Date: 16th Feb 2011

TI and Azcom together develop 3G/4G small cell base station

Texas Instruments in collaboration with Azcom Technology has developed a new small cell base station platform focused on 3G and 4G high speed data systems. Based on TI's KeyStone multicore architecture and industry leading TMS320C66x digital signal processor (DSP) core, the TMDXSCBP6616X supports multi-carrier HSPA+ systems as well as full-rate, 20MHz LTE systems using multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) and advanced receiver algorithms.

The release says this platform is capable of achieving macro-class performance in a pico-class form factor for small cell deployments. The new base station platform consists of the following technology from TI:
TCI6616 System-on-Chip (SoC) for PHY and Layer 2 processing that affords OEMs the ability to develop state-of-the-art base station solutions for all air interfaces from GSM to LTE;
C6A8167 Integra DSP+ARM processor for Layer 3 processing;
GC5330 transmit/receive processor for digital radio front-end processing;
NaviLink 6.0 (NL5550) solution GPS for clock synchronization.

For RF development, the platform connects directly to TI's upcoming TSW3725 analog/RF platform, which is available separately.

"With the small cell market now poised to transform the wireless network topology, our new base station platform with Azcom serves as a great stepping stone for designers to stay ahead of the cost, time and performance curve," said Kathy Brown, manager of TI's wireless base station infrastructure business. "Leveraging our decade-long experience in the wireless infrastructure market, we know what it takes for developers to succeed, and there is no doubt that they will now be able to quickly ramp up to field trials for any and all small cell base station configurations."

"Small cells can go a long way in addressing critical issues facing operators, which is, how to satisfy ever increasing bandwidth demand while maintaining an adequate return on their investment," said Ajit Singh, managing director, Azcom Technology." The platform provides everything a vendor needs for a small cell solution."

Availability and Price: Available in 2Q11 from TI or Azcom Technology, the TMDXSCBP6616X is priced at $4,495.