markets.

Cambridge Consultants develops industry's smallest 2G and 3G femtocell base station

Cambridge Consultants has developed a platform for the industry’s smallest commercially available 2G and 3G femtocell. Called Sidewinder, the small-cell platform is software configurable for GSM/GPRS/EDGE, WCDMA/HSPA+ and other SDR applications, providing new levels of adaptability for cellular base stations. It offers a low cost of entry for companies wishing to exploit these standards and sets a new benchmark in flexible, cost effective designs.

Alcatel-Lucent proposes distributed structure to replace traditional basestation

Alcatel-Lucent has announced lightRadio, a new concept in mobile and broadband infrastructure that it says will both streamlines and radically simplify mobile networks, which is on show at this week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Pioneered by Alcatel-Lucent's R&D arm Bell Labs, and supported by partners Freescale and HP, the new lightRadio system replaces basestations with much smaller components that are distributed both into the antenna and throughout a cloud-like network, thereby reducing both power consumption and technical complexity.

mimoOn increases market share in LTE PHY software

mimoOn, the Duisburg, Germany, based supplier of LTE software for Software Defined Radio (SDR), has notched up a new licensing deal with a leading chip vendor for its mi!MobilePHY Physical Layer (PHY)

Cognovo LTE software modem reduces handset baseband size

Cognovo has announced its Software Defined Modem (SDM) platform which the Cambridge, UK, based company says is designed to reduce the cost, size and design complexity of LTE handsets and other wireless enabled consumer electronic products. The SDM platform, using technology originating from research carried out at ARM, is already under evaluation at leading handset OEMs and is expected to appear in handsets during 2012.