Picochip turns 3G Base Station into a USB Dongle
Picochip has boasted its vision for next-generation Femtocells, including picoXcell technology that will allow its customers to create an entire 3G cellular base station in an ultra-small form factor such as a USB dongle.
The thought of a base station on a USB dongle is one of several Picochip developments. Others include enabling technology for small form factor public access HSPA+ Femtocells; picoArray technology that is already delivering 4G services around the world and enabling LTE trials; and the company’s new platform for dual mode (LTE and HSPA+) small cells.
The accessibility of ultra-small Femtocells will allow operators to easily add HSPA+ home-base station capabilities to appliances such as residential gateways, cable modems and set-top boxes, simply by plugging in a USB key. The company said that a private cell site solution like this will solve consumer problems of ‘not-spots’ or coverage holes, deliver far faster data services than on a conventional cell, improve battery life and enable a variety of innovative home zone services.
Advances in semiconductor processing and packaging, signal processing algorithms and systems integration, along with the advent of USB 3.0, have all come together to make the concept of a USB Femtocell into a realistic possibility.
According to Rupert Baines, VP of Marketing at Picochip, it may sound incredible, but within a matter of months they will be able to fit a complete 3G base station on a USB dongle. The last year has shown just how versatile Femtocell technology is. They believe that giving their customers the ability to put a Femtocell on a USB dongle enables huge opportunities for Picochip, network equipment suppliers, makers of consumer products and service providers. It’s part of their vision for driving the market forward. And for end users, access to enhanced cellular services will become as simple as plugging in a USB key.
UK Joint Venture achieves 12,000 joint 3G Base Station
According to UK based network infrastructure joint venture, it has now delivered more than 12,000 consolidated 3G sites for T-Mobile UK and Hutchison 3G UK (Three). The company, Mobile Broadband Network Limited (MBNL) is a network joint-venture between Three and Everything Everywhere – itself the merged UK arms of Orange and T-Mobile.
The consolidation of the two networks has included the switching off of more than 5,000 sites – more than 2,000 of which have already been fully decommissioned.
Ericsson was the key service provider for the project and was responsible for network design and deployment, the acquisition and building of sites, capacity management, equipment swaps and vital upgrades. Millions of man-hours were committed by Ericsson to improve speeds and coverage for Three and T-Mobile customers.
Nokia Siemens Networks, MBNL’s sole 3G equipment supplier, provided the entire site installation work, third line operational support services, and spare parts and upgrades.
BT Wholesale provided the Ethernet backhaul to support delivery of mobile voice and data traffic to thousands of cell sites across the country. BT Wholesale’s work will also ensure the MBNL network continues to meet the capacity needs of the parent company’s customers. BT began work on delivering the managed service project in June 2009 and since then several hundred BT employees have been involved in delivering this project as planned.
Arqiva, the communications infrastructure and media services company, is MBNL’s planned cell site partner and has provided 5,100 sites to the consolidation project.
According to Emin Gurdenli, Vice President of Network Services at Everything Everywhere, network coverage and capacity is vital in providing a great customer experience so the success of MBNL in delivering 12,000 3G sites is great news for T-Mobile customers. The integration of a large number of former Orange cell sites into the network will also provide enhanced capacity and coverage to all of the company’s customers.
China Telecom joins ZTE to deploy green 3G network
www.WirelessFederation.com/news: China Unicom joined hands with ZTE Corporation for the deployment of a green 3G network utilizing only those commercial base station equipment that are eco-friendly and energy-saving.
The station is in the Great Meisha area of Shenzhen in China and provides flexible configurations to cater to the needs of various outdoor environments operators.The solar energy-based, integrated solution also provides high energy-conversion efficiency with stable and reliable power supply.
The green 3G base station of ZTE relies on wind and solar energy for operation and this green solution reaches 100 per cent energy-savings capabilities. It helps China Unicom save cost to further lower its TCO as the remote control features of the solution requires no on-site manpower support.
According to Xu Ming, vice president, ZTE, the company is committed to environmental protection and devote enormous resources to develop innovative green products and is pleased to work with China Telecom.
Vodafone and Orange agree Spain 3G deal
The world’s largest mobile operator, Vodafone Group Plc, has reach an agreement to share its 3G network in Spain with local rival Orange Spain, formerly Amena Movil. The move is the latest in a number of cost-cutting measures recently undertaken by the Newbury, UK-based operator.
Under the terms of the agreement, Vodafone Spain and Orange Spain will share 1,000 3G base stations by October 2007, rising to 5,000 over the next four years. This will allow the two operators to offer 3G services to small rural towns in Spain, and is expected to increase their 3G network coverage by 25%.
The main advantage to Vodafone and Orange is that it will allow them to marshall their resources to take on the dominant mobile operator, Telefonica Moviles Espana. The agreement also means that Vodafone and Orange will need 40% less base stations to provide their services in the areas covered by the agreement.
The existing network will continue to be managed solely by Vodafone, but each operator can their own traffic independently while retaining full responsibility for the quality of service it offers to customers.
The agreement covers selected towns with fewer than 25,000 residents. The agreement also provides for extending the co-operation to 2G networks in small towns.
“This agreement will enable us to optimize and rationalize the layout of the 3G networks in Spain as well as limit the environmental impact of the infrastructure required to provide mobile services,” said the MD of France Telecom (Orange) in Spain, Belarmino Garca.
Vodafone undertook a number of cost-saving measures after posting the largest-ever corporate loss in UK history earlier this year. These cost cutting measures includes offloading its Japanese operation, selling its 25% stake Belgian mobile operator Proximus, and outsourcing its application development and maintenance functions.
