Good news on femtocell interference
The Femto Forum has published the results of an extensive radio study, concluding that interference is not a barrier to wide scale femtocell deployment even when the femtocells occupy the same radio channel as the macro network. Many Femto Forum member companies contributed to the study, including both operators and vendors. The research also identified a number of interference mitigation techniques designed to maximise the capacity benefits offered by femtocells. The full white paper can be downloaded here, and here’s some more coverage of the study.
TI announces entry into femtocell market
Texas Instruments has revealed that Samsung, Huawei, Airvana and ZTE are using its DSPs in their femtocells. The company says real volumes for chip makers and OEMs are still some way off, in 2010 and beyond, but it has joined the Femto Forum and is now actively engaged in the industry. TI’s solution is based on its generic TCI6484 DSP (with an option of L2/L3 software available from Continuous Computing). Unlike picoChip, Percello and others, TI believes that the industry is not yet ready for a dedicated, optimised femtocell solution. Josef Alt, VP of business development at TI’s infrastructure group, estimates that a femtocell based on the 6484 would have a bill of materials of about $200.
ABI publishes picocell thoughts
ABI Research has published a new report on the picocell market, concluding that picocells must adapt to survive. Picocells need to borrow from the advances made in the femtocell arena (specifically a lower cost technology platform and self-installation by the end customer to reduce deployment costs).
Some rather confused reports suggest that picocells have a limited window of opportunity to evolve before they are replaced with ‘super femtos’. This makes it sound as though super femtos are something different from evolved picocells. In practice, picocells are evolving into super femtos by incorporating femtocell attributes (technology platform, architecture, Iu-h / TR-069 standard interfaces, self-provisioning etc.).
Pirelli Broadband Solutions is incorporating Airvana’s WCDMA femtocell access point technology in its femto-enabled CPE. This is not a big surprise, given Pirelli’s partnership with Nokia Siemens Networks announced in May. Airvana’s femtocell APs have already been integrated with the NSN Femto Gateway.
Following Total Telecom’s classic Femtocells Doomed “top story”, Unstrung asks “Why spend the bucks when you can just walk closer to the kitchen window?”
Rethink says vendors must deliver more value for money and focus on reducing cost of ownership for carriers during the downturn – for example with femtocells. Femto Hub is optimistic, pointing out that operators responded to the last economic downturn by investing more in their existing networks, rather than building new ones, and suggests 3G femtocells might benefit at the expense of 3.9G / 4G rollouts.
Clearwire CEO Ben Wolff gives his thoughts on femtocells
“I think that femtocells are promising for any kind of wireless network. Having a femtocell indoors will provide better in-building coverage, and an opportunity for our [cable] partners to look at ways to utilize the backhaul they have going into the house. I think all wireless networks going forward could use them, but there are still questions about the business model — who pays for it and getting the cost of femtos down to a point where they can be cost-effective for a home.”
In other news…
- Dean Bubley unconvinced on LTE femtos
- Motorola proposes femtocell business cases
- Think Femtocell on the femto product lifecycle
- Repeater fire sale – “it’s tough to beat having your own cell site”
- Ubiquisys named as a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum
- Wireless Week believes femto vendors will try to lock in operators
Vendor announcements…
- Analog Devices unveils 3G transceiver for femtocells
- Continuous Computing to provide Trillium femto software to C&S Microwave (now has 9 femto design wins)
- Agilent Technologies Displays Femtocell Testing Capability
- Rosum breaking into 911 via femtocells
- Mobile phones now working on the Glasgow underground
Filed under: Market updates | Tagged: femtocells, Femtocell, Airvana, Femto Forum, Ubiquisys, Motorola, Continuous Computing, Pirelli, Clearwire, Rosum, Analog Devices, Texas Instruments, ABI Research, Agilent Technologies
