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Roke Launches World's First Wide Area Coverage Femtocell
ROMSEY, England, July 8, 2010-- Roke Manor Research has developed the world's first 3G Wide Area Coverage
Femtocell capability. Using picoChip's technology as the development
platform, Roke's reference design has a 40km range which delivers more than
40,000 times the area covered by most other femtocells. It is also the first
to support full mobility at speeds of up to 120 kilometres per hour, allowing
mobile users to travel while connected to the 3G base stations.
This solution could be used to cost-effectively serve sparsely-populated
rural areas that are conventionally thought of as uneconomic, or to quickly
deploy cellular coverage, for example as 'instant infrastructure' to help
emergency services after a natural disaster.
The new Wide Area Coverage Femtocell requires minimum infrastructure, and
its small form factor significantly reduces power consumption, making it a
cost effective option for network operators. It supports up to twelve
simultaneous users, with Release 5 HSDPA, and a software upgrade to Release 6
HSUPA. Roke has also developed custom firmware enhancements to picoChip's
industry-standard PC8208 femtocell solution.
Prasid Shah, Business Sector Manager at Roke, said: "Previously the best
range femtocell technology could deliver was two kilometres, useful for
wireless services on a campus, but uneconomic for network operators that
would have to deploy large numbers in order to fill signal black holes in the
countryside. Roke's concept means that a reliable 3G mobile service in some
of the most remote areas in the world is now a cost effective reality for
network operators."
Rupert Baines, VP Marketing, at picoChip, said: "There is a growing
awareness of how femtocells can be used in a variety of ways, to
cost-effectively address a range of different problems. Roke's development of
a low-cost long-range femtocell opens up many applications and deployment
opportunities. picoChip's focus is to provide technology that enables new
types of cellular communications services cost-effectively. Building on our
proven femtocell technology, Roke has achieved this and now offers network
operators a genuine alternative to traditional base station deployment."
About Roke Manor Research Ltd
Roke Manor Research Ltd. is an independent electronics research and
development centre based in Romsey, Hampshire. Founded in 1956 and wholly
owned by Siemens since 1991, Roke is one of the UK's leading suppliers of
innovative solutions and contract R&D. Roke employs 450 staff and has over
430 patents to its name. Roke pioneers developments in electronic sensors,
networks, and communications technology.
Roke has over 50 years of communications experience, providing customers
with technology consultancy through to product development. Roke's
communications expertise is focused on wireless technologies and it has
actively participated in the standardisation of LTE. For many years it has
also undertaken radio access network (RAN) specification, architecture,
design and implementation, as well as implementing and customising wireless
physical and link layers for both the commercial mobile communications and
defence markets.
For more information, visit http://www.roke.co.uk/lte
About picoChip
picoChip is enabling the next generation of wireless infrastructure. Its
picoXcell(TM) family of optimized silicon devices is the leader in the fast
growing market for femtocell access points. Its picoArray(TM) family of
flexible wireless processors is the leading solution for OFDMA-based network
equipment, and is backed by comprehensive software support for global
standards such as EDGE, HSPA, HSPA+, TD-SCDMA, WiMAX, LTE, cdma2000 and GSM.
Located in Bath, UK and Beijing, China, picoChip is re-shaping mobile
networks.
For more information, visit http://www.picochip.com
Source: Roke Manor Research Ltd
For further information please contact: Prasid Shah, +44(0)1794-833000, Prasid.shah@roke.co.uk
Roke Launches World's First Wide Area Coverage Femtocell
ROMSEY, England, July 8, 2010-- Roke Manor Research has developed the world's first 3G Wide Area Coverage
Femtocell capability. Using picoChip's technology as the development
platform, Roke's reference design has a 40km range which delivers more than
40,000 times the area covered by most other femtocells. It is also the first
to support full mobility at speeds of up to 120 kilometres per hour, allowing
mobile users to travel while connected to the 3G base stations.
This solution could be used to cost-effectively serve sparsely-populated
rural areas that are conventionally thought of as uneconomic, or to quickly
deploy cellular coverage, for example as 'instant infrastructure' to help
emergency services after a natural disaster.
The new Wide Area Coverage Femtocell requires minimum infrastructure, and
its small form factor significantly reduces power consumption, making it a
cost effective option for network operators. It supports up to twelve
simultaneous users, with Release 5 HSDPA, and a software upgrade to Release 6
HSUPA. Roke has also developed custom firmware enhancements to picoChip's
industry-standard PC8208 femtocell solution.
Prasid Shah, Business Sector Manager at Roke, said: "Previously the best
range femtocell technology could deliver was two kilometres, useful for
wireless services on a campus, but uneconomic for network operators that
would have to deploy large numbers in order to fill signal black holes in the
countryside. Roke's concept means that a reliable 3G mobile service in some
of the most remote areas in the world is now a cost effective reality for
network operators."
Rupert Baines, VP Marketing, at picoChip, said: "There is a growing
awareness of how femtocells can be used in a variety of ways, to
cost-effectively address a range of different problems. Roke's development of
a low-cost long-range femtocell opens up many applications and deployment
opportunities. picoChip's focus is to provide technology that enables new
types of cellular communications services cost-effectively. Building on our
proven femtocell technology, Roke has achieved this and now offers network
operators a genuine alternative to traditional base station deployment."
About Roke Manor Research Ltd
Roke Manor Research Ltd. is an independent electronics research and
development centre based in Romsey, Hampshire. Founded in 1956 and wholly
owned by Siemens since 1991, Roke is one of the UK's leading suppliers of
innovative solutions and contract R&D. Roke employs 450 staff and has over
430 patents to its name. Roke pioneers developments in electronic sensors,
networks, and communications technology.
Roke has over 50 years of communications experience, providing customers
with technology consultancy through to product development. Roke's
communications expertise is focused on wireless technologies and it has
actively participated in the standardisation of LTE. For many years it has
also undertaken radio access network (RAN) specification, architecture,
design and implementation, as well as implementing and customising wireless
physical and link layers for both the commercial mobile communications and
defence markets.
For more information, visit http://www.roke.co.uk/lte
About picoChip
picoChip is enabling the next generation of wireless infrastructure. Its
picoXcell(TM) family of optimized silicon devices is the leader in the fast
growing market for femtocell access points. Its picoArray(TM) family of
flexible wireless processors is the leading solution for OFDMA-based network
equipment, and is backed by comprehensive software support for global
standards such as EDGE, HSPA, HSPA+, TD-SCDMA, WiMAX, LTE, cdma2000 and GSM.
Located in Bath, UK and Beijing, China, picoChip is re-shaping mobile
networks.
For more information, visit http://www.picochip.com
Source: Roke Manor Research Ltd
For further information please contact: Prasid Shah, +44(0)1794-833000, Prasid.shah@roke.co.uk