RF&WirelessBlog

Toshiba noise reduction technology cuts phase noise by up to 90% in oscillation ICs

RF PLLs in mobile communication chips were typically structured with analogue and digital circuits. Since achieving ultra-fine analogue circuits is highly challenging, there is now a shift to all digital PLLs using time-to-digital converters (TDC). While digitisation reduces circuit size, it also increases phase noise - a degrading displacement in the pulse of an RF signal - due to larger delay in the TDC’s inverter circuits. Cutting phase noise is essential for high speed communication standards, like WiMAX, which require highly accurate signals. There is the concern that current TDC is sensitive to variations in manufacturing processes that impact on their performance. This raises a need for more robust manufacturability.

RF Engines introduces the World’s Most Flexible Ultra-Wideband Channeliser

RF Engines has released what it says is ‘the world’s most flexible ultra-wideband channeliser IP core’. ChannelCore Flex provides the ability to extract from a very wide input signal any number of channels simultaneously in real time.  These can be any combination of different bandwidths and sampling rates with any overlap and centre frequencies. Each channel can be individually defined and changed as required so that the system designer can tailor a solution that precisely meets the needs of the application on a single FPGA.

Antenova announces nine-band LTE mobile broadband antenna

UK integrated antenna and RF modules vendor Antenova has announced the new DATANOVA 4G nine-band antenna with LTE and GPS for the new generation of lightweight notebooks and netbooks.

DATANOVA 4G is a custom mobile broadband antenna that covers LTE (bands 4, 7, 13 and 17), 3G, CDMA/GSM, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, UWB and GPS. Like the other antennas in the DATANOVA range, it can cover all or as many of the bands as required, and provides a choice of wireless broadband connectivity options. The antennas eliminate the need for exposed or unsightly external antennas, and are provided in small volume, low profile form factors – down to the width of PCB, 0.8mm, making them particularly suitable for use in ultra thin, lightweight notebooks and netbooks, including the Dell Adamo XPS, which is the world's thinnest notebook at only 9.99mm in height/thickness.

Wireless moves into a new decade

The first week of a new year may seem a rather unsociable time to hold a major trade show, but the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas has become established as a showcase for the new product developments that will shape the immediate future of the consumer electronics market. In recent years wireless technology, and wireless-enabled IT products, have increased to become a dominant part of this market. The first days of a new year are also the traditional time for looking forward to what the future will bring, so the conjunction is timely.

So what will the new decade bring for the wireless and RF industry?

Sequans adds Dorfour MIMO IP for LTE

Sequans Communications has licensed unique LTE IP from Dorfour, a Tel Aviv-based fabless semiconductor company, to be incorporated into its recently-announced LTE development programme. Sequans, best known for its WiMAX technology, says that the Dorfour IP enables maximum likelihood performance at four times the efficiency in size and power consumption of currently available solutions. Sequans plans to demonstrate its first LTE solutions in early 2010, in support of pre-commercial operator trials.

Lime Microsystems and picoChip announce frequency-agnostic reference platform for 3G and 4G femtocells

Lime Microsystems and picoChip are collaborating to develop a reference platform for 3G and 4G femtocells, which will be based on Lime's multi-band multi-standard RF transceiver IC, the LMS6002, alongside picoChip's picoXcell baseband solutions for femtocells.

This jointly-developed platform will enable femtocell designs based on 3G or 4G standards (WCDMA/HSPA, CDMA2000, LTE, and WiMAX). It will be configurable to operate in all frequency bands of interest, including existing and emerging bands, and is expected to accelerate the adoption of emerging standards and enable femtocell deployment using less common cellular frequencies – for instance at 700MHz or 1.5GHz.

Cherrypiq Telecom launches customised planning and optimisation services for WiMAX, LTE and other networks

Cherrypiq Telecom, a telecommunications consultancy based in Bristol, UK, has announced the launch of a portfolio of network planning and management capabilities that enable designers of networks worldwide to meet technical requirements such as data rate, coverage, capacity and quality of service (QoS) while still satisfying or exceeding business objectives.

The range of wireless consulting services offered by Cherrypiq Telecom is independent of any equipment vendor, and includes: network design; site selection; planning and optimisation; engineering process automation; and end to end project management. Cherrypiq also has a number of strategic technical and distribution agreements in place for relevant state-of-the-art software tools.

Although currently finding themselves busiest in helping to design new WiMAX networks around the world, Cherrypiq's technical capabilities are equally strong in LTE, UMTS/HSPA, CDMA, GSM(-R), VoIP, WiFi and TETRA.

"Many existing consultancies have their main expertise either in the engineering aspects of designing networks or in putting together a financial and business case for the network," said Leon Hardwick, Managing Director of Cherrypiq Telecom. "At Cherrypiq Telecom we believe in a holistic approach, and it is our view that an effective network can only be realised by making sound engineering decisions that are informed by a clear understanding of the business constraints."

"As air interface access technologies become more complex, it is increasingly important to make sure all the parameters are right before roll-out," commented Alberto Loreto, Director of Services Delivery at Cherrypiq Telecom. "A number of the early WiMAX operators failed to optimise their networks adequately, and this has resulted in some bad press for the technology. Applying rigorous and robust planning and optimisation techniques at the earliest stage could have avoided costly reworks further down the line, and the complexity of the technology even means that some weaknesses may be impossible to eliminate after roll-out."

"The recession has forced some telecom equipment vendors to rationalise their in-house design teams," added Leon Hardwick. "This means that they need to outsource their network engineering function to a consultancy they can trust, and this is exactly where Cherrypiq can help. We provide a full service that includes optimisation of network roll-outs, and also assisting with the delivery of automation for ongoing optimisation of both radio and core networks. We can equally help operators with design and planning of networks, vendor selection and pre- and post-launch optimisation."

Started in 2008, Cherrypiq Telecom has recently moved into new premises in the Aztec Park business district of Bristol, one of the UK's hotspot areas for wireless innovation. It has also just launched a new Website to present the full extent of its consultancy service to network operators, telecom vendors, system integrators and Government and enterprise customers.

Ubiquiti Networks announces TDMA outdoor broadband wireless access technology

Ubiquiti Networks has announced what it describes as a disruptive global outdoor broadband wireless technology called AirMax, based on a TDMA protocol. The AirMax technology enables real outdoor TCP/IP speeds in excess of 150Mb/s, and includes the radio hardware design along with carrier class basestation MIMO antennas.

The TDMA protocol enables speed and network scalability over multi-kilometre link distances, and Ubiquiti says that AirMax delivers a price/performance combination that is unprecedented in current outdoor broadband wireless network deployments around the world.

The AirMax TDMA protocol has been designed with speed and scalability in mind. AirMax does not exhibit the degradation in performance when a large number of clients are added that is normally associated with outdoor WiFi installations based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards. AirMax technology has addressed this problem by using a hardware-accelerated TDMA protocol comprising a smart polling coordinator with smart scheduling and native VOIP packet detection. The network can scale to hundreds of clients per basestation while maintaining low latency, high throughput, and uninterrupted voice quality.

Ubiquiti has also introduced a MIMO antenna technology portfolio that is complementary to AirMax and features carrier-class performance with return loss, cross-polarization, gain, electrical downtilt, and beam width characteristics comparable to those normally found only in the highest quality cellular basestation antennas. The antennas have been designed and field tested to ensure optimized throughput performance while using both the AirMax protocol and 2x2 MIMO radio AirMax hardware.

A range of complementary AirMax based radio products has been introduced, allowing for flexible deployment options. The basestation platform is called The Rocket, and features a rugged 802.11n based 2x2 outdoor device which was designed to instantly mate to any of Ubiquiti's AirMax Antennas. On the subscriber side, Ubiquiti has released the next-generation version of the NanoStation. The new NanoStation M is a compact 2x2 MIMO indoor/outdoor CPE capable of over 150Mb/s TCP/IP throughput and can link distances up to 15km. Additionally, Ubiquiti offers the flexible Bullet M radio which can instantly pair to an outdoor antenna to provide link distances beyond 30km and throughput greater than 100Mb/s TCP/IP.

"With AirMax, we took an entirely different development strategy from WiMAX. Instead of starting with a performance requirement, we focused on achieving a strict cost target first and foremost. Then we spent the past several years progressing to the performance requirement, but only while staying within our strict cost target. The task was incredibly challenging, but the result is something the industry has never seen before. Essentially, AirMax enables a multi sectored 300+ capacity 100Mb/s+ basestation to be deployed for magnitudes less than comparable solutions available today," said Ben Moore, VP - Business Development.

Ubiquiti AirMax products are now shipping for the 5GHz unlicensed bands. Later this year, AirMax based products will be available for many other licensed and unlicensed frequency.

Anritsu teams with SweepMasters for 4G field test

Anritsu has announced that its newly released BTS Master MT8221B handheld basestation analyzer is compatible with SweepMasters' online test data collection system. The integration of the SweepMasters application into the MT8221B offers the fastest and most cost-effective means for data to be collected and analyzed with the BTS Master

The 20MHz demodulation capability of the analyzer means that field technicians and engineers can measure the performance of LTE and WiMAX networks accurately, and site-specific data sweep traces acquired with the MT8221B can be easily uploaded to a secure SweepMasters Website, allowing engineering managers to view, organize, and communicate measurement results in near real time from their desks, with a consequent saving in time and money. The Web-based application automatically names the file, and sets limit lines and markers on all traces according to the client's specifications in approximately 60 seconds per line.

"Anritsu has been working with SweepMasters for years through our Handheld Solutions Partners Program. The compatibility of the MT8221B and the SweepMasters system is a natural continuation of our relationship," said Pete Alexander, Americas National Sales Manager. "Anritsu has always been dedicated to designing field test instruments that help in the deployment, installation, and maintenance of wireless networks. The combination of our MT8221B and SweepMasters application creates a solution that will help ensure the successful rollout of 4G networks."

"We share the commitment Anritsu has to wireless field test and value our ongoing relationship with the company. Our unique solution can be used with any of Anritsu's handheld instruments to provide contractors, field engineers and technicians with a tool that makes their jobs easier. Network management also realizes benefits from our application in Anritsu handheld instruments because it creates efficiency and raises the bar on quality," said Trent Meilinger, CEO of SweepMasters.

The SweepMasters system can also be used with Anritsu's full line of handheld instruments, including the Site Master cable and antenna analyzers, Spectrum Master handheld spectrum analyzers, and Cell Master cable, antenna and base station analyzers.

Alvarion CEO steps down as Q2 results announced

WiMAX and wireless broadband infrastructure provider Alvarion has announced that Tzvika Friedman, President and CEO, will leave his position as soon as the board of directors have appointed his replacement. At the same time Alvarion declared its financial results for the second quarter ended 30 June 2009, showing total revenues down 13% from the first quarter of 2009, to $58.7 million. Revenues had also decreased 16% from $69.7 million in the second quarter of 2008.

Alvarion highlighted several strategic factors for the future, which included several large deal wins that were not yet reflected in the results, and the recently announced expansion of the partnership with Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN). Progress in turnkey projects capabilities were also cited, along with the achievement of expense reduction targets, which the company says has further lowered break-even level.

While WiMAX shipments in Q2 were down 11% from Q2 2008 to $39.2 million, Alvarion's WiMAX revenues were up 18% from Q2 2008 to $44.9 million.

"We are encouraged by the improvement in order intake during the second quarter as well as by several major strategic customer wins which we expect to translate into hundreds of millions of dollars in future revenues," said Tzvika Friedman, President and CEO of Alvarion. "We continued to reduce operating expenses and carefully manage our working capital in Q2, positioning the company for profit margin expansion when revenue growth resumes. We expect gradual improvement in profitability during the second half of 2009, accelerating next year."

"Long-term growth drivers continue to support WiMAX demand," he continued. "These include: low broadband penetration in many countries, continuing growth in demand for mobile computing in developed markets, improving operator business case due to declining cost and widespread availability and types of subscriber devices, and upcoming spectrum auctions in several key countries. We are pleased with the level of sales activity, and requests for proposals and new project opportunities are increasing, as governments around the world invest alongside private industry to encourage broadband availability and stimulate the economy. However, sales cycles remain quite long, and it is difficult to predict how rapidly these projects will move forward. After we win a deal, it takes time until we receive orders that are translated to shipments and, in turn, into revenues. Meanwhile, we believe that our industry position is very strong, and our determination to control costs and win more deals has never been stronger."

Commenting on his decision to step down as President and CEO, Tzvika Friedman said, "I believe it is an appropriate time to introduce new leadership to take the company to the next level. For me, it's time to take a break, reconnect with my family, and pursue other business and personal interests. I have the greatest confidence in Alvarion's future and look forward to supporting the new CEO and the rest of the team in any way I can."