To expedite the development of WiMAX femtocell access points (APs), Freescale Semiconductor and Sequans Communications have combined technologies to ready mobile WiMAX femtocell AP reference design that promises to shrink form factors and lower cost of development.

The joint solution is delivered on a 165 mm x 135 mm printed circuit board and enables rapid creation of WiMAX femtocell APs capable of supporting more than 50 simultaneous users. The reference design was displayed at this week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

“Freescale has the technology, market insight and world class partners such as Sequans, to help usher a new generation of seamless and ubiquitous broadband connectivity, said Fawzi Behmann, strategic marketing director for Freescale’s Networking Systems Division.”

The solution’s is based on the integration of Freescale’s PowerQUICC II Pro MPC8313E processor with Sequans’ SQN2130 single-chip mobile WiMAX 802.16e PHY + MAC ASIC, which includes Sequans’ mature, field-tested MAC software, S³MAX, and delivers MIMO-A and MIMO-B functionality. The radio with PA is supplied by PMC-Sierra. On board memory includes SDRAM and Flash.

One of the newest additions to Freescale’s family of industry-leading PowerQUICC communications processors, the MPC8313E integrates a unique combination of Gigabit Ethernet (GbE), USB2.0, high speed interconnect and advanced power management technologies to provide an ideal platform for WiMAX femtocell access points. Powered by the latest generation of Freescale’s e300 core based on Power Architecture technology, the MPC8313E processor runs at speeds up to 333 MHz and delivers up to 700 MIPS.

“The joint Freescale/Sequans reference design represents the most mature solution available today for OEMs and ODMs interested in developing products for the fast growing WiMAX femtocell market,” said Bernard Aboussouan, vice president of marketing for Sequans. “It shortens development cycles, enables the creation of differentiated market-ready products for femtocell and picocell base stations, and also addresses the major challenge of the femtocell market with a low bill of materials for volume shipments.”

Sequans’ SQN2130 ASIC for mobile WiMAX base stations is Wave 2 and IEEE 802.16e-2005 ready, delivers 2 x 2 MIMO and high throughput, and can support several thousand subscriber stations. It supports hybrid-ARQ Category 4 and sustains full line rates with small packet sizes, translating to throughput of more than 35 Mbps. The power consumption of the SQN2130 is below 1.5 W in MIMO mode.

According to Freeacale, the reference design is available from Sequans, with bill of materials priced at under $100 for high volume shipments.

www.freescale.com
www.sequans.com

RSS    Save to Del.icio.us  Digg This