femtocells related Press Releases

Qualcomm and GlobalWireless Sign 3G Femtocell License Agreement

Phil Goldstein — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:46:25 -0400

Thu Sep 10, 2009 7:30am EDT





SAN DIEGO, Sept. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq:
QCOM), a leading developer and innovator of advanced wireless technologies,
products and services, and Global Wireless Technologies LLC (GWT), a designer
and developer of wireless solutions for the cellular access point market,
today announced that they have entered into a CDMA femtocell (including
femtocell modules) license agreement.  A femtocell is a small cellular access
point, typically designed for use in a residential or small business
environment.  Under the terms of the royalty bearing agreement, Qualcomm has
granted GlobalWireless a worldwide patent license to develop, manufacture and
sell femtocells that implement a CDMA2000(R), WCDMA and/or TD-SCDMA 3G
standard, including multi-mode femtocells that implement any one or more of
these 3G standards as well as a 4G (OFDMA) standard.

"Qualcomm is pleased to provide GWT with a license for the development,
manufacture and sale of femtocells," said Derek Aberle, executive vice
president and president of Qualcomm Technology Licensing.  "With the design
and development of these femtocells, GlobalWireless will be providing an
improved user experience for customers through better coverage for voice
services and higher data transmission rates."

"GlobalWireless is significantly enhancing the wireless experience for
residential and enterprise users," said Robert Kenas, executive vice president
of product management, GWT.  "With access to this femtocell license from
Qualcomm, GlobalWireless' innovative architecture and unique reconfigurable
and upgradeable platform will deliver to our customers the benefit of higher
speeds and improved coverage in a 3G femtocell solution (that also may be
multi-mode 3G and 4G) for their home or office."

Global Wireless Technologies LLC (GlobalWireless) is a designer and developer
of flexible and cost effective wireless solutions for the cellular access
point market.  GlobalWireless' high capacity, multi-standard residential and
enterprise class cellular access point and integrated gateway solution extends
network coverage for existing and planned cellular coverage for operators over
both the current CDMA and UMTS networks and the future rollout of LTE.  For
more information, visit www.globalwirelesstech.com. 

Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM) is a leader in developing and delivering
innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on CDMA
and other advanced technologies.  Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., Qualcomm
is included in the S&P 100 Index, the S&P 500 Index and is a 2009 FORTUNE
500((R)) company.  For more information, please visit www.qualcomm.com.

Except for the historical information contained herein, this news release
contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and
uncertainties, including the Company's ability to successfully design and have
manufactured significant quantities of CDMA components on a timely and
profitable basis, the extent and speed to which CDMA is deployed, change in
economic conditions of the various markets the Company serves, as well as the
other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including
the report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 28, 2008, and most recent
Form 10-Q.

Qualcomm is a registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated.  CDMA2000 is a
registered trademark of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA USA).
 All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

    Qualcomm Contacts:
    Tina Asmar, Corporate Communications
    Phone:  1-858-845-5959
    Email:  corpcomm@qualcomm.com

    John Gilbert, Investor Relations
    Phone:  1-858-658-4813
    Email:  ir@qualcomm.com

    GlobalWireless Contacts:
    Robert Kenas, Director of Marketing
    Phone: 1-973-992-2534
    Email: robertk@globalwirelesstech.com



SOURCE  Qualcomm Incorporated; Global Wireless Technologies LLC

Tina Asmar, Corporate Communications, +1-858-845-5959, corpcomm@qualcomm.com,
or John Gilbert, Investor Relations, +1-858-658-4813, ir@qualcomm.com, both of
Qualcomm Incorporated; or Robert Kenas, Director of Marketing of
GlobalWireless, +1-973-992-2534, robertk@globalwirelesstech.com

Sprint is First Major U.S. Wireless Carrier to Offer Femtocell for Wholesale Partners

Phil Goldstein — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:27:27 -0400

Post-Paid Wireless Resellers to Deliver Reliable Wireless Service at Home or in the Office

On Wednesday June 10, 2009, 9:00 am EDT

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Marking an industry first, Sprint (NYSE:S - News) wholesale partners can now take advantage of enhanced wireless coverage with the nationwide availability of a femtocell solution. The femtocell is the newest component in Sprint's suite of industry-leading wholesale solutions, which features wholesale wireline, wireless voice and data, machine-to-machine and VoIP solutions. The availability of the femtocell further supports Sprint's strategy to deliver converged solutions to the marketplace.

A femtocell functions like a mini cell tower. It provides improved wireless coverage up to 5,000 square feet by creating a CDMA network signal within the customer's home or small office. The service works with any Sprint phone and requires an existing Internet broadband connection to carry the call back to the main Sprint network. When compared to unlicensed spectrum solutions (e.g., typical public WiFi network solutions), the femtocell offers more reliable performance and less interference. The technology behind the femtocell has received several awards, including Best of Innovations at CES 2008, Emerging Technologies Award - 1st Place: Network Infrastructure Category at CTIA 2008, and Best of CTIA 2007 "Best Cell Phone Accessory" Award from LAPTOP Magazine.

Wholesale partners and customers will realize several benefits from the availability of the Sprint femtocell. For example, this technology offers savings and increased coverage improves customer satisfaction. Furthermore, a femtocell allows wireline and cable partners to add wireless to their portfolio, which is especially important as "cord cutting" continues to spike in tough economic times.

"We want to provide the best set of solutions to Sprint partners and their customers," said Jim Patterson, president-Sprint Wholesale Solutions. "With this launch, Sprint is delivering on its goals to deliver the innovative solutions that our partners want and need to be successful. The femtocell offering is not only a differentiator in the marketplace but is very compelling to those who want to get into the wireless business."

With a femtocell, Sprint resellers and customers can:

Take advantage of enhanced coverage without having to purchase a new phone.
Enjoy enhanced coverage for calls on up to three lines simultaneously.
Easily install the device using their existing broadband Internet connection and AC power outlet. The femtocell is ready to use straight out of the box, with no configuration changes required.
Take their call with them: Calls initiated on the femtocell will transfer automatically to the Nationwide Sprint Network when leaving the femtocell coverage area.

"Sprint continues to be a leader of in the wholesale space as evidenced by their recent best-in-class ratings for customer service, provisioning (equipment install and network reliability) and sales," says Fedor Smith, president-Atlantic ACM. "This type of innovation is what we've come to expect from this company."

ABOUT SPRINT NEXTEL

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two wireless networks serving more than 49 million customers at the end of the first quarter 2009; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.

* Calls transfer dependent upon sufficient signal from the Sprint Network beyond the range of the femtocell base station.

Contact:

Sprint
Kathleen Dunleavy, 310-709-3689
kathleen.dunleavy@sprint.com

Femto Forum Announces Results of Femtocell Interference Research

Phil Goldstein — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:06:23 -0500

Femtocells can deliver a significant increase in mobile network capacity and play a key role in increasing mobile data speeds

Dallas, US - 2nd December 2008 - The Femto Forum, the independent industry and operator association that supports femtocell deployment worldwide, today announced the results of its femtocell radio study. The study found that femtocells have the potential to deliver an order of magnitude more capacity than the macro network alone when used in dense deployments, even when occupying the same radio channel as the macrocells. It also identified numerous technological solutions that mitigate potential interference with the macro network to remove barriers to wide-scale deployment and maximize the capacity benefits.

The research assessed the impact of femtocells on a mobile network in a wide range of deployment scenarios in order to explore co-existence issues including interference.

The study looked at both femtocells using a separate carrier to the surrounding macro network and those using the same carrier - which pose the greatest interference challenge, but also the greatest opportunity for increased spectrum efficiency.

Although femtocells using a separate carrier were demonstrated to provide a simple means to essentially eliminate interference, many 3G operators do not have enough spectrum for this to be practical. The Femto Forum therefore identified technological solutions that mitigate the potential interference where femtocells share the same carrier as the macro network. These methods are already being developed for pre-standard femtocell solutions, and Femto Forum members are working to bring them within the standards framework. The key solutions are:

.       Adaptive Pilot Power Control, whereby the femtocell dynamicallyadjusts its transmit power in response to the current level of signals from surrounding cells and the desired coverage area.

.       Extended Tests for Dynamic Range, to ensure that femtocell designs are able to operate reliably even in the presence of nearby high power mobile phones connected to the macro network (this test has already been incorporated into the latest 3GPP Release 8 25.104 specification).

.       Uplink power capping of the mobile phone when operating in the
femtocell environment, ensuring that, even in difficult radio conditions, the phone hands-off to the macro network before its transmit power increases to the point where macro noise rise is a problem.

.       Dynamic receiver gain management in the femtocell (Automatic Gain
Control or adaptive attenuation), to ensure that femtocells can offer good service to both near and far mobile phones without unnecessarily increasing the phone transmit power, therefore keeping the noise rise to a minimum.

This particular study relates to WCDMA, but the Femto Forum represents the full range of radio standards and similar studies are underway for other air interfaces.

"At a time when mobile operators are seeing data usage rocket, femtocells offer an economic and effective way to deal with demand," said Professor Simon Saunders, the Femto Forum's Chairman. "By utilizing the identified interference management techniques it has been shown that femtocells offer operators an effective method to increase capacity and coverage within their existing networks through dense cell deployments."

The research builds upon work done within 3GPP by putting femtocells through a more extreme series of interference tests. The full results can be found in a white paper available on the Femto Forum web site (www.femtoforum.org).

About The Femto Forum
Femtocells are low-power wireless access points that operate in licensed spectrum to connect standard mobile devices to a mobile operator's network using residential DSL or cable broadband connections. The Femto Forum
(www.femtoforum.org) has been set up to promote the wide-scale adoption of femtocells. The Forum will support and drive the adoption of industry wide standards and common architectures to enable the widespread adoption & deployment of femtocells by operators around the world. It will direct and implement a multi-faceted marketing campaign to raise the profile, drive technology development & deployment and to promote the potential of femto solutions among industry stakeholders, journalists, analysts, regulators, special interest groups, standards bodies and consumers.

Hitachi Communication Technologies Taps Airvana to Supply Comprehensive Femtocell Solutions

Phil Goldstein — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 11:22:49 -0400

Companies Join Forces to Address Japan's Large CDMA Market

CHELMSFORD, Mass. and TOKYO, Oct. 28/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Airvana, Inc. AIRV the company transforming the mobile experience, today announced that it has entered a definitive supply agreement with Hitachi Communication Technologies, Ltd. ("Hitachi Com").

The agreement covers Airvana's HubBub(TM) CDMA femtocell, Femtocell Service Manager, and Universal Access Gateway, and follows a joint development relationship announced in July 2008.As part of the companies' previously announced joint-development agreement, Airvana has customized its HubBub CDMA femtocell, which is unique in the industry for its support of both 1x-RTT and EV-DO services; its Femtocell Service Manager, a scalable auto-configuration and remote management system; and its Universal Access Gateway, a carrier-class femtocell network gateway; to support the advanced features of Hitachi Com's Convergence Server. Under the terms of the agreement announced today, Hitachi will provide marketing, sales and support activities, primarily in the Japanese market, for the Airvana femtocell products. Delivery of the Airvana-Hitachi Com joint solution will provide operators with rapid deployment capabilities of advanced femtocell solutions. Hitachi's infrastructure equipment is used in networks serving more than 30 million Japanese CDMA and EV-DO subscribers.

"The successful adoption of femtocell technology requires that leading operators can efficiently integrate these solutions into their existing networks," said Mr. Setsuo Takahashi, Corporate Officer EVP, Carrier Networks Division, Hitachi Com. "We will now take the relationship through its natural progression by working to market, sell and support Airvana's products as part of a comprehensive network solution."

"Hitachi Com is a clear leader in providing CDMA network technology to the Japanese market. Working together, we have developed a comprehensive femtocell solution," said Sanjeev Verma, Vice President of Femtocell Business and Corporate Development, Airvana. "By extending our relationship to include marketing, sales and support, we will continue to build our business in this innovative market."

About Airvana

Airvana helps operators transform the mobile experience for users worldwide. The company's high-performance technology and products, from comprehensive femtocell solutions to core mobile network infrastructure, enable operators to deliver compelling and consistent broadband services to mobile subscribers, wherever they are. Airvana's products are deployed in 70 commercial networks on all six continents. The company is headquartered in Chelmsford, Mass., USA, with offices worldwide. For more information, please visit www.airvana.com.

About Hitachi Communication Technologies, Ltd.

Hitachi Communication Technologies, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT / TSE: 6501) Fiscal 2007 (ended March 31, 2008) sales totaled 103.528billion yen ($916.5 million).The company develops, designs and manufactures a wide range of information and communication systems-related products. For more information, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi-com.com/

SafeHarbor Statement

Any statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects for Airvana constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements typically contain the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "will", "continue" and similar expressions. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including without limitation the timing and rate of femtocell market acceptance and growth, operator femtocell deployment plans, the highly competitive and rapidly evolving market in which Airvana competes, Airvana's limited operating history, the fluctuation of its past operating results and its reliance on sales through Nortel for a significant portion of its revenues and product and service billings and other factors discussed in Airvana's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent Airvana's views as of the date of this press release. Airvana anticipates that subsequent events and developments may cause its views to change. While Airvana may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, it specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Airvana's views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

Airvana Contacts:

    Media Contact                           Investor Contact
    Rob Morton                              David Reichman
    Davies Murphy Group                     Sharon Merrill Associates
    (781) 418-2460                          (617) 542-5300
    airvana@daviesmurphy.com                airv@investorrelations.com

ip.access repeats success in Top 100 UK Technology Companies

Peggy Albright — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:55:47 -0400

Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100 league table ranks ip.access as the 54th fastest growing private technology company in the UK

Cambridge, 29 September 2008 - ip.access (www.ipaccess.com), the multi-award winning developer of solutions to boost mobile phone coverage indoors, today announced that it has once again been named amongst the fastest growing technology companies in the UK, by The Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100.

Now in its eighth year, The Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100 ranks Britain's fastest-growing private technology companies based on their sales growth over the past 3 years. 2008 is the second successive year that ip.access has appeared in the list, having placed 52nd in the table in 2007.

Cambridge-based ip.access is a market leader in the development of picocell and femtocell solutions for mobile phones. Picocells and femtocells are small cellular access points designed for use indoors that connect to an operator's mobile network via a fixed broadband internet connection and solve in-building coverage problems for mobile operators and mobile phone users alike.

Commenting on the news, Stephen Mallinson, CEO of ip.access, said, "ip.access's inclusion in this prestigious league table two years running is a major achievement for our company. Our sustained growth is a result of our leadership in the picocell and femtocell markets, and is a testament to the huge amount of work our team has put in over the years and the impressive results we continue to deliver for our operator customers around the world."

The picocell and femtocell markets are growing rapidly. ip.access'

nanoGSM® solution is the world's most deployed picocell, helping mobile network operators improve coverage and capacity for enterprises, SMEs and public spaces. The ip.access Oyster 3G^TM femtocell extends these benefits into the home, with the first commercial launches expected in the first half of 2009.

"The expertise of our team, together with the real commercial need for our products to improve mobile phone coverage and increase network capacity, means that we are now the partner of choice for more than 35 network operators across the globe," continued Mr Mallinson. "We are achieving our vision of unleashing the power of the mobile phone using indoor connectivity."

- ends-

About ip.access

Based in Cambridge, UK, ip.access ltd (www.ipaccess.com) is a leading manufacturer of cost-effective picocell and femtocell infrastructure solutions for GSM, GPRS, EDGE and 3G. These solutions bring IP and cellular technologies together and solve in-building access problems for mobile operators, opening up new revenue streams while defending existing business.

ip.access is the company behind the Oyster 3G^TM femtocell solution, winner of numerous industry awards, including a Global Mobile Award and a World Communications Award. The Oyster 3G dramatically increases 3G cell capacity and coverage; improves quality of experience for the end-user; and drives down costs for the operator.

The ip.access nanoGSM® is the world's most deployed picocell solution for cellular networks. It provides GSM, GPRS and EDGE coverage and capacity for offices, shops and using satellite backhaul passenger aircraft, ships and in remote rural areas.

With more than 35 live networks around the world and many more being deployed, ip.access is the partner of choice for operators competing in the new converged marketplace.

ip.access counts Scottish Equity Partners, Rothschild Gestion, Intel Capital, Amadeus Capital Partners, ADC, Cisco, Qualcomm and Motorola Ventures among its shareholders.

For more on The Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100, visit www.fasttrack.co.uk

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Dave McCann / Paul Nolan

CCgroup

T: +44 118 920 7650

E : ipaccess[at]the-cc-group[dot]com

W: www.the-cc-group.com

NEC Makes Strategic Investment in Kineto Wireless

Peggy Albright — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 23:37:28 -0400

TOKYO & MILPITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- NEC Corporation (NEC), a leading provider of 3G infrastructure and handsets, internet, broadband network and enterprise business solutions, together with Kineto Wireless, Inc., a key innovator and leading supplier of FMC solutions for mobile operators, announced today that NEC will contribute in strategic funding to Kineto Wireless.

â€œKinetoâ€^TMs industry-leading FMC solutions enable mobile operators to extend voice and data services over broadband access networks, thus harnessing the power of the Internet to lower service delivery costs while improving mobile coverage and performance,â€ said Tadatoshi Fujiwara, general manager of NECâ€^TMs Mobile Network Solutions Division. â€œKinetoâ€^TMs FMC solutions are currently enabling mobile operators around the world to deliver a variety of new revenue generating FMC services, including dual-mode handsets, femtocells, terminal adaptors, softmobile clients and more. We are very excited about this strategic investment, which facilitates NECâ€^TMs aim for the leading global femtocell position.â€

â€œContinued strong growth in UMA-based dual-mode handset and terminal adaptor deployments, combined with tremendous operator interest in femtocells, highlight the FMC imperative for mobile operators globally,â€ said Rick Gilbert, president and CEO of Kineto Wireless. â€œWe are delighted to have the support of a leader in the mobile industry, such as NEC, as we continue to capitalize on our leadership position in the FMC market.â€

About NEC Corporation

NEC Corporation is one of the world's leading providers of Internet, broadband network and enterprise business solutions dedicated to meeting the specialized needs of a diversified global base of customers. NEC delivers tailored solutions in the key fields of computer, networking and electron devices, by integrating its technical strengths in IT and Networks, and by providing advanced semiconductor solutions through NEC Electronics Corporation. The NEC Group employs more than 150,000 people worldwide. For additional information, please visit the NEC website at: http://www.nec.com.

About Kineto Wireless

Kineto Wireless is the key innovator and leading supplier of FMC (fixed-mobile convergence) solutions for mobile operators. Kineto supplies software solutions to major mobile infrastructure and device vendors that enable the development of products compliant with the 3GPP UMA/GAN and upcoming HNB standards, including UMA Network Controllers, Femto Gateways, dual-mode handsets, femtocells, terminal adaptors and softmobiles. Kineto customers and partners include NEC, Motorola, Samsung, LG Electronics, HTC, Qisda, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Infineon, ST-NXP, Linksys, Ubiquisys and Netgear. For more information about Kineto, please visit http://www.kineto.com. For more information about FMC service deployments, products, and standards, please visit http://www.UMAToday.com.

Contacts

NEC Corporation
Akiko Shikimori, +81(3) 3798-6511
a-shikimori@ay.jp.nec.com
Joseph Jasper, +81(3) 3798-6511
j-jasper@ax.jp.nec.com
or
NEC Europe
Kim Hollingdale, 44 (0)20 8752 2796
kim.hollingdale@eu.nec.com
or
Kineto Wireless
Steve Shaw, +1-408-965-0289
sshaw@kinetowireless.com
or
Engage PR for Kineto Wireless
Stephanie Look, +1-510-748-8200 ext. 225
slook@engagepr.com
or
AxiCom PR for Kineto Wireless
Richard White, +44 20 8392 4050
Richard.white@axicom.com

Source: Kineto Wireless, Inc.

NEC MAKES STRATEGIC INVESTMENT IN KINETO WIRELESS

Peggy Albright — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:54:43 -0400

Tokyo; Milpitas, California
September 22, 2008

NEC Corporation (NEC), a leading provider of 3G infrastructure and handsets, internet, broadband network and
enterprise business solutions, together with Kineto Wireless, Inc., a key innovator and leading supplier of FMC
solutions for mobile operators, announced today that NEC will contribute in strategic funding to Kineto Wireless.

"Kineto's industry-leading FMC solutions enable mobile operators to extend voice and data services over
broadband access networks, thus harnessing the power of the Internet to lower service delivery costs while
improving mobile coverage and performance," said Tadatoshi Fujiwara, general manager of NEC's Mobile Network
Solutions Division. "Kineto's FMC solutions are currently enabling mobile operators around the world to deliver
a variety of new revenue generating FMC services, including dual-mode handsets, femtocells, terminal adaptors,
softmobile clients and more. We are very excited about this strategic investment, which facilitates NEC's aim for
the leading global femtocell position."

"Continued strong growth in UMA-based dual-mode handset and terminal adaptor deployments, combined with
tremendous operator interest in femtocells, highlight the FMC imperative for mobile operators globally," said Rick
Gilbert, president and CEO of Kineto Wireless. "We are delighted to have the support of a leader in the mobile
industry, such as NEC, as we continue to capitalize on our leadership position in the FMC market."

About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation is one of the world's leading providers of Internet, broadband network and enterprise business
solutions dedicated to meeting the specialized needs of a diversified global base of customers. NEC delivers
tailored solutions in the key fields of computer, networking and electron devices, by integrating its technical
strengths in IT and Networks, and by providing advanced semiconductor solutions through NEC Electronics
Corporation. The NEC Group employs more than 150,000 people worldwide. For additional information, please
visit the NEC website at:www.nec.com.

About Kineto Wireless
Kineto Wireless is the key innovator and leading supplier of FMC (fixed-mobile convergence) solutions for mobile
operators. Kineto supplies software solutions to major mobile infrastructure and device vendors that enable the
development of products compliant with the 3GPP UMA/GAN and upcoming HNB standards, including UMA
Network Controllers, Femto Gateways, dual-mode handsets, femtocells, terminal adaptors and softmobiles.
Kineto customers and partners include NEC, Motorola, Samsung, LG Electronics, HTC, Qisda, Qualcomm, Texas
Instruments, Infineon, ST-NXP, Linksys, Ubiquisys and Netgear. For more information about Kineto, please visit
http://www.kineto.com. For more information about FMC service deployments, products, and standards, please
visit www.UMAToday.com.

Media Enquiries for Kineto and NEC:
Steve Shaw
Director of Marketing
+1 408 965 0209
sshaw@kinetowireless.com

Stephanie Look
Engage PR for Kineto Wireless
+1 510 748 8200 x225
slook@engagepr.com

Richard White
AxiCom PR for Kineto Wireless
+44 20 8392 4050
richard.white@axicom.com

Joseph Jasper
NEC Coorporation
+81 3 3798 6511
j-jasper@ax.jp.nec.com

Akiko Shikimori
NEC Coorporation
+81 3 3798 6511
a-shikimori@ay.jp.nec.com

Kim Hollingdale
NEC Europe
+44 0 20 8752 2796
kim.hollingdale@eu.nec.com

DesignArt Networks announces fully integrated WiMAX Femtocell SoC

Jim O'Neill — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 09:46:32 -0400

Chicago, USA -- September 22, 2008 -- DesignArt Networks (DAN), a fabless semiconductor company, unveils the DAN2200 WiMAX femtocell SoC at WiMAX World 2008. The industry’s only complete single-chip femtocell SoC, the DAN2200 allows equipment vendors to shatter the unit price barrier of $100. Complete femtocell designs consume less than 5W of total power, while providing plenty of spare processing power to run embedded high-capacity networking and media streaming applications; they can easily be integrated with home gateway equipment to facilitate the delivery of high-definition media to fixed and mobile wireless broadband devices. This results in faster adoption of WiMAX femtocells in residential, business, and hot-spot applications.

“The $100 price point has been an elusive target for femtocell vendors, inhibiting mobile operators to effectively implement subsidized business models to serve the demand for indoor wireless broadband coverage,” said Adlane Fellah, CEO and Founder, Maravedis. The DesignArt SoC platform integrates several application CPUs, a network processor, and robust synchronization options, thus eliminating costly components required for Femtocell and Home Gateway applications. “The resulting low design costs could accelerate deployment of affordable femtocells into small businesses and residential homes alike,” added Fellah.

Certified for IEEE 802.16e Wave 2, the DAN2200 delivers non-blocking WiMAX performance for up to 25 simultaneous subscribers. The DAN2200 is the second SoC in a family of WiMAX infrastructure products from DesignArt Networks. Based on the company’s open 4G SoC platform, the software-centric multi-core architecture features many advanced and patented capabilities, including plug-and-play installation, robust embedded synchronization options and fully automated installation and operation of WiMAX femtocell clusters.

“The industry is really gearing up for extensive deployment of femtocells in mobile broadband networks,” said Oz Barak, CEO of DesignArt Networks. “But the lack of cost-effective solutions is slowing down initial adoption cycles. Our DAN2200 SoC is specifically designed to accelerate this process, overcoming critical barriers regarding cost, size and power consumption of WiMAX femtocells. Based on the DAN open 4G SoC architecture, the DAN2200 enables deployment of dense femtocell clusters, providing advanced self-organizing network mechanisms, generally eliminating interference between femtocells, as well as with the outdoor RAN infrastructure. Femtocell reference designs are available today, and we expect production shipment of the DAN2200 in the first quarter of 2009.”

About DesignArt
DesignArt Networks LTD is the leading supplier of system-on-chip (SoC) solutions driving the evolution of the 4G radio network infrastructure, towards high-capacity, high-density deployments with ubiquitous outdoor and indoor coverage. Current DesignArt products are based on the mobile WiMAX standard, IEEE 802.16e-2005, offering single-chip solutions for any type and form factor of base and relay station. DesignArt is the first and only WiMAX silicon vendor to fully integrate all base station processing systems, enhanced with high-capacity backhaul, relay and cluster capabilities, on a single-chip SoC product. DesignArt offers the most compact and powerful design options to equipment manufacturers, enabling them to build the widest range of WiMAX femto, pico, micro and multi-sector macro base stations, including multi-hop relay and WiMAX cluster solutions. Zero-cost in-band backhaul solutions drastically lower the total cost of ownership (TCO) for operators, and are the catalyst to accelerated WiMAX and 4G deployments. www.designartnetworks.com

Femto Forum adopts field-proven management protocol to facilitate large-scale femtocell deployments

Jim O'Neill — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:21:41 -0400

London, UK – 16th July 2008 – The Femto Forum, the independent industry and operator association that supports femtocell deployment worldwide, today announces that its members have agreed to implement the Broadband Forum's TR-069 "CPE WAN Management Protocol", a worldwide standard for real-time management of customer premises equipment (CPE), as the basis for the management protocol for femtocells.

Following its definition in 2004, approximately 30 million devices now use this standard, making it robust and well-proven, with full interoperability. Management and provisioning of very high volumes of femtocells has been a major concern for carriers; adopting TR-069 and being able to re-use all the proven experience of that standard will enable femtocells to be easily deployed and configured reliably, and in high volume.

Unlike traditional cellular equipment, femtocells will be deployed in high volumes and installed by the subscriber, so the provisioning and configuration must be completely automated and managed remotely by the mobile operator. The TR-069 standard has proven it allows operators to offer simple installation and provisioning; perform advanced diagnostics and conduct remote firmware and service upgrades with millions of end devices, in an extremely cost-effective manner. Most importantly, it eliminates the need for operators to send technical personnel on-site, a practice that will be unfeasible given millions of units that are set to be rolled out. The two organizations plan to continue working closely together to define extensions to TR-069 to add additional femtocell capability to the standard.

"The remote management of consumer equipment like femtocell access points is a vital tool for operators to introduce new revenue-generating services and to consistently provide a high level of service," said Simon Saunders, the Femto Forum’s Chairman. "Femtocells are sophisticated pieces of telecommunications equipment, but they are also first and foremost consumer devices and as such they have to be simple enough to be installed and used by the average consumer. Many people have been concerned about the scalability of provisioning and management for femtocells: with this initiative that concern is addressed."

“Femtocells represent a very different approach to mobile network architecture and therefore require a suitably different approach to network management. The similarity to fixed broadband networks is obvious so TR-069, the dominant standard for the management of broadband gateways and other consumer devices, such as set top boxes, VoIP devices, and storage devices, is the natural choice,” said George Dobrowski, The Broadband Forum’s Chairman and President. “With femtocells likely in many cases to be included in home gateways, this makes the use of a common protocol especially fitting.”

The two bodies have been working together over recent months to ensure the protocol is able to meet the criteria of femtocells. The TR-069 protocol standardizes secure CPE auto-configuration practices and incorporates other CPE management functions, including diagnostics and troubleshooting, performance monitoring, and software/image management, into a common framework. Some Femto Forum members have already adopted the protocol into their existing solutions but today’s agreement means it will become the femtocell industry's first de facto management standard.

In other news the forum also welcomes new members who are already active in the working groups. These include: New Cell Inc (D/B/A Cellcom),C&S Microwave Co Ltd, Epitiro, Tecom Co Ltd and Pioneer Telephone Co-operative Inc. The Forum now has 84 members, close to 40 per cent of whom are operators representing over 810 million subscribers.

About The Femto Forum
Femtocells are low-power wireless access points that operate in licensed spectrum to connect standard mobile devices to a mobile operator’s network using residential DSL or cable broadband connections. The Femto Forum (www.femtoforum.org) has been set up to promote the wide-scale adoption of femtocells. The Forum will support and drive the adoption of industry wide standards and common architectures to enable the widespread adoption & deployment of femtocells by operators around the world. It will direct and implement a multi-faceted marketing campaign to raise the profile, drive technology development & deployment and to promote the potential of femto solutions among industry stakeholders, journalists, analysts, regulators, special interest groups, standards bodies and consumers.

About the Broadband Forum
The Broadband Forum mission is to develop the full potential of broadband. Focused on home-to-core network and management solutions, our standards empower providers to achieve more with their broadband deployment. Established in 1994 as the ADSL Forum and later as the DSL Forum, the Broadband Forum has seen its work over the past 14 years evolve from addressing physical layer ADSL transport specifications to advanced transport and management specifications for all forms of broadband. The Broadband Forum’s formal BroadbandSuite™ Release Program and all technical reports are publicly available at www.broadband-forum.org

NGMN Alliance and Femto Forum partner to bring femtocells to the next generation of mobile networks

Jim O'Neill — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 06:19:41 -0400

London/Frankfurt – 26th June 2008 – The Femto Forum, the independent industry association that supports femtocell deployment worldwide, and the NGMN Alliance, the group focused on the evolution to the next generation of mobile networks, will cooperate on how femtocells can benefit the architecture of next-generation mobile broadband networks such as WiMAX and LTE.

The two bodies will work together to ensure that next generation mobile networks can incorporate femtocells from the very beginning of their deployment rather than integrating the technology afterwards. This is expected to enable mobile operators to use femtocells to manage the cost of rollouts, plan spectrum use and ensure optimum coverage and capacity precisely where it is needed. The two bodies will be involved in establishing clear performance targets, fundamental recommendations and deployment scenarios for next generation mobile broadband networks incorporating femtocells and to help ensure that cost/performance ratios are optimised.

“Adding femtocells to existing cellular networks provides operators with numerous benefits, but rolling out a completely new mobile technology designed to include femtocells introduces fundamental and powerful advantages,” said Dr. Peter Meissner, Operating Officer of the NGMN Alliance. “The partnership between the Femto Forum and the NGMN Alliance will offer operators a completely different approach to network rollout than exists today.”

“Femtocells can transform how next generation mobile networks can be deployed. For example, femtocells could be employed using higher frequencies to deliver targeted intense high bandwidth requirements inside buildings – exactly where subscribers need it. This is expected to enable operators to use the scarce lower frequency spectrum to provide good quality coverage across entire markets with the minimum number of macro network cells” said Prof. Simon Saunders, Chairman of the Femto Forum “The range of possibilities opened up by femtocells is extensive and this agreement will help ensure that the most can be made of the opportunity.”

The NGMN Alliance recommendations include a clear requirement for a cost-optimised indoor node design. It also includes requirements for self-organising networks with automated self-optimising and self-configuring functionality. Femtocells are the first example of a self-organising network and therefore meet both these requirements. The two bodies will work together to define technology requirements, and make recommendations which will then be converted into solutions to be developed within the Femto Forum and promoted jointly.

About The Femto Forum
Femtocells are low-power wireless access points that operate in licensed spectrum to connect standard mobile devices to a mobile operator’s network using residential DSL or cable broadband connections. The Femto Forum (www.femtoforum.org) has been set up to promote the wide-scale adoption of femtocells. The Forum will support and drive the adoption of industry wide standards and common architectures to enable the widespread adoption & deployment of femtocells by operators around the world. It will direct and implement a multi-faceted marketing campaign to raise the profile, drive technology development & deployment and to promote the potential of femto solutions among industry stakeholders, journalists, analysts, regulators, special interest groups, standards bodies and consumers.

About The NGMN Alliance www.ngmn.org
The Next Generation Mobile Network (NGMN) Alliance currently consists of 52 world leading global network operators, technology vendors and universities. The network operators represent more than half of all mobile phone users worldwide and technology vendors represent more than 90 per cent of implemented mobile wireless infrastructure. The key objective of the Alliance is to provide a platform for innovation for mobile broadband communications that enables an exceptional mobile user experience – cost-effective and user-friendly services and a range of end user devices like mobile phones and embedded mobile devices for laptops, consumer electronics, game consoles, etc. The NGMN White Paper summarises the vision for mobile broadband communications and includes common operator recommendations as well as requirements for the standards for the next generation of mobile broadband networks, devices and services.