can we use this?

FYI:

http://www.motorola.com/razr/countryselector.htm

 

Wireless data!

http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~gesbert/mimo_research.html

 

4G vs 3G Industry Market Analysis, Data & Figures
Fourth generation wireless will be rolled out by this time next year by forward-thinking wireless operators who are now working with 4G technology providers in an effort to leapfrog expensive and ineffective third generation wireless strategies.
According to the study, "3G Alternatives: 3G vs. WiFi vs. 4G" from Visant Strategies, 4G cellular technologies may be deployed as soon as 2003. 4G, considered to be IP-based cellular systems, are available from a several wireless vendors. A number of different 4G air interfaces are now being readied for beta deployments by leading wireless operators since 4G technologies offer a lower cost and/or higher performance alternative to traditional 3G systems.

4G digital IP-based high-speed cellular systems are anticipated to account for 14% of total mobile wireless data revenues in 2007, with 4G carriers realizing a total of 50 million subscribers by year-end 2007. Revenues from 4G infrastructure sales are anticipated to reach $5.3 billion during 2007.

WLAN enabled hot spots will generate approximately $12 billion in revenues in 2007. WiFi, operators and aggregators will form a symbiotic relationship with mobile operators, with mobile carriers accounting for over 60% of all hot spot revenues in 2007. Mobile operators are already using WiFi to complement existing services and are expanding the use of the technology, particularly in the enterprise sector, which is fueling both WiFi and mobile wireless applications.

WiFi's threat to 3G is not fully realized until it is coupled with existing 2.5G technologies such as GPRS. Together these technologies can provide wide coverage at roughly analog modem speeds and fast data rates in areas with heavy user traffic.

Despite threats, 3G is expected to show positive results in the long run. For example, subscribers to W-CDMA-based services are expected to reach 90 million by 2007, mainly in Japan and Europe. Still, navigating the long term could prove tricky for 3G suppliers. Operators are seeking to extend the life and capabilities of existing 2G systems through inexpensive upgrades to GPRS, EDGE, and cdma2000 1XRTT thus delaying the deployment of 3G solutions such as W-CDMA and cdma2000 1XEV-DO and 1XEV-DV. In the interim, both WiFi and 4G are gaining momentum.

The study defines global growth in 2.5G, 3G, 4G and WiFi with subscribers, market share and sales of infrastructure from 2002 through 2007.

 

FYI: http://brew.qualcomm.com/brew/en/

 

FYI: http://www.ias.ac.in/resonance/July2000/pdf/July2000p28-43.pdf

 

Coding Scheme for 4G: http://cs.felk.cvut.cz/~xobitko/ga/

 

4G process: http://dept.physics.upenn.edu/courses/gladney/phys151/lectures/lecture_mar_17_2003.shtml

 

Looking ahead, researchers contemplate `4G' tech

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Almar Latour PSST! Have you heard about 4G yet? You will, according to telecom researchers who are looking into the future, way into the future. Despite plunging stock prices and costly telecom networks that have yet to meet their profit promise, a buzz is beginning about the next new thing: Fourth-generation telephony, or 4G. No one in the industry can give an exact definition for the term, and some speak of it in terms more frequently heard at New Age religion seminars. But already some researchers and telecom operators use it to evoke a braver new wireless world than its predecessor, 3G, that would create applications that most consumers can't yet properly imagine. "There is not an exact technical definition for 4G," says Hakan Eriksson, the head of research and development at Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson.
"It's a research topic that goes beyond 2010." Adds Osten Makitalo, Telia Mobile's research director who developed mobile telephony in Scandinavia more than a decade ago: "4G is a system of systems that can take advantage of all kinds of different wireless technologies." Thank you. In a nutshell, 4G is an ultra-high-speed wireless network, an information superhighway without cables. The new network would enable wireless, three-dimensional virtual reality connections between phone users. Base stations - the now-costly transmitters that pass mobile-phone signals from one antenna to the other - would be as widespread as light bulbs. As envisioned, 4G would enable wireless data transmission at the dizzying speed of up to 100 megabits per second, exponentially faster than today's handsets, which transfer a mere 10 kilobits per second.

Moreover, researchers claim that some services like wireless real-time video links won't be as expensive with 4G as they will be with 3G, the system on which companies have just spent billions of dollars for licenses, but which isn't really up and running smoothly yet. For those who don't speak telecom fluently, a little more explanation may be useful: 2G is the current system, which allows the transfer of small text messages, while 1G is old-fashioned analog, with very limited data transfer ability.

Basically, 1G is meant for old-style wireless calls - not the ones made from snazzy lightweight phones, but instead calls made with the heavy bricks and their meter-long antennae that once were popular with business people and park rangers in the early 1990s. Talk about 4G comes amid a tidal wave of other new telecom technology developments - from wireless application protocol, or WAP, to general packet radio service, or GPRS, to 3G. WAP is an Internet browser for mobile devices. GPRS, or 2.5G, is a telecom network that allows data to be sent in packets of 50 kilobits per second, a slightly higher speed than today's 2G system.

Operators and telecom equipment manufacturers in Europe say new wireless technology one day soon will allow consumers to use their mobile phones to surf the Net, watch real-time video footage and download audio tunes. But right now, the latest wave of new telecom technology either isn't up and running or faces significant problems and delays. To investors' agony, few companies have shown how exactly they plan to pay back the billions of dollars of 3G license fees or how they will bill and make money from services that aren't developed yet. It is clear, however, that most glitzy wireless services will be too expensive for average consumers in the next few years.

For example, based on the expenses of setting up 3G, it looks like simple video conferencing will cost thousands of dollars. So gone is the feel-good factor of telecom operators' glitzy wireless Web ads. With 4G ill-defined and meaning different things to different people, and with the difficulties of 3G, development is tough. Along with some telecom equipment makers, some investors are unimpressed with 4G. "It's really too early to talk about 4G," says Mikka Paloranta, a telecom analyst with ArosMaisles in Helsinki. "It would be nice if first we'd get to see some working WAP services or know what GPRS or 3G is going to offer us." At Nokia Corporation, officials don't even want to use the expression 4G. "It can be a misleading and confusing term," says Tapio Hedman, a Nokia spokesman. "We don't think it's right to start talking about this future technology if 3G has not yet come into place." So what's driving telecom sages to discuss 4G anyway? Researchers at companies like Ericsson and NTT DoCoMo are mainlyfocusing on the technological aspect and applications of 4G. They see it as a new so-called air interface, a wireless way of transferring data from base stations to terminals like mobile phones, which will lead to unthinkable applications a decade from now. They are also thinking about new antennae, base stations and whatever else may be involved with the building of an advanced new network. Some characteristics: 4G would entail 20 megabits to 100 megabits per second data transfer - compared to less than 10 kilobits per second for the current GSM system - the kind of speed that makes techno nerds smile.

With 4G, the world would have base stations everywhere, ensuring phone users' connection to a high-speed network anywhere, anytime - just the way operators promised in their ads for 3G, only this time, it would be affordable and 10 years down the road instead of tomorrow.

Other nifty but yet-to-be-developed 4G tricks that would make Buck Rogers look medieval: video connections between phone users and homes, motion-controlled devices and eyeglasses with 3-D video projects. Thinking so far ahead is nothing new. Ericsson did the same with 3G nearly a decade ago, and today the company is the world leader in third generation telecom infrastructure, conquering more than half of all 3G network construction contracts with operators world-wide. "We're simply trying to imagine what the world would look like with such high bandwidth," says Mr. Eriksson. "Nothing is clear yet. But we have to start thinking about it." Others don't think of 4G as a new technology, but rather as a hodgepodge of existing or soon-to-be-developed systems like GPRS, wireless local area networks, GSM 3G and Edge.

Combing these technologies and others could allow consumers to toggle between high-speed data services and low-speed services when needed. "It's like traveling," says Mr Makitalo. "When you're in a hurry, you take an airplane. In other cases, when it's more practical, you take the car, or your bike." Telia hopes to start its 4G services even before 3G technology is set to arrive, with HomeRun, its wireless local area network service at the Stockholm airport. The idea is that later this year, HomeRun will let visiting business travelers log on to the Web by plugging a wireless local area network, or LAN, card into their laptops and connecting to a GPRS network. That means people can use the wireless LAN services to access the Web at high speed and use GPRS for accessing text files or e-mail messages, which don't require a very high bandwidth. "There is an irony here," says Mr Makitalo. "4G comes first, 3G comes second." But Mr Eriksson doesn't agree with the usage of "4G" for such a mixture of technologies."They're talking about the evolution of 3G," he says. "That's not really 4G." Again, others don't really know what the term means at all.

Bouygues Chief Executive Martin Bouygues said that a 4G network was one of the four options open to his Bouygues Telecom SA wireless affiliate after it bowed out of the running for a French 3G license last month. When pressed for more details, Mr. Bouygues conceded that his company didn't have much to say about 4G, but that it planned to get in touch with whoever else was working on 4G in the near future.

 

4G Technology in Africa to distribute Actix’ full suite of 2G, 2.5G and 3G wireless network performance engineering solutions
London, UK, 9 August 2004 – Actix, the global provider of wireless network performance engineering solutions, today announced that it has formed a partnership with reseller 4G Technology based in South Africa. The partnership with 4G Technology will enable Actix to more effectively service the African wireless telecommunications market, ensuring that the specific needs of Actix’ African customers can be addressed at all levels by a local distributor.

Actix’ wireless performance engineering solutions are entirely vendor independent and enable operators to analyze raw wireless network data from a mix of network technologies, systems and data collection solutions in fine detail. This gives an end-to-end picture of vital wireless functions and the quality of service delivery from the subscriber’s perspective; it also enables engineers to ‘drill down’ to the root cause of any deficiencies. Some of the operators using Actix’ 3G solutions include: SKT Korea, FET Taiwan, Orange France, 3GIS, Hutchison 3G UK, Swisscom, Mobilkom, US Cellular, Verizon Wireless, Bell Mobility, Sprint PCS, and Qwest Wireless.

Actix already works with a range of customers in Africa, including MTN Nigeria and Safaricom in Kenya. With its suite of 2G, 2.5G and 3G radio network troubleshooting and optimization software, Actix is uniquely placed to enable African wireless operators to meet the huge requirements for voice telephony on most of the continent, in parallel with the rollout of technologies like GPRS, EDGE and UMTS in some countries.

4G Technology provides consultancy and supplies technology and solutions to African wireless network rollout, maintenance and optimisation teams. 4G will be a supplier and a point of support for all of Actix’ solutions, as well as offering complimentary solutions including, scanners and specialised test and measurement equipment, and technology such as miniature cell-extenders.

Anthony Walley, Managing Director, 4G Technology said, “Actix is already an established world leader in the performance engineering space and is acknowledged as the premier solutions provider for the planning, rollout, troubleshooting and optimisation of wireless networks. Actix’ comprehensive suite of software solutions are highly developed and configurable, which will enable 4G to provide its customers with exactly what they require to meet their specific needs. In this way, Actix is well placed to increase its presence in Africa and assist the development of both mobile voice telephony and 2.5G and 3G services across the African continent.“

Dave Wilkinson, Actix Chief Operating Officer said, “The experience of 4G’s management team with respect to African telecoms and test and measurement was a compelling factor for Actix in the decision to enter into the partnership. For Actix, the ability to service customers locally is key in furthering the effectiveness of its 2G, 2.5G and 3G solutions. 4G Technology represents a knowledgeable local presence that can comprehensively deliver solutions for customers involved in the planning, rollout, troubleshooting and optimisation of wireless networks in Africa.”

 

FYI:

http://www.usta.org/

 

FYI: http://www.nvidia.com/page/home

 

FyI: http://www.eurotechnology.com/4G/

 

4G Forum Offers Glimpse of New Telecom Tech



By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
The second Fourth-Generation (4G) Forum will start Monday in Cheju Island to take a look into the crystal ball of the next-generation world of telecom.

The annual 4G Forum started last year under the leadership of Samsung Electronics as a beginning step toward nurturing 4G standards.

Samsung said Sunday a total of 120 guests from 18 nations will participate in the two-day session and share visions on 4G technologies under the theme of ``Migration Paths Toward 4G Networks.''

Participants include high-profile telecom experts from global standardization bodies such as the International Telecom Union and the Wireless World Research Forum.

From related industries, 14 cell phone makers such as Samsung, Nokia, Motorola and Siemens will join the forum while 27 service providers like NTT DoCoMo, Vodafone and KDDI will also attend.

The 4G mobile system, which is forecast to arrive on the market before 2010, has yet to be defined but is generally regarded as a network that will operate on wireless Internet technology running at speeds faster than 100 Mbps (megabits per second).

Currently, tried-and-tested 3G technologies of CDMA 2000 1x EV-DO (evolution data optimized) cannot maintain a 1Mbps speed on average and the looming alternative of W-CDMA (wideband CDMA) promises an average throughput of around 1~2 Mbps.

When 4G technology finally goes to market, folks will be able to enjoy location-based services, mobile shopping, e-mail and multimedia data transfer as well as video streaming at reasonable prices.

``With brisk research and development under way for next-generation technologies, now is a high time to establish a vision of 4G and begin working toward materializing it via standardization,'' said Lee Ki-tae, who is in charge of Samsung's cell phone business.

During the forum he hopes participants will put forward a wide array of creative ideas regarding 4G technologies.

 

With each successive generation, speculation grows about how wireless systems will be architected and what spectacular new applications end users will enjoy. The fourth-generation (4G) technology is already buzzing with questions. The ambiguity surrounding 4G wireless will prove its biggest asset and opportunity.

The 4G wireless systems must intelligently incorporate several existing computing and communications standards, including 802.11 and Bluetooth, in a seamless implementation used across diverse platforms. In addition, the low-cost 4G systems projected in two to four years will coincide with major advances in semiconductor process technology-a development that will lead to order-of-magnitude performance improvements and a rethinking of underlying signal processing theory application.

These 4G characteristics, particularly major advances in semiconductor technology, will redefine the potential of wireless-system design. Designers can use 4G silicon platforms to create systems that are limited only by imagination. Designers should adopt a flexible approach to 4G, and they should be aware of some universal design principles.




Digital signal processing technology will prove a cornerstone of leading 4G systems. But what's the right signal processing technology?

The answer lies in choosing a mix of programmable, semi-programmable and hardwired signal processing technologies.

Programmable DSP functionality will serve 4G systems well for functions and features that are new or untried or for features used by only a small portion of the platform's users. Semi-programmable signal processing is ideal for functions such as forward error correction that require infinite programmability within a narrow range of tasks.

Hardwired signal processing, which can be implemented with fewer transistors and lower power requirements, will best serve functions that are well-understood, will never change in the system and are widely used. Viterbi acceleration is an example.

Gene Frantz is the TI Principal Fellow at Texas Instruments Inc. in Dallas.

 

US : Agilent Technologies introduced a new class of instrument that can evaluate the critical performance characteristics of nearly all types of RF and microwave signal sources. The Agilent E5052A Signal Source Analyzer (SSA) replaces a large, complex rack of test equipment with a single instrument that speeds measurement times by a factor of 10. The SSA helps R&D and manufacturing engineers in wireless communication, broadband optical, aerospace/defense and electronics perform tests more accurately, at lower cost, and with unprecedented simplicity.

"3G and 4G wireless standards are increasing the complexity of testing and evaluating signal sources," said Pat Byrne, general manager and vice president of Agilent's RF & MW Communications Business Unit. "The introduction of the signal source analyzer, a new class of instrument, is a result of our continued effort to provide innovative products that simplify and speed the test process."

The SSA provides complete signal-source characterization in a single instrument without compromising the performance or features required for any measurement. The SSA tests more signal sources than any other single instrument available, including devices such as crystal oscillators, voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs), surface acoustic wave (SAW) oscillators, dielectric resonator oscillators (DROs), YIG-tuned oscillators, all types of frequency synthesizers, and local oscillator (LO) circuits. The instrument measures phase noise, modulation domain (frequency, power and phase transient), power, frequency and DC current consumption, and provides a spectrum monitor function and two ultra-low noise DC sources for the device under test (DUT).

The SSA lowers cost by eliminating the need to purchase multiple standalone instruments, including a modulation domain analyzer, DC power supply (for the DUT), digital multimeter, frequency counter, RF power meter, signal generator, and phase noise analyzer. In addition, the SSA improves accuracy by eliminating the need to connect and reconnect the DUT for each type of measurement, a process that is prone to error and takes a long time to learn in design and production environments. Alternatively, engineers could automate measurements and eliminate connections and reconnections by cabling together general-purpose and test-specific instruments. This process requires writing complicated multi-instrument test routines, removes those instruments from use in other areas, and usually requires up to a day to make phase noise measurements, including system setup and calibration. Using the Agilent SSA, measurements take only a few minutes and most tests can be performed by pressing a single button.

Agilent SSA Leaves No Test Behind

Phase noise, frequency, and phase and power transients are key performance attributes by which many signal sources are evaluated. Some of the most stringent demands are found in the test specifications of 3G and 4G wireless access standards. Agilent's proprietary cross-correlation technique lowers the instrument's noise floor at all offset frequencies without reducing measurement speed or compromising phase measurement performance.

The SSA offers a phase-noise frequency offset range of 1 Hz to 40 MHz. For transient measurements, the SSA offers frequency resolution ranges from 5 Hz to 7 kHz with 10 ns to 160 ms sampling resolution, and frequency span can be selected between 1.6 MHz and 25.6 MHz in the heterodyne (narrowband) mode. The instrument also provides a direct (wideband) mode for frequency transients up to a 4.8 GHz span. In addition, the SSA includes exceptionally low-noise DC power sources for the DUT that eliminate the need for a low-pass filter.

The SSA mainframe offers a frequency range of 10 MHz to 7 GHz, and up to 110 GHz using Agilent downconverters. Other features of the Agilent E5052A include a Windows(R) style user interface, 10.4-inch TFT LCD touch screen display, and programming via SCPI and Microsoft(R) Visual Basic for Applications that makes integration within an automated production test system simple and straightforward. Up to four windows plus one user window can be open on the display as well. Connectivity includes GPIB, USB and Ethernet.

 

802.16 Application at 4G Speeds
1st March , 2004

Canada : Military Communications Technologies announced that its Australian affiliate, Military SDR Technologies Pty Ltd, has released information about a revolutionary new wireless product application of its proprietary SpectruCell SDR technology named "SatCell IP". This new product is based upon the Company's recently announced "world first" of providing VOIP (Voice Over IP) at a wireless base station.
The SatCell IP "instant wireless network" product is essentially a low cost VOIP enabled SpectruCell SDR multiple protocol wireless base station unit with a built in Satellite link. The unit is about the size of a small three-drawer filing cabinet. The new product can provide immediately deployable instant wireless network voice and data services in CDMA and GSM protocols to remote locations without expensive traditional infrastructure and it can also provide back-up services for overloaded metropolitan locations without the added cost and complexity of building traditional network interconnect and costly fiber optic links and T1 lines between base stations.

A SatCell IP unit only requires an available power supply to be able to implement immediate wireless services in the most remote locations. Turn on the power and the SatCell IP unit terminates to the operator's network via a satellite link, thereby establishing immediate connectivity into conventional wireless networks world-wide. Conventional CDMA/GSM handsets need only be distributed to users in a 15 - 35 mile radius to provide worldwide wireless voice and data services to regions where cellular phone and Internet services have previously been unavailable. Multiple linked SatCell IP units can also be progressively deployed to provide an expanded service area or continuous coverage or link-ups into Telco's existing conventional Cellular networks. The first SatCell IP production units are planned for the fourth quarter of 2004.

By being able to terminate a wireless base station directly via satellite to a VOIP network operators can easily and cost effectively roll out wireless services to rural areas and remote regional sites in a very cost efficient manner, as the high cost of conventional infrastructure to link remote locations that could be hundreds and even thousands of miles away is eliminated.

The SatCell IP base station is capable of providing GSM, CDMA (IS95A,B,C), CDMA2000(1xRTT) cellular services and various high-speed data applications. Company engineers are currently developing an 802.16 application that will provide next generation (4G) high-speed Internet services from the SatCell IP base station. The SatCell IP product achieves this functionality by providing VOIP protocol stacks, voice codecs, and switching capability within the basestation. This unique functionality has never before been integrated into a single low cost unit that is also capable of delivering 2G and 3G cellular services.

In light of the recent comments by the FCC regarding VOIP services, the company feels that the application of the SatCell IP technology is unique in that the ability to install separate applications at the basestation makes it compatible with all forward looking FCC proposals relating to surveillance and security with regard to law enforcement agencies, which other technologies operating in this space do not have.

The SatCell IP product is especially suitable for Homeland Defense and Military communications as it provides immediate deployment of SDR wireless network functionality for multiple users on different channels and frequencies simultaneously from the one radio. The SatCell IP can easily be rapidly deployed into areas where communications have been unexpectedly interrupted, or to augment existing wireless services in the case of emergencies such as the terrorist attack on New York City in 2001, major earthquakes, and other unexpected natural disasters.

With the recent advances in QOS (Quality of Service) technology, commercial VOIP applications are being more extensively and rapidly deployed by the major Telco's. The SatCell IP technology has already attracted a high degree of interest, especially in China, South East Asia, and South America, from network operators faced with having to deliver wireless services to rural areas and other remote locations without any existing telecom infrastructure.

"Wireless hand-held device applications are predicted to be the "next wave" technology boom and our company's SDR wireless technologies are well situated to be at the forefront of providing rapidly deployable reconfigurable wireless infrastructure to support the delivery of these services. This is the only product of its nature that we have identified in the industry, and the SatCell IP product is the only basestation technology to incorporate VOIP and switching applications at the radio itself, whilst supporting multiple communications protocols simultaneously" said Jason May the companies' Chief Technology Officer.

About Military Communications Technologies

Military Communications Technologies, Inc. is a technology company involved in the development and distribution of proprietary software-defined radio (SDR) commercial and military mobile wireless network applications. The Company's core product, PC4 is specifically targeted to the demands of the Military and Homeland Defense agencies for large-scale defense-grade reconfigurable wireless communications systems. PC4, which stands for Programmable, Command, Control, Compute, and Communicate, is a next-generation SDR framework and proprietary operating system uniquely designed for interoperable, lightweight and mobile military communications systems. The PC4 framework is also especially suitable for radar and high-speed digital RF and GSM surveillance systems. The Company's proprietary SpectruCell SDR (tm) technology offers commercial wireless providers a cost-effective, software-based method to upgrade systems to next-generation standards and makes networks interoperable with most wireless protocols.

 

FCC approves first software-defined radio
Wireless networks could benefit



By Stephen Lawson, IDG News Service November 19, 2004



A technology that could transform wireless communications got a boost on Friday when the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced its first approval of a software-defined radio.

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The Vanu Software Radio GSM Base Station from Vanu can support multiple cellular technologies and frequencies at the same time and can be modified in the future without any hardware changes, according to Vanu Chief Executive Officer Vanu Bose. Software-defined radios like Vanu's could lower costs and provide new flexibility in wireless networks, IDC analyst Shiv Bakhshi said Friday.

Traditional radios are hardware components built for a particular frequency range, modulation type and output power. Software-defined radios (SDRs) consist of a flexible radio controlled by software running on a computer or device. The concept goes beyond cellular base stations to other types of radios, such as handheld devices that can switch from one network to another to suit a particular application or environment.

The FCC applauded the technology in a Friday statement on the approval. Software-defined radios can help users share limited airspace and prevent interference, the FCC said.

Vanu's GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) base station is a Hewlett-Packard (Profile, Products, Articles). ProLiant server running Linux, coupled with an ADC Telecommunications. Digivance radio subsystem. Using an off-the-shelf server and standard operating system allows Vanu to ride the declining cost curve for processing power, Bose said. Though the price of the current product is close to that of conventional base stations, according to Bose, the equation is expected to change.

"It is going to change the entire cost structure over time," IDC's Bakhshi said. In fact, the new approach is so revolutionary that it's hard to know what benefits will come of it, he said, comparing it to the change from analog to digital cellular networks. Though large operators will not make the switch quickly from their conventional radio networks, some have signaled interest in the technology, Bakhshi said. Cingular Wireless (Profile, Products, Articles), Orange PCS, and NTT DoCoMo (Profile, Products, Articles) all are members of the SDR Forum industry group, along with Intel (Profile, Products, Articles), Motorola (Profile, Products, Articles) and other infrastructure companies.

Vanu, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is first targeting small, rural operators, Bose said. Those carriers want to support multiple cellular technologies so they can secure roaming agreements with more than one major operator, he said. Software-defined radios let them do that without investing in new hardware each time they add a new technology. For customers of the major operators, that should mean better coverage, Bose said. Vanu launched a trial with Mid-Tex Cellular last year and is now installing its base stations on the De Leon, Texas-based operator's network. Bose believes the company is two years away from a direct sale to a top-tier U.S. carrier.

The FCC was supportive during the approval process, according to Bose. Its main concern was ensuring that software-defined radios don't cause harmful interference, he said.

Outside the U.S., software-defined radios could be a boon to mobile operators in less-developed countries, Bose said. The technology provides the flexibility to combine different grades of hardware and software to strike the right balance between cost and network resiliency. Most cellular systems today ensure 99.999 percent, or "five nines," reliability, he said.

"For certain areas, such as rural or developing areas, five nines is overkill because it prices the network right out of the market," Bose said. "Now they can make a choice."

 

RF integrates with DSP in 4G apps
By K.H. Lee, Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive, GCT Semiconductor Inc., San Jose, Calif.

EE Times
Feb 21, 2002





The concept of 4G wireless technology is already taking shape in the minds of engineers, even though the battle to implement 3G has barely begun. Initial discussion of 4G networks has sparked widely differing ideas on technical specifications and applications; however, consensus does seem to be forming. Depending on the source, 4G will incorporate multiple wireless transfer standards (Bluetooth, WLANs, cellular signals), as well as other spectra like TV and radio, all using data rates that will measure anywhere from 5 Mbits/second to 100 Mbits/s and beyond. Naturally, all this data needs to be accessed and sent using a device small enough to fit in your pocket.


Today's dominant wireless communication technologies, including cellular, cordless, GPS and ISM-band systems, require significant innovations in their application technologies if they are to expand beyond their current markets and reserve their spots at the 4G table. As portable wireless communications devices such as digital phones and PDAs add capabilities and meld into a single handheld device, the need for highly integrated radio frequency (RF) designs with lower cost becomes even more urgent.


In recognition of the trend toward integration in the wireless world, engineers at GCT Semiconductor have developed a patented direct-conversion RF architecture that uses the CMOS fabrication process.


CMOS historically has served as a substrate that provides low materials costs and high manufacturing yields, but it has earned criticism from users and designers alike for consuming more power than BiCMOS. However, RF CMOS' achievable performance and cost benefits, combined with power-consumption levels that meet specifications, make it well suited to high-speed wireless applications. Higher levels of integration that support 4G should be possible without relying on more expensive and lower-yield processes and substrates. An examination of the RF system itself helps explain why.


CMOS block


Generally, an RF system consists of two subsystems: the RF front-end block and the baseband digital signal processing (DSP) block. It's possible to deploy the baseband DSP block with low-cost and low-power CMOS technology. However, the industry has not been able to integrate the RF front end using CMOS, because that technology's fundamental limits in speed and noise characteristics fall below the specs required by popular RF communication systems.


Take, for instance, the PCS hand-phone system. It operates at a frequency above 2 GHz, but current CMOS can reliably support operations up to 1 GHz only. Therefore, the RF front-end block is typically implemented using bipolar, silicon germanium or BiCMOS technologies, which offer better speed, power-consumption levels and noise characteristics than CMOS but are more expensive and do not yield as well. Thus, in order to achieve the cost savings, high yields and tight integration that 4G eventually will require, the ability to integrate the RF front-end block with the baseband block using CMOS is an early design advantage.


As wireless LANs, personal-area networks and cellular systems move toward 4G, demand for multimode (two or more standards operating on the same frequency) and multiband (two or more standards operating on different frequencies) solutions is increasing. As such, it seems inevitable that a multimode/multiband standard will emerge. If this proves to be the case, a direct-conversion architecture that is cost-effective and includes integration benefits will provide the best means for serving these demands, and will offer the lowest bill of materials, the smallest form factor and the most efficient manufacturing process (CMOS).


There's a slight glitch, though: Existing direct-conversion architectures have problems-direct-conversion (dc) offset and flicker noise-that, unless corrected, will prevent them from performing on par with the superheterodyne structure. dc offset is a by-product of direct conversion that occurs as the LO signal makes its way to the input of the mixer, which generates a dc offset frequency that can overload filters and gain amplifiers, hindering performance. GCT's engineers have developed a direct-conversion architecture that solves the fundamental problems of dc offset through dc algorithms that can suppress the offset enough to prevent saturation of the receiver and performance degradation. In addition, the sensitivity and 1/f noise problems have been remedied by optimally controlling a number of amplify-and-filter stages in the receiver chain.


Single-chip answer


Designing out these problems allows the company's direct-conversion single-chip RF system to operate at frequencies well above the 1-GHz threshold. Further, the reduced component count and the use of CMOS ease the integration process and cut size and power consumption.


As a result, GCT's single-chip RF communications system consists solely of the following components: a transceiver for receiving and transmitting RF signals; a phase-locked loop for generating 2N-phase clock signals having a frequency of 2 (f/N) smaller than a carrier frequency (N is a positive integer as a phase number and f is the carrier frequency); a demodulator for mixing the RF signals having a frequency reduced by the carrier frequency and comprising a plurality of two input mixers; and an A/D converting unit for converting the RF signals from the demodulator into digital signals.


Continuing this trend in size, power and component reduction will be critical as 4G draws closer. RF CMOS is the most cost-effective solution for both 3G and 4G, due to its higher integration density, higher-speed performance and larger wafer sizes. It satisfies the market demands for low cost, low power consumption and high integration for wireless applications of 1- to 3-GHz bands today. Expect this technology to continue to be integral to the development of wireless communication technologies in the future, regardless of how the 4G standard is developed.

 

What is 4G?

4G takes on a number of equally true definitions, depending on who you are talking to. In simplest terms, 4G is the next generation of wireless networks that will replace 3G networks sometimes in future. In another context, 4G is simply an initiative by academic R&D labs to move beyond the limitations and problems of 3G which is having trouble getting deployed and meeting its promised performance and throughput. In reality, as of first half of 2002, 4G is a conceptual framework for or a discussion point to address future needs of a universal high speed wireless network that will interface with wireline backbone network seamlessly. 4G is also represents the hope and ideas of a group of researchers in Motorola, Qualcomm, Nokia, Ericsson, Sun, HP, NTT DoCoMo and other infrastructure vendors who must respond to the needs of MMS, multimedia and video applications if 3G never materializes in its full glory.

Motivation for 4G Research Before 3G Has Not Been Deployed?

3G performance may not be sufficient to meet needs of future high-performance applications like multi-media, full-motion video, wireless teleconferencing. We need a network technology that extends 3G capacity by an order of magnitude.

There are multiple standards for 3G making it difficult to roam and interoperate across networks. we need global mobility and service portability

3G is based on primarily a wide-area concept. We need hybrid networks that utilize both wireless LAN (hot spot) concept and cell or base-station wide area network design.

We need wider bandwidth

Researchers have come up with spectrally more efficient modulation schemes that can not be retrofitted into 3G infrastructure

We need all digital packet network that utilizes IP in its fullest form with converged voice and data capability.

Comparing Key Parameters of 4G with 3G



3G (including 2.5G, sub3G) 4G
Major Requirement Driving Architecture Predominantly voice driven - data was always add on
Converged data and voice over IP

Network Architecture Wide area cell-based Hybrid - Integration of Wireless LAN (WiFi, Bluetooth) and wide area
Speeds 384 Kbps to 2 Mbps 20 to 100 Mbps in mobile mode
Frequency Band Dependent on country or continent (1800-2400 MHz) Higher frequency bands (2-8 GHz)
Bandwidth 5-20 MHz 100 MHz (or more)
Switching Design Basis Circuit and Packet All digital with packetized voice
Access Technologies W-CDMA, 1xRTT, Edge OFDM and MC-CDMA (Multi Carrier CDMA)
Forward Error Correction Convolutional rate 1/2, 1/3 Concatenated coding scheme
Component Design Optimized antenna design, multi-band adapters Smarter Antennas, software multiband and wideband radios
IP A number of air link protocols, including IP 5.0 All IP (IP6.0)

What is needed to Build 4G Networks of Future?

A number of spectrum allocation decisions, spectrum standardization decisions, spectrum availability decisions, technology innovations, component development, signal processing and switching enhancements and inter-vendor cooperation have to take place before the vision of 4G will materialize. We think that 3G experiences - good or bad, technological or business - will be useful in guiding the industry in this effort. We are bringing to the attention of professionals in telecommunications industry following issues and problems that must be analyzed and resolved:

Lower Price Points Only Slightly Higher than Alternatives - The business visionaries should do some economic modeling before they start 4G hype on the same lines as 3G hype. They should understand that 4G data applications like streaming video must compete with very low cost wireline applications. The users would pay only a delta premium (not a multiple) for most wireless applications.

More Coordination Among Spectrum Regulators Around the World - Spectrum regulation bodies must get involved in guiding the researchers by indicating which frequency band might be used for 4G. FCC in USA must cooperate more actively with International bodies like ITU and perhaps modify its hands-off policy in guiding the industry. When public interest, national security interest and economic interest (inter-industry a la TV versus Telecommunications) are at stake, leadership must come from regulators. At appropriate time, industry builds its own self-regulation mechanisms.

More Academic Research: Universities must spend more effort in solving fundamental problems in radio communications (especially multiband and wideband radios, intelligent antennas and signal processing.

Standardization of wireless networks in terms of modulation techniques, switching schemes and roaming is an absolute necessity for 4G.

A Voice-independent Business Justification Thinking: Business development and technology executives should not bias their business models by using voice channels as economic determinant for data applications. Voice has a built-in demand limit - data applications do not.

Integration Across Different Network Topologies: Network architects must base their architecture on hybrid network concepts that integrates wireless wide area networks, wireless LANS (IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.15 and IEEE 802.16, Bluetooth with fiber-based Internet backbone. Broadband wireless networks must be a part of this integrated network architecture.

Non-disruptive Implementation: 4G must allow us to move from 3G to 4G.

 

January 8, 2002 -- Engineers at Sun Microsystems Laboratories are building wireless technologies that promise to integrate voice and web data in an IP-based mobile communications system known as the Fourth Generation (4G) wireless network. They are also bringing their expertise to standards bodies to make sure that 4G protocols are based on open system solutions. The challenges are considerable, but so is the payoff. It's the difference between truly mobile, versus merely portable, computing.

Jackson Wong leads a team of engineers who are designing and implementing mobile IP-based tools and protocols. They are literally helping to set the standard in secure, versatile, and responsive wireless communication technologies. Some of the tools are bundled in the Solaris[tm] 8 Operating Environment. Others are in advanced development. The tools and protocols anticipate an integrated wireless communications core layer based on open systems solutions also known as "4G" -- the Fourth Generation IP-based wireless network. According to Wong, Sun Labs engineers "are playing a leading role" on the standards bodies that will define the 4G universe.

Building a Better Tunnel
Sun Microsystems Laboratories engineers James Kempf and Jonathan Wood design tunnels, but not the kind that require hard hats to build. Kempf's and Wood's tunnels burrow through the air. You can't see or touch them, but they are substantial enough to make all the difference in the world if you happen to be roaming with a cell phone or wireless Internet device.


As we commute, stroll, and otherwise move about, our mobile phone calls and wirelss device connections get handed off from cell to cell and from network to network. Kempf's and Wood's tunnels could make possible uninterrupted, mobile cell phone conversations and Internet data access.

Glitch-free cell phone calls and instant mobile web access loom large as demands of consumers and the workplace. Mobile consumers want responsive and reliable cell calls, email paging, and web access. It's the difference between truly mobile, as opposed to merely portable, computing, and it's a difference that's been underscored since the September 11 attacks on lower Manhattan that left tens of thousands of workers officeless. (see "Mobile or Portable?" sidebar)

Unfortunately, a maze of outdated and competing standards, proprietary technologies, and related technical problems is holding back an otherwise promising mobile communications future. Connection hiccups, echo chamber effects, and dropped calls are so common -- and so frustrating -- that they actually discourage use. Studies suggest that any delay may stop a mobile web user from even trying to access the net. Research also suggests that users with reliable, instant access use the Internet as much as three times more than those who must dial in for each access.


Help is on the way. The work that Kempf and Wood are doing is part of the Mobile IP (Internet Protocol) initiative. Mobile IP refers to a group of protocols and implementations that keep cell phones and mobile Internet devices functioning smoothly as users physically travel through different network topologies. Mobile IP, together with SCTP, SLP, Diameter, and IP RAN describe protocols and technologies that Kempf, Wood, Dave Frascone, their colleagues, and team leader Jackson Wong are pioneering in behalf of a quest: the fourth-generation IP-based wireless communications network.

According to Kempf, 4G is all about an integrated, global network that's based on an open systems approach. The goal of 4G is to "replace the current proliferation of core cellular networks with a single worldwide cellular core network standard based on IP for control, video, packet data, and VoIP," says Kempf. And this, he told an audience at the University of California, Berkeley, would "provide uniform video, voice, and data services to the cellular handset or handheld Internet appliance, based entirely on IP." The advantages are as considerable as the challenges.

On Deck: 3G or 4G?
The current and previous generations of wireless communications present an alphabet soup of acronyms, standards, and technologies with a sprinkling of digital-analog amalgams thrown in for good measure. These ingredients, as it turns out, reflect the very problems that an all IP-based core layer might solve.

We are well beyond 1G, which supported the first generation of analog cell phones. Vestiges of 1G survive, though. They include a signaling protocol known as SS7 (Signaling System 7). SS7, "a crusty signaling technology developed by Ma Bell in the 1960s," according to Kempf, has only recently become obsolete and remains in wide use.

At the moment, wireless network technologies are somewhere between 2G and 2.5G. The second generation of mobile communications technology was all about digital PCS. The problem, however, is that much of the digital network was implemented for, or overlaid onto, proprietary networking equipment.

Taken together, the 2G/2.5G technologies are far from seamless. They range from spread-spectrum CDMA (Code-Division Multiple Access) in North America to narrow spectrum TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) and GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), the de facto standards in Europe and Asia. In addition to these incompatibilities, both systems feature relatively slow-speed digital voice with very little bandwidth left over for data.

Expectations for 3G, an ITU specification, run high. They include increased bandwidth: up to 384 Kbps when a device is moving at pedestrian speed, 128 Kbps in a car, and 2 Mbps in fixed applications. In theory, 3G would work over North American as well as European and Asian wireless air interfaces. A new air interface, EDGE (Enhanced Data GSM Environment), has been developed specifically to meet the bandwidth needs of 3G. (EDGE is a faster version of GSM wireless service.)

In fact, the outlook for 3G is neither clear nor certain. Part of the problem is that network providers in Europe and North America currently maintain separate standards bodies (3GPP for Europe and Asia; 3GPP2 for North America). The standards bodies mirror differences in air interface technologies.

In addition to 3G's technical challenges there are financial questions. Not the least of these is the expense of building out systems based on less-than-compatible 2G technologies.

These technological and financial issues cast a shadow over 3G's desirability. "There is some concern that 3G will never happen," says Kempf. That concern is grounded, in part, in the growing attraction of 4G wireless technologies.

IP in the Sky
An all IP-based 4G wireless network has intrinsic advantages over its predecessors. For starters, IP is compatible with, and independent of, the actual radio access technology. "With IP, you basically get rid of the lock-in between the core networking protocol and the link layer, the radio protocol," says Kempf.

"IP tolerates a variety of radio protocols. It lets you design a core network that gives you complete flexibility as to what the access network is," observes Kempf. "You could be a core network provider that supports many different access technologies, 802.11, WCDMA, Bluetooth, HyperLAN, and some that we haven't even invented yet, such as some new CDMA protocols." An all IP network's technology tolerance means unimpeded innovation all around. "The core [IP] network can evolve independently from the access network. That's the key for using all IP," says Kempf.

A 4G IP wireless network enjoys a financial adantage over 3G as well. According to Kempf, 4G "equipment costs are four to ten times cheaper than equivalent circuit-switched equipment for 2G and 3G wireless infrastructure." An open systems IP wireless environment would probably further reduce costs for service providers by ushering in an era of real equipment interoperability. Wireless service providers would no longer be bound by single-system vendors of proprietary equipment.

An IP wireless network would replace the old SS7 (Signaling System 7) telecommunications protocol, a task that many believe to be long overdue. "The SS7 network is massively redundent," says Kempf. That's because SS7 signal transmission uses a heartbeat that consumes a large part of the network bandwidth even when there is no signaling traffic. IP networks use other less bandwidth-expensive mechanisms to achieve reliability.

Last but not least, an all-IP wireless core network would enable services that are sufficiently varied for consumers. That means improved data access for mobile Internet devices. Today, wireless communications are heavily biased toward voice, even though studies indicate that growth in wireless data traffic is rising exponentially relative to demand for voice traffic. (In response, the 802.11 data transfer protocol, a wireless LAN standard developed by IEEE, has attracted much interest as a distinct data access technology that can work on a variety radio of spectrums, including infrared.) Because an all IP core layer is easily scalable, it is ideally suited to meet this challenge. "The goal," says Kempf, "is a merged data/voice/multimedia network."

The inherent advantages of 4G have some people thinking that we may leapfrog from 2.5G to 4G. As team leader Jackson Wong puts it, "we are not working on the next (3G) generation of telco communications, but two generations out." This, says Wong, means proceeding on two fronts: working the standards organizations to advance international acceptance of 4G protocols, and developing technology to support IP wireless solutions.

At Sun Microsystems, work is proceeding on a variety of 4G technologies and protocols.

 

Smart Antennas Will (Finally) Pay Off!
16th August ,2004

Smart Antennas will be a major winner in providing new revenue waves for wireless companies in mature markets according to a ground-breaking new report released by West Technology Research Solutions. Wireless technology efficiency is now a necessity, not an "add on." Shipments in 2008 for 3G adoption alone will reach 155 million units. Smart antenna technology will extend the range and increase the efficiency of communications in many wireless communication technologies and protocols. Diminishing spectrum availability coupled with increased demand define the need for this evolving technology. Market leaders like Intel, Motia, and ArrayComm are already heavily committed, but there's plenty more room.

This unique report provides strategic analysis of thirteen market segments, i.e. potential applications, competition within the segment, advantages and disadvantages of Smart Antennas, and recent events that could portend a shift in the adoption rate of Smart Antennas in that particular segment. The report also details sales volume, unit shipments, and average selling price by vertical market segment as well as by geography, all segmented into three global GDP growth scenarios. Additionally, the report analyzes macroeconomic factors that include the current economic climate as it relates to Smart Antenna technology implementation, regulatory influences, and an analysis of companies selling Smart Antenna and other adaptive antenna array products. The report includes up-to-date patent information; it provides a comprehensive OEM analysis and corporate profile information of the key companies currently developing Smart Antenna technologies and products.

Smart Antennas have been around for decades, evolving along with the semiconductor innovation cycles, getting ever "smarter." For the past ten-plus years, and with the development of multiple antennas for transmission and reception known also as space-time communication, Smart Antenna technology has become a serious R&D arena. It is a branch of wireless communications that makes use of the "space dimension" (i.e. antennas) along with the traditional time dimension in modulation and coding at the transmitter, and demodulation and decoding at the receiver, in order to improve the performance of wireless links. Hence Smart Antenna technology has become essential to the future of wireless communication and data transfer, the former because the spectrum is becoming increasingly more tightly populated, the latter because technological development has improved the transfer rate to an extent where efficiency is no longer just a choice but a principal requirement.

Today, companies in the US, Japan, and Europe are in high gear to take advantage of the benefits that smart antennas promise. With increasing adoption of wireless access and wireless service on the part of the consumer, the imminence of pervasive 3G service (UMTS and CDMA2000), 4G already more than a concept, and diminishing available spectrum have combined to make smart antenna technology essential. Already in use in combination with cell phones, television and in industrial applications, smart antennas are no longer a choice, but a necessity, for the industrialized world. It is clear, for example, that without smart antenna technology WiMAX and WLAN applications cannot utilize their full potential.

At its foundation, the evolution and development of Smart Antenna hardware and software have been driven by economics. Smart Antenna technology is moving directly into maturing markets that are ready and waiting to add supplementary options to existing products. It is a classic curve in industry, to be seized upon by those who recognize the signs of economic downturn and look for an opportunity for regeneration. As such, Smart Antenna technology offers a second revenue wave in a channel that is already an established presence in a matured segment, but which is experiencing declining margins.

 

Airgo gets USD 25 million for 4G-WLAN chips

Timo Poropudas

Nordic Wireless Watch - February 14, 2004 at 08:22 GMT





Palo Alto, California-based Airgo Networks, a developer of wireless solutions, has closed in early February a private equity investment of USD 25 million, led by Oak Investment Partners. The funds will be used to initiate volume shipment of its WLAN chips, the most advanced in the industry, in early 2004.

Airgo’s chipset is based on the company’s innovative Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology that recently was named by EE Times as “the most influential radio technology of the next few years.”

To date, the company has secured USD 77 million in funding. All of its previous venture capital investors, Accel Partners, Nokia Venture Partners, OVP and Sevin Rosen Fund, also participated in this round. Bandel Carano, a general partner from Oak Investment Partners has joined the company’s board.

“In a single product generation, Airgo has far surpassed the performance and application capabilities of all other chipset offerings in the wireless LAN and wireless home video categories,” said Bandel Carano, general partner of Oak Investment Partners. “Airgo’s technology delivers dramatically higher Wi-Fi performance at competitive prices. Oak is confident that Airgo MIMO solutions will be the long-term wireless chipset market winners.”

The MIMO Breakthrough

Until now, multipath, the natural distortion of radio waves, has been the bane of radio performance. Airgo’s MIMO technology takes advantage of this natural phenomenon instead of fighting against it, as all other radio technologies have done for the past 70 years. As a result, Airgo’s MIMO products double existing Wi-Fi rates to 108 Mbps per channel, while remaining 100 percent interoperable and backwards compatible with all existing Wi-Fi standards.

In head-to-head testing, Airgo MIMO enhanced Wi-Fi also enables customers to have a coverage area that is three to ten times that of competing WLAN chipsets, resulting in an order-of-magnitude increase in performance and coverage.

“Airgo’s innovative technology enables many new wireless video and data applications in homes and businesses,” said Greg Raleigh, president and CEO of Airgo Networks.

“Leading consumer electronics and data networking companies are preparing now to bring products incorporating our chipset to market in 2004. We are pleased to see our MIMO enhanced 802.11 product line as the centerpiece of their exciting plans for creating robust wireless multimedia home and business networks.”

 

Reconfigurable cores, scalable alogithms propel DSPs into 4G wireless
By Wei-Jei Song, Senior Architect, 3DSP Corp., Irvine, Calif., EE Times
February 21, 2002 (12:55 p.m. EST)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20020221S0041

If you are looking for fourth-generation, or 4G, wireless to shorten the life span of previous generations you had better look elsewhere. Rather, expect it — unlike other wireless protocols — to be a technology unifier that will not snuff out earlier technology such as 2G (GSM, TDMA, IS95), 2.5G (GPRS) and the emerging 3G (WCDMA, UMTS).

With the proposed 4G-SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card concept used to configure any handset, subscribers equipped with 4G wireless will be able to use any 4G-SIM cell phone regardless of the underlying technology. The 4G-SIM would also work as a phone card for 4G pay phones or to configure a 4G household phone. During travel, Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) with 4G capability will track the 4G-SIM, so as soon as the 4G-SIM is "parked" into a 4G handset in the hotel phone calls will not have to be forwarded.

But to achieve the all-digital, IP-based 4G network — projected to be ready by 200 6 — certain requirements must be met and problems solved.


Handoff. The 4G wireless network must support a common protocol to access a satellite-based network and another protocol for terrestrial networks. The 4G-capable devices thus interface with fixed wireless networks, satellite networks, wireless LANs and cellular networks.

Deliver data rates up to 100 Mbits/second. It disappointing that the 3G settles for the 300- to 400-kbit/s range. This seriously limits its ability to deliver video and voice over packet.

Indoor/outdoor connections. Current wireless solutions generally deliver either effectively, but not both.

Universal packet network. By utilizing the 4G-SIM concept and embracing the soft-switch-based gateway integration protocol such as H.248, the routing basis on personal presence is made possible.

Automatic configuration. The combination of GPS technology and SIM card devices makes it possible to automatically rout into the proper connection point . The connection point attaching to the wireless LAN (WLAN), access point or wireless base station depends on the planning and preconfigurable criteria.
The 4G device, as a DSP-based multi-feature gadget, can switch protocols on the GPS-directed command string. The optimal wireless protocol is determined based on geographical and network congestion. The DSP-based device should possess:

Downloadable PHY protocols.

Downloadable vocoders.

Common ASIC blocks for multiple wireless protocols.

Generic interfaces for the protocol stack layer.
Key enablers for the all-digital 4G wireless networks, besides soft switch, are the H.248 standard, the Internet Protocol SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) and Ipv6. The technologies needed to deliver 4G wireless are multi-carrier code division multiple access and coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (COFDM).
One way to provide universal connection is to have a bona fide software radio implemented on the device t o guarantee connection to W-CDMA, EDGE, WLAN and GPRS/GSM. The alternative is to have the Universal Access Point (UAP) deployed to limit the development and manufacturing cost for the mobiles. The mobile needs at least WLAN and 4G-modem functionality to stay connected and to hand off for large data rate transfer. COFDM is the clear technology of choice because of its superiority in modulating and demodulating high data rate. OFDM technology is already deployed in the IEEE 802.11a and will be the technology of choice for the 2.4-GHz-band IEEE 802.11g.

The underlying technology for 4G wireless is the new radio technology OFDM with wireless multimedia streaming applications. It is scalable in data rate and therefore scalable in power. In the single application that demands the highest data rate, HDTV at 15 Mbits/s, the data rate is proportional to the number of the subchannels activated. OFDM handles multipath fading well with the frequency orthogonality. The technology has been selected for the 5-GHz and 2 .4-GHz wireless LAN standard.

The challenges and solutions for OFDM technology are:

Nonlinearity. Digital pre-distortion proves to be a possible solution.

Timing synchronization. Symbol and sample level timing synchronization is critical to receiver performance. The classical cross-correlation-based symbol timing estimate provides satisfactory results. The theory that maximum length channel impulse response is typically shorter than the cyclic prefixes does not introduce intersymbol interference assuming that the symbol timing is fixed to the first sample.

Carrier frequency offset. Interchannel interference spills over when carrier frequency offset is not detected and corrected and performance is severely degraded. A high-performance DSP-based OFDM engine facilitates fine tuning of the carrier synchronization algorithm.
The flexibility, configurability and scalability of "anywhere, anytime, all IP" 4G wireless networks is distributed between UAP and the wireless terminal . A real world phone is possible through a mobile device equipped with flexible software architecture to configure and download in the air. Legacy phones work well with 4G UAP-guided networks.
OFDM, one of the multicarrier modulations proposed as the 4G modulation technique, has already been successfully implemented in IEEE 802.11a to deliver 54 Mbits/s. It is also the technology of choice for IEEE802.11g to deliver 36 Mbits/s and for the widely deployed legacy IEEE 802.11b devices up to 54 Mbits/s with enhanced radio.

The building blocks of OFDM technology are the fast Fourier transform and Viterbi engine. The superior performance in handling of intersymbol interference and the avoidance of single-frequency jamming simplifies the design. The well-known higher peak-to-average ratio demands a higher degree of linearity in the power amplifier while the additional guard band in the form of cyclic extension lowers the effective throughputs slightly.

The software radio is geared to handle the RF and baseband challenges come with 4G. The secured IP connection and technology download ability, as well as configurability on the fly, make it possible to keep the minimum required video and audio coders on the silicon. This design feature enables the configuration of language-based code book, country-based voice activity detector parameters and the desired video and audio coders that the hosting UAP or basestation wants or can handle.

Although the baseband modules will be activated one at a time, media processing is designed to be able to deliver any of the following combinations: voice only, simultaneous voice and data and videoconferencing. When simultaneous voice and data are delivered, the voice is configured to provide higher quality of service.

Besides the power-efficient next-generation programmable DSP core, the intelligent DMA to build the system-on-chip and the interface and control of the RF unit, the extension of Ipv6 and SIP or a new remote function control (RFC) is needed. This will addr ess the protocol in setting up the universal link, the monitoring mechanism and the actual downloading and configuration. The chosen baseband module and the coder determine the QoS.

There has been a constant battle between ASIC and DSP solutions for baseband implementation. The ASIC was the only solution when IS-95 came along because of its MIPS requirement and the lack of a high-performance DSP core designed for baseband processing. The high-performance baseband processor offloads the RF requirement and complements the RF.

The vocoders and encryption algorithms in the WLAN are evolving. The DSP solution enables software radio implementation, flexibility and scalability. Being able to configure the DSP core would be a real plus in this application. For example, configurability would allow new instructions to be added to enhance baseband performance, to adapt memory space to optimize the silicon real estate and to tailor the subsystem interfaces to speed up the system design.

The advantage of the ASIC vs. high-performance DSP is primarily in the area of power consumption, but this can be addressed by employing scalable algorithms to provide the right performance for the application. For example, with fractional OFDM channels activated, the frame error rate drops exponentially and the power decreases. The identity of line of sight also can alleviate the requirement in handling multipath, thus saving power.

Besides the baseband and RF areas, 4G media streaming algorithms such as audio, video and low-bit-rate vocoders are all but impossible to implement in ASICs. The DSP provides integral solution to the presentation layer and cuts down the high-throughput communication requirement as well as power consumption and additional silicon space associated with it.

The 4G building blocks are the 4G-mobiles as well as the 4G-UAP. Although the algorithms on them are similar and sometimes identical, the complexity, power consumption requirement and proliferation are quite different. The DSP-based solut ion enjoys much greater configurability, thus a higher degree of sharing between the two.

The fourth-generation wireless network will have a WLAN infrastructure and mature IP standards to deliver wireless multimedia by the time trials begin. With OFDM technology already proved and embraced, 4G development will gain momentum. Over the next few years, any slowdown in 3G deployment will not slow 4G implementation, since 3G is not a stop but a passenger for the 4G-technology train.

 

Skyworks introduces RF subsystems for 3G and 4G base stations
September 7, 2004

Skyworks Solutions, the wireless semiconductor company focused on radio frequency (RF) and complete cellular system solutions for mobile communications applications, announced the availability of the industry's most comprehensive RF subsystems for next generation cellular infrastructure equipment and other wireless transceiver applications. These new solutions -- the first of several wireless conversion transceiver product platforms Skyworks plans to introduce this year -- leverage innovative RF integrated circuit designs that maximize the performance, reliability, cost-efficiency and design simplicity of 3G and 4G base station transceivers.

"Skyworks is delivering to base stations and other broadband wireless infrastructure customers proven and advanced technologies honed in the handset market," said Sean Martin, senior director of Infrastructure and Wireless Data at Skyworks. "By providing integrated RF subsystem solutions, we are leveraging our leadership position with technologies such as direct conversion to help base station designers meet the stringent demands of 3G and 4G networks."

With the introduction of its latest DCR component, the SKY73010 -- a single chip direct quadrature modulator, Skyworks now offers the industry's most extensive direct conversion base transceiver station (BTS) RF subsystem solution. The new modulator complements Skyworks' other DCR BTS building blocks like the direct quadrature demodulator and direct conversion mixer, which are the first products to meet the high linearity requirements of CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, EDGE, TETRA, and 3G base stations. When the new modulator is coupled with the company's other products, Skyworks is able to offer DCR infrastructure subsystem solutions that reduce board size and component count, thereby speeding time-to-market and lowering bill of materials, two capabilities that have been identified by industry analysts as key drivers for recovery of the wireless base station market.

According to a recent IDC study, the base station semiconductor market is now posting healthy growth after several years of sluggishness that resulted from the slowdown in wireless infrastructure spending. IDC reported in June that the market is expected to reach $1.9 billion in 2004 and grow to $2.4 billion by 2008. "Strong OEM-backed standardization activity along with migration to off-the-shelf chip approaches will be the major trends to follow in this segment," said Sean Lavey, program manager at IDC. "We believe further cost reductions delivered at the chip level for key 3G transceiver and power amplifier subsystems will help jumpstart expansion and upgrades to data-enabled cellular networks."

Technical Details

The SKY73010 direct quadrature modulator accepts input frequencies from direct current (DC) to 250 MHz with a broad RF and local oscillator (LO) frequency range of 300 to 2500 MHz. It provides superb broadband noise floor of -155 dBm/Hz, with 35 and 45 dBc carrier and sideband suppression, respectively, at a LO input power of 0 dBm. The SKY73010 is manufactured in a Silicon Germanium BiPolar Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (SiGe BiCMOS) process, and a lead-free 16-pin, 4 x 4 mm, RF land grid array (RFLGA) surface mount package.

Other key building blocks in Skyworks' subsystem platforms include state-of-the-art ultra-linear power amplifier (PA) drivers, high-gain linear PA modules, dual fractional-N synthesizers, and diversity downconverters. Skyworks takes this subsystem approach to the next level by also offering custom module design capabilities, which combine RF/IF receive and transmit functions in single, surface mount, multi-chip modules (MCM), designed to meet specific customer requirements. This design flexibility, combined with in-house manufacturing and test capabilities, reduces time to market and costs associated with more costly ASIC development.

Skyworks' new infrastructure subsystem family is supported and complemented by an extensive portfolio of active and passive discrete components including high-performance switches, LNAs, pin diodes, attenuators, couplers, dielectric resonators and filters. When combined with Skyworks' subsystem solutions, these components offer the unique combination of high linearity, high P1dB, low noise and low cost, and can be used in applications ranging from base stations, satellite transceivers and wireless routers to wireless local loop, industrial/scientific/medical (ISM) band, telemetry, RFID and other global wireless applications.

 

Smart Antennas Facilitate 4G

Vendors already are dabbling in 4G smart antennas. Bell Labs' technology — called Bell Labs Layered Space-Time (BLAST) — is being studied as part of one EU-sponsored pre-competitive advanced antenna-technology project. A BLAST prototype uses an array of eight transmit and 12 receive antennas. During its first weeks of operation, it achieved at least 10 times the wireless capacities of today's fixed-wireless-loop systems.

“The idea here is if you try to increase capacity of a wireless system, you run up against a brick wall because capacity is limited by the interference of other users, so increasing bit rate by increasing power does not work at all,” Valenzuela said.

Although the classic approach is to throw more bandwidth at the problem, high prices and low spectrum availability have made this option unattractive. However, several years ago, the idea was introduced that adding transmit and receive antennas can create parallel channels that don't interfere with one other. This process does not require increased power or additional frequency.

“MIMO antennas are a very practical system, and if you combine it with adaptive coding and modulation, interference cancellation and beam-forming technologies, you can realize gains that are 30 times better, in terms of bit rates and capacity, than 3G,” Nortel's Javed agreed.

Nortel has operational MIMO systems in its lab. Tests show a 10X capacity increase at speeds of 20Mb/s. Next year, the company expects to hit 40Mb/s, as well as conduct field trials of its technologies.

 

November 10, 2004
Qualcomm vs. WiMAX? In The End, It's All OFDM
Posted by John Yunker
Much is being made of the Qualcomm vs. WiMAX battle these days. And their recent announcement that they are getting into the broadcast business in the US, by means of their MediaFLO network, will add fuel to the fire.

MediaFLO is a $800 million bet on consumer demand for TV content. According to the press release, Qualcomm "intends to offer the network as a shared resource for U.S. CDMA2000 and WCDMA (UMTS) cellular operators, enabling them to deliver mobile interactive multimedia to their wireless subscribers without the cost of network deployment and operation." Sounds awfully altruistic, doesn't it?

Basically, Qualcomm wants to prime the pump for significant broadband delivery/demand. Carriers have not exactly been tripping over themselves to deploy EV-DO networks. And even when Verizon Wireless and Sprint do get those networks up nationally there's no guarantee the networks will be able to provide the type of high-speed A/V feeds that consumers will likely want. By dedicating a separate network specifically to broadcasting content (FLO stands for forward-link only) Qualcomm creates a nice wholesale content delivery business. All carriers need to do is start upgrading their subscribers to the new handsets that include the brand new FLO-ready chips.

I've read a few articles that point to MediaFLO as a yet another example of how WiMAX will ultimately fail. After all, the thinking goes, if all these networks are live and pumping huge amounts of data by the time WiMAX goes live, why would carriers even bother with WiMAX?

Yet despite the real or perceived conflicts, WiMAX and FLO have one thing in common: OFDM. OFDM stands for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (sometimes acronyms are better left untranslated). All you need to know is that OFDM is the cornerstone technology for 4G. Even Flarion, the technology that Nextel is currently testing for its next broadband wireless network, is using OFDM.

So no matter what vendor wins the battle for broadband over the next five years, you can be fairly certain that OFDM will be there as well.

 

The MeshCube is a new hardware platform dedicated to WirelessLAN mesh routing, developed by 4G Systems, Hamburg. With a 400MHz MIPS processor, 64MB RAM and 32MB flash, and up to 8 MiniPCI cards, it is powerful enough to provide excellent security and encryption, and flexible enough for custom applications and modifications. See http://meshcube.org/english/specs.html or HardwareSpecs for more details about the hardware.

The MeshCubeDistribution is the Linux distribution running on the MeshCube. Its main features are MeshRouting, autoconfiguration of networking, an emphasis on security (?IpSec, VPN), and a compact design (to fit on the 32MB flash). It is completely licensed under the GPL and will be developed here in our CVS in true Open Source manner. We happily accept patches and additions, but please be patient -- it takes some time to evaluate patches and import sources into CVS.

dimensions: small cube (7x5x7cm)

no moving parts

low power consumption (ca. 4W)

100Mbps ethernet

power over ethernet (802.3af standard)

up to 2 WLAN (802.11a/b/g) interfaces (RP-SMA connectors)

400MHz MIPS processor

32MB flash

64MB RAM

USB

product submission by 802.11 Planet Staff

 

Ultra Wideband Wireless Networks - by Steve Steinke

A handful of press accounts describing a novel kind of wireless technology began appearing in the latter part of 2000. The most extreme claims about Ultra Wideband (UWB) technology were: that it could deliver hundreds of Mbits/sec of throughput; that its power requirements to link to destinations hundreds of feet away were as little as 1/1,000th that of competing technologies such as Bluetooth or 802.11b; that transceivers could be small enough to tag grocery items and small packages; and that traffic interception or even detecting operation of the devices would be practically impossible. A slightly different way to look at the difficulty of detection and interception would be to claim that UWB devices wouldn't interfere with other electromagnetic spectrum users.

While we're certainly years away from any significant deployment of UWB devices, each of the stupendous claims made for the technology has at least a modicum of supporting evidence.
UWB devices operate by modulating extremely short-duration pulses-pulses on the order of 0.5 nanoseconds. Though a system might employ millions of pulses each second, the short duration keeps the duty cycle low-perhaps 0.5 percent-compared to the near-100-percent duty cycle of spread spectrum devices. The low duty cycle of UWB devices is the key to their low power consumption. Intel Architecture Labs has calculated the comparative spatial throughput capacity of various technologies (see Figure 1); UWB clearly has by far the highest potential for this particular metric.

In principle, pulse-based transmission is much like the original spark-gap radio that Marconi demonstrated across the Atlantic in 1901. Unlike most modern radio equipment, pulse-based signals don't modulate a fixed-frequency carrier. If you examine a carrier-based signal with a spectrum analyzer, you'll generally see a large component at the carrier frequency and smaller components at frequencies above and below the carrier frequency based on the modulation scheme (see Figure 2). Pulse-based systems show more or less evenly distributed energy across a broad range of frequencies-perhaps a range 2GHz or 3GHz wide for existing UWB gear. With low levels of energy across a broad frequency range, UWB signals are extremely difficult to distinguish from noise, particularly for ordinary narrowband receivers.

One significant additional advantage of short-duration pulses is that multipath distortion can be nearly eliminated. Multipath effects result from reflected signals that arrive at the receiver slightly out of phase with a direct signal, canceling or otherwise interfering with clean reception. (If you try to receive broadcast TV where there are tall buildings or hills for signals to bounce from, you've likely seen "ghost" images on your screen-the video version of multipath distortion.) The extremely short pulses of UWB systems can be filtered or ignored-they can readily be distinguished from unwanted multipath reflections.
Alternatively, detecting reflections of short pulses can serve as the foundation of a high-precision radar system. In fact, UWB technology has been deployed for 20 years or more in classified military and "spook" applications. The duration of a 0.5 nano- second pulse corresponds to a resolution of 15 centimeters, or about 6 inches; UWB-based radar has been used to detect collisions, "image" targets on the other side of walls, and search for land mines.

ULTRA WIDEBAND VS. SPREAD SPECTRUM
Spread spectrum technologies do artificially what UWB does naturally: array signals across a wide spectrum so that the power concentrated in any particular band is below the threshold where it would interfere with other users of that band, or even be detectable by a narrowband receiver. Spread spectrum signals begin life as ordinary narrowband modulated waveforms. Then a spreading function-direct sequence and frequency hopping are the two most common methods-rapidly cycles the original signal through multiple individual narrowband slots. Because spread spectrum signals are "artificially" spread, their duty cycles are close to 100 percent. UWB technology has it all over spread spectrum where transmission power consumption is concerned. Furthermore, spread spectrum devices require more complex electronics than UWB, first because UWB circuits can be fundamentally simpler than narrowband circuits, but also because spread spectrum requires additional components and processing operations with pseudo-random noise generators and the associated task of synchronization. This added complexity has power-usage, device-size, and cost repercussions, too.

Cautions
As with any other technology, UWB technology's strong points determine its shortcomings. UWB emissions can potentially interfere with many other consumers of the electromagnetic spectrum. Users of Global Positioning Systems (GPSs), particularly those in the aviation industry who use GPS data for navigation and landing, have serious reservations about widespread mobile devices that introduce even very low levels of interference into the 1.2GHz and 1.5GHz bands. Sprint and Qualcomm, whose Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology underlies Sprint's PCS systems, conducted studies that showed degradations of cell phone service in the presence of UWB devices. The National Association of Broadcasters opposed FCC approval for UWB out of concern for spectrum used by remote camera crews and for satellite-based content distribution.

While it's hardly surprising that current owners would resist even minuscule incursions into their spectrum, UWB technology doesn't provide a free-lunch windfall of hitherto unused spectrum. Its ready observability in the time domain doesn't carry over to the frequency domain, but that doesn't mean there's no impact on existing services whose frequency domain signatures are easier to observe. It's also possible for UWB vendors to filter specific frequencies that are important for public safety and other overriding concerns, though if the owners of all the relevant spectrum had to be filtered, there wouldn't be any left for UWB to operate in.

The FCC has issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making with respect to UWB technology, with a decision expected before the end of 2001. UWB proponents have requested that their devices be governed by Part 15.209 rules, which set emission limits for such things as hair dryers and laptop computers. FCC approval would only be the beginning of a process of regulatory activity, however. Once UWB is on track with regulatory approval, it seems likely that there would also be a process of standardization aimed at minimizing interference with other technologies, among other concerns.
In many respects, the excitement over UWB technology turns out not to be unrealistic at all. It seems unlikely that unreasonable regulatory obstacles will impede further development, though it's dangerous to underestimate the amount of delay a standards committee can add to a technology introduction. And no matter what, Bluetooth and 802.11b devices will never be able to find studs in your walls, detect your cat's presence several rooms away, or prevent your SUV from colliding with a cement truck.

 

Siliquent Delivers Industy´s First iWARP-Compliant 4 Gb and 10 Gb Ethernet Processors
Devices Combine RDMA-over-TCP/IP, iSCSI and TCP/IP Offload Capabilities, Allowing Ethernet to Satisfy All Data Center I/O Needs
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF. – July 26, 2004 – Siliquent Technologies today announced the industry´s first 4 Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet iWARP 1.0– compliant processors. Available now, the Siliquent™ SLQ1010 and SLQ1004 combine RDMA, iSCSI and TCP/IP offload capabilities on a single chip, delivering a standards –based solution for new network interface cards (NICs) with up to 70 times the performance of current Ethernet NICs. As a result, they provide the performance needed to drive all data center I/O applications – from general–purpose networking to storage and clustering – and move the industry closer to a single IT infrastructure based on Ethernet.
“Siliquent´s new family of devices deliver on the industry vision of a “unified wire” based on Ethernet that can be used for the convergence of LAN, storage and IPC traffic,” said Charles Chi, president and CEO of Siliquent Technologies. “ Our high-performance Ethernet processors enable new NICs that leverage the existing IT infrastructure, simplify equipment deployment and make data center management more efficient.”
Siliquent combines 10 Gbps wire–speed performance with the lowest power consumption in the industry (as low as 5.5 watts at 10 Gbps in a PCI–X system), while at the same time allowing customers to future–proof their products via programmable, patent–pending microcode engines. This ensures ongoing support for evolving TCP/IP and upper layer protocols (ULPs) via a simple field upgrade.
“10G Ethernet is a convergence technology that will allow enterprises to unify their data center around a single transport protocol, but today´s simple NIC architectures will not scale to 10 Gbps,” said Linley Gwennap, principal analyst of The Linley Group. “Siliquent´s architecture provides the intelligence required to efficiently deliver this level of performance while offering the flexibility needed to keep up with evolving standards. Siliquent has what companies have been waiting for to make the leap to 10G Ethernet.”
Details of the SLQ1010 and SLQ1004
Both the SLQ1010 and SLQ1004 feature patent-pending microcode engines that have been developed in–house by Siliquent. As a result, they have been optimized for the power, performance and flexibility requirements of emerging data center applications. The SLQ1010 delivers full 10 Gbps wire speed under “real life” network conditions, making it the highest performance device on the market today.
The SLQ1010 is available with both PCI–X 133 MHz/64–bit and SPI–4.2 host interfaces. The SLQ1010 delivers the maximum throughput possible across the PCI –X bus today – 7.9 Gbps. It also achieves a measured throughput of 19.6 Gbps in full duplex mode across the SPI–4.2 host interface, and will therefore be capable of driving applications based on the higher throughput PCI Express bus.
The SLQ1010 features a latency of less than 10 microseconds, which is up to 10 times better than existing Ethernet solutions. CPU utilization is less than 10 percent in a 1.4 GHz uniprocessor Opteron™–based server, which is 60–70 times better than a standard NIC. This means that I/O performance can scale independently, eliminating the need to add processors in order to increase bandwidth. CPU utilization will be even less in systems with multiple processors.
The combination of low CPU utilization and very low latency ensures that the devices deliver maximum performance for a wide range of network computing architectures. High –performance clusters and distributed databases can now be built using commodity equipment that is up to one–tenth the cost of traditional systems used in these applications. At the same time, high-performance computing applications can now migrate to Ethernet, allowing a broader spectrum of the industry to take advantage of multiprocessing performance typically only reserved for the most advanced enterprise environments.
“HP has been instrumental in driving the adoption of standards for RDMA– over–IP, ” said Brian Cox, Worldwide Product Line Manager for HP´s Business Critical Servers. “Standards–based solutions like 4 Gb and 10 Gb Ethernet processors will enable OEMs to bring this emerging technology into high– performance technical computing and distributed database servers for the first time. We look forward to exploiting the benefits of RDMA on our platform, and providing our customers compelling server products for all their data center networking needs.”
The solution also offers maximum performance for storage applications. Support for iSCSI will enable storage equipment vendors to leverage fully offloaded iSCSI at 10 Gigabit data rates for the first time. In addition, vendors supporting the network file system (NFS) will be able to offer performance typically only associated with block–level storage systems.
“Siliquent is an industry leader in the drive to make Ethernet the most prevalent transport protocol in the data center,” said Charlie Kraus, Director of Marketing and Product Management for the LSI Logic Host Bus Adapter Group. “As a leading storage components provider, LSI Logic believes that there is a strong future for Ethernet technology and IP storage. We plan to be a significant supplier to this emerging market.”
Siliquent´s 4 Gbps SLQ1004 processor can also be easily integrated into existing Gigabit Ethernet networks for increased performance. Both the SLQ1010 and SLQ1004 use the same driver software, reducing OEM engineering development resources and ensuring a smooth migration path from Gigabit Ethernet to 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE).
The SLQ1004 processor is used on quad Gigabit Ethernet NICs. It can be used to aggregate Gigabit Ethernet ports for increased throughput, or to maintain port independence for a variety of different networking functions like IPC, storage or clustering. Power consumption is a low 4.5 watts.
Additional solution performance and product flexibility is provided through functions such as IP–fragment reassembly, jumbo frame support, Quality of Service (QoS) and programmable flow control. Finally, the devices feature support for IPsec, VLAN, IPv4 and IPv6.
About iWARP, RDMA, TCP/IP Offload and iSCSI
Siliquent´s new products are based on emerging standards with significant support from the industry´s largest system OEMs and semiconductor suppliers. The devices are the first iWARP–compliant devices at the 4G and 10G data rates. iWARP is a protocol that specifies remote direct memory access (RDMA) over TCP/IP. RDMA places data directly from the CPU into the application memory, eliminating the performance hit that occurs as the result of memory–to–memory copies. In addition to supporting RDMA–over–TCP/IP, Siliquent´s products support TCP/IP offload, which relieves the system CPU from performing Ethernet protocol processing functions, and dramatically improves overall system performance; and iSCSI, which provides an Ethernet alternative to Fibre Channel and lowers the overall cost of ownership of a storage area network (SAN).
Reference Designs, Availability and Pricing
Siliquent offers reference design kits, which are available today for the immediate development of new NICs based on the company´s chips. Siliquent provides the SLQ1010–RDK, an efficient 10GbE design on a ½–PCI–card form factor, and Linux reference drivers. The 10GbE reference kit – the SLQ1010– RDK – can be used with optical (850nm or 1310nm) and copper (CX4) transmitters. The SLQ1010 which is currently sampling today, will be in production in Q4 and is priced at $495.
In addition, a quad Gigabit Ethernet reference kit – the SLQ1004–RDK – is available on a ½–PCI card form factor, and Linux reference drivers. The SLQ1004 which is currently sampling today, will be in production in Q4 and is priced at $295.
About Siliquent Technologies, Inc.
Siliquent Technologies, Inc. is a fabless semiconductor company dedicated to expanding Ethernet´s application across the entire enterprise – for storage, high –performance computing, and all networking applications. The company´s new Ethernet processing units (EPUs) will enable a new generation of intelligent NICs (iNICs) that make it possible to run storage, networking and clustering over a single physical Ethernet interface – the unified wire.

 

xGTM Technology, LLC is an innovative laboratory led by Mats Wennberg, formerly of Microsoft, that has produced a new communications technology called xMaxTM. xMax boosts the data rates of all wired and wireless communications. xMax is not a compression technique, but rather a synergistic mix of two well-established communication approaches that dramatically improves spectrum utilization.

By combining elements of traditional narrowband carrier systems with key elements found in low-power wideband systems, xMax delivers data rates orders of magnitude higher than other broadband approaches without causing harmful interference to neighboring spectrum users.

xMax uses xG Flash SignalingTM to transmit wideband data at power levels up to 100,000 times below FCC regulated power limits and up to 10,000 times below that of ultra wideband (UWB) emissions. Because xMax only requires a narrow slice of dedicated spectrum to coordinate its xG Flash Signal, it is ideally suited for wireless deployments in piecemeal, low-frequency, channel allocations.

Creating a new low frequency path for high-speed communications, xMax requires significantly less infrastructure to cover a given service area. Ramifications of this are enormous as all networks face a trade off between data rate and range. Redefining this key relationship, xMax stands to improve the performance and profitability of not only broadband wireless networks, but also any system that uses RF transmissions such as DSL and coaxial cable networks.

In fact, xMax is so robust that signal capacity improvements to cable networks enable the delivery of over 1,000 channels of enhanced services. In the DSL space, xMax delivers improved data-rates while increasing the reach of DSL up to an estimated 72,000 ft. from the central office. As such, xMax provides a cost-efficient avenue for voice, video, and data services into enterprise and consumer markets.

xG Technology, LLC is not a manufacturer of consumer products. We provide value to licensees who will use our technology for the manufacture of their own products.

History

xG Technology, LLC (the “Company”) was founded in 2002 by Joseph A. Bobier and Mooers Branton & Company, a merchant bank, as a Delaware limited liability company. The Company was formed to commercialize its groundbreaking xMax technology that has been under development for several years. The core development of xMax is complete and the Company is now focused on product development for commercial deployment.

The Company is the owner of intellectual property that has been developed by Joe Bobier and his team of engineers. In the late 1990s, before anyone ever uttered the term "Wi-Fi," Bobier turned his hometown and neighboring towns into a wireless community, deploying a 2.4 GHz city-wide wireless network to deliver high-speed Internet access to subscribers. As the result of the project, Bobier saw the shortcomings of Wi-Fi, especially compared to the VHF and UHF narrow-band communications systems. Specifically, compared to VHF and UHF systems, the 2.4 GHz wireless networks lacked range, building penetration, efficiency and were expensive to implement. That realization fueled Bobier's drive to find a new way to deliver wireless broadband that could have the reach, reliability, speed and affordability of traditional radio.

The Company

While headquartered in Sarasota, Florida, the Company also has executive offices in Stockholm, Sweden. This Nordic region is home to some of the most prolific wireless pioneers in the world, including Nokia and Ericsson. The Company can learn from the exceptional talent pool in this region and hopes to continue to develop key relationships that will help the Company achieve its goals in the future. In addition, the Company has an office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for product development, research and IP development.