A WiMAX design exploration library is available for use with Agilent Technologies Advanced Design System (ADS2005A) electronic design automation (EDA) software. With its fully coded bit-error rate (BER) analysis, this library helps wireless systems designers and verification engineers speed development of communications products for broadband wireless access (BWA) applications. Designers can identify DSP and analog/RF integration problems early; thereby avoiding overspecification. Because system designers can analyze a system's performance before all of its components have been designed and any system integration problems can be eliminated early in the design cycle, significant cost savings can be realized.

The WiMAX design exploration library provides preconfigured simulation setups, signal sources and fully coded BER analysis for simulation of the circuitry used in BWA designs. It works within the ADS environment and with the Agilent Ptolemy simulator to streamline the design and verification of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM)-based, last-mile service designs. ADS offers a complete set of front-to-back simulation and layout tools, as well as instrument links, for RF and microwave IC design in a single, integrated design flow. The Ptolemy solution is a system-level simulation and design environment within ADS and is based on a hybrid of data flow and timed synchronous technologies. It facilitates analog/RF and digital signal processing co-design.

To aid in large-scale RF/mixed-signal IC design, the WiMAX design exploration library from Agilent Technologies can be imported into the company's RF design environment that integrates the RF simulation technologies from ADS into the Cadence analog and mixed-signal design flow.
Agilent Technologies, www.agilent.com

The MASWSS0144 RoHS-compliant SP3T T/R switch from M/A-COM offers excellent versatility and a low insertion loss to maximize system performance while reducing design complexity. Configured to enable switching from a common antenna port to dual-band GSM, CDMA, cellular, PCS and GPS receive ports, it is targeted for use in tri-mode mobile phones.

The MASWSS0144 switch is fabricated on a low-cost 0.5-micron gate-length GaAs process with full passivation added for robust reliability and features an asymmetric design. It has dedicated paths for each mode, which allows each path to be optimized for the assigned mode of operation. At 1.0 GHz, 2.7 V control voltage, and PIN of +34 dBm, the component features low insertion loss of 0.6 dB, high isolation of 30 dB, cross modulation of -102 dBm for the CDMA path, and third harmonics greater than 72.5 dBc for the GSM path.

It comes packaged in a surface-mount 3 mm PQFN-12, making it well suited for cost-sensitive, space-constrained applications. It is available from stock and is priced at $0.45 in quantities of 100K.
M/A-COM, www.macom.com

A 90 nm single-chip, software-defined solution for advanced WiMAX and WCDMA applications is available from picoChip. Powered by the ARM926EJ-S processor from ARM and combined with a fully programmable signal-processing array, this cost-effective solution significantly reduces the cost of WiMAX deployment without compromising the flexibility essential for standards compliance and system performance enhancement. As a result, carriers can build-out their infrastructure based on the 802.16d WiMAX standard, while being able to quickly upgrade their equipment to support mobility once the 802.16e standard is complete.

WiMAX implementations are power intensive and require increasing numbers of DSP or FPGA devices. Unfortunately, this can lead to a rapid escalation of cost. The 90 nm synthesizable ARM processor used in the picoChip next-generation wireless solution helps mitigate these concerns through its small size and exceptional power efficiency. It enables the picoChip solution to flaunt a lower cost bill of materials, while also providing a standardized software development platform for a fast path to WiMAX certification and productization. With the ARM-powered picoChip offering, carriers can bring mobile WiMAX services online in the shortest time frame possible. In turn, customers can maximize the benefit from the WiMAX standard with ubiquitous broadband Internet access and enhanced mobile multimedia services.
picoChip, www.picochip.com
ARM, www.arm.com

A WiMAX mesh networking solution from Skypilot is bringing sophisticated mesh networking to WiMAX deployments. It provides multihop, multilink, multipath, and multi-base-station connectivity with a breadth of coverage, performance, and fault-tolerance capabilities that are not available with point-to-multipoint deployments. The end result is an interoperable, carrier-class solution that boasts tremendous benefits for network operators.

Skypilot's WiMAX mesh network is based on a sectorized antenna architecture that mirrors the benefits of point-to-multipoint topologies. At the same time, it can deliver the benefits of mesh networking, which include close proximity via “picocells” for increased subscriber performance, non-line-of-sight operation via mesh routing around obstructions, easily expandable coverage areas, scalable network capacity, and fault tolerance with failover routing. The highly flexible design of the mesh network also demonstrates load balancing and traffic segmentation, subscriber mobility throughout mesh, and automatic discovery for lower operating expenditure (OPEX.)

The WiMAX mesh network leverages Skypilot's synchronous mesh protocol and uses the Fujitsu MB87M3400 WiMAX system-on-chip to provide WiMAX mesh networking infrastructure solutions for the 2.3 GHz to 2.7 GHz, 3.3 GHz to 3.8 GHz and 5.x GHz frequency bands. The MB87M3400 SoC uses an OFDM 256 PHY that supports channels from 1.75 MHz up to 20 MHz, and can operate in TDD or FDD modes, with support for all available channel bandwidths. A programmable frequency selection generates the sample clock for any desired bandwidth. When applying 64 QAM modulation in a 20 MHz channel and using all 192 subcarriers, the SoC's data rate can go up to 75 Mbps. Uplink subchannelizationis also supported.
Skypilot, www.skypilot.com
Fujitsu, www.fujitsu.com