Agilent, picoChip, mimoOn look to 3GPP LTE femtocell opportunities

Without providing specific findings, Agilent said that their engineering cooperation has advanced the technology needed to meet the demands of the emerging LTE femtocell market.


Engineers from Agilent Technologies, picoChip, and mimoOn have teamed and tested a 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) LTE (long-term evolution) femtocell reference design using Agilent’s technologies, the test and measurement company announced today.

For more on LTE testing, see “Protocol-stack testing for LTE technology.”

LTE is a new standard that aims to ensure UMTS remains competitive and, with bandwidth as high as 20 MHz, aims to give users enhanced mobile-Internet access. With the first commercial LTE networks expected to be in place by 2010 and the LTE standardization progressing as part of Release 8 from the 3GPP manufacturers, industry expects have called for suitable test capability to verify their LTE products.

For more on femtocells, see “Mobile operators seek a home for cost-effective 3G services.”

Separately, femtocells have been described as emerging technology that act as miniature cellular base stations using the GSM spectrum to enable cell phones to work within the home on a broadband connection. They compete against Wi-Fi-enabled handsets paired with a specially designed Wi-Fi routers connected to the Internet for mobile calls at home.

According to Santa Clara, Calif-based Agilent, the three companies collaborated to ensure that the tests of their reference design meet the requirements of the LTE standard in development. Without providing specific findings, Agilent said that their engineering cooperation has advanced the technology needed to meet the demands of the emerging LTE femtocell market.

The test solutions used to validate the femtocell reference design included an Agilent MXA Signal Analyzer with the Agilent 89600 Series VSA (Vector Signal Analysis) software and the company’s new 3GPP LTE modulation analysis option. According to the company, the 3GPP LTE VSA option allows LTE signal analysis from the analog or digital baseband through to the RF antenna for Node B infrastructure, as well as end-user equipment prototype designs.

“Agilent is fully committed to addressing the complete functionality and performance test requirements that engineers need to create high-quality products for the LTE market,” said Guy Sene, VP and general manager of Agilent’s signal analysis division, in a statement. “These advances in testing for femtocells will significantly contribute to the market delivery of this innovative technology.”

For the testing, mimoOn, a player in the software defined radio for advanced wireless standards market, developed the reference design code to run on picoChip’s multicore DSP platform. This follows on Germany-based mimoOn's May implementation of a 3GPP LTE protocol stack on a next-generation packet processor.

Agilent said that the mimoOn reference designs allow OEMs to achieve faster time-to-market and lower development costs because they can focus their resources on adding value and differentiating their products. PicoChip added that, as a software-defined solution, it is future-proof and can be upgraded as the LTE standard is refined and updated.

“LTE is the next market for picoChip,” said Guillaume d’Eyssautier, president and CEO of the company, in today’s statement. “We are the only femtocell silicon vendor with operator commitment, and it is crucial that we continue to leverage that at every stage.”

Indeed, picoChip is one of the leading suppliers of femtocell technology. The company recently announced the availability of the industry’s first LTE femtocell and picocell reference designs, the PC8608 Home eNodeB and PC8618 eNodeB, respectively. That followed on a June 2007 investment round wherein the company secured $27 million in funding, some of which was slated for LTE work.

According to Bath, England-based picoChip, it is currently the only company shipping femtocell silicon, with customers that include Ubiquisys and ipAccess. PicoChip is also a founding member company of the Femto Forum, a growing independent industry association that supports femtocell deployment worldwide.


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