ADAPTIX, an early developer of orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) technology, has released a family of end-to-end mobile networking products based on its software-defined radio (SDR) architecture. These products, centered on an optically connected “virtual base station” approach, give service providers flexibility in deploying mobile WiMAX service networks.

“2006 represents a milestone year for the commercialization of mobile WiMAX, and ADAPTIX’s strategy and new products are designed to assist both mobile and fixed carriers with the transition from voice-centric to multimedia-centric services,” said ADAPTIX’s Vice President of Marketing and Product Management Byron Young. “Our new BX-3000 Micro Base Station family represents the next wave of Internet protocol-based (IP-based) OFDMA base stations that will cost a fraction of what large, macro platforms will, while offering substantially better per-sector and per-user performance over 3G.”

According to Young, multiple advantages are derived from the optically connected base station configuration, in which the BX-3000 is the baseband unit (BBU), connected to a separate RF unit (RFU) via an optical fiber. The optical pathway is immune to RF interference and can extend up to 10 km and can be clocked above 1 GHz.

Each BBU can interface with as many as three individually configured RFUs through separate optical links. For example, if one RFU were configured for 2.3 GHz at 8.75 MHz per channel and a second RFU was configured for 2.5 GHz at 10 MHz per channel, a third RFU could operate at a frequency band, power level and antenna type completely different from the other two RFUs.

Thus, the design provides functional diversity as well as spatial diversity for the RFU transceiver units. The use of optical fiber also allows the power amplifiers to be situated in proximity to the antennas, reducing copper losses from long antenna feeds. Furthermore, each BX-3000 can perform full routing, supporting up to 1000 users with Gigabit Ethernet trunking.

Additional insight into the potential applications of the SDR-based BX-3000 is gained from some of its specifications. The unit is designed in accordance with IEEE 802.16e-2005 and supports single-input, single-output (SISO), multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO), spatial division multiple access (SDMA) and beamforming antenna options. The aggregate airlink capacity for a single unit is in excess of 100 Mbps.

Young added that the high performance and low cost of the BX-3000 are enabled through high spectral efficiency. Furthermore, microcell service architectures facilitated by the unit are better suited for urban environments than macrocell architectures. This is because bit rates for a wireless link tend to fall off with increasing distance and the number of users per base station.

ADAPTIX has constructed its third-generation mobile OFDMA engine for the BX-3000 family. “ADAPTIX was one of the earliest innovators of OFDMA technology with two prior pre-WiMAX mobile systems already in deployment,” said Young. “Our third generation family provides the right combination of spectral efficiency, superior performance and cost efficiency that carriers require in order to take Mobile WiMAX and other emerging OFDMA services to the next step – mass deployment.” Next Generation PHS, 3GPP’s Long Term Evolution (LTE), and the IEEE’s 802.22 are all emerging standards considering OFDMA as their base physical layer standard.

Complementing the BX-3000 is ADAPTIX’s new SX series of mobile terminals. Smaller and lighter than a typical travel hard drive, the SX-300 compact mobile terminal is suitable for fixed, portable and true mobile uses. The SX-500 high-performance mobile terminal, designed for fixed, portable or vehicular use, features a dual-antenna array and can support peak throughput of more than 10 Mbps.

Recently, ADAPTIX was awarded a U.S. patent (#7,072,315) for medium access control (MAC) over OFDMA cellular networks, the technology used in its WiMAX base stations and mobile terminals. Given the thermal and battery management issues in laptop computers, this technology invites the question as to whether personal computing could return to the terminal-based model of the 1960s . . . without the wires.

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