AirWalk Communications migrates to LTE

CTIA Wireless 2010, RICHARDSON, USA: AirWalk Communications, the innovator in IP-based CDMA cellular radio network equipment, has collaborated with Mindspeed Technologies Inc. and Aricent to develop an LTE picocell.

The three companies announced their collaboration today and said that a proof of concept will be on display at the March 23-25 CTIA Wireless 2010 conference and exhibition in Las Vegas in AirWalk’s Booth (Central Hall #2130).

AirWalk’s migration path to an LTE product line offers operators improved performance functionality through increased spectrum efficiency, increased capacity, peak data rates and very low latency. AirWalk will begin offering an LTE product line starting with picocells in 2011, followed by femtocells.

“As operators migrate their services to LTE and continue to expand network coverage, AirWalk is uniquely positioned to continue supplying the picocell and femtocell markets,” said Serge Pequeux, president and CEO of AirWalk Communications. “The architecture specified by LTE standards bodies is the same flat all-IP architecture found in AirWalk’s CDMA products today, which provides an advantage in our development efforts and time-to-market.”

The LTE picocell in development incorporates Mindspeed’s Transcede next-generation wireless baseband processor and associated components. It combines the latest RISC processor technology with a high-performance DSP processing array in a single chip, providing a complete low-cost/high-value processing capability.

"Mindspeed’s cost-effective industry-standard chipset has proven to help picocell manufacturers accelerate time-to-market for their LTE products," said Raouf Halim, chief executive officer at Mindspeed. "Our Transcede family of processors is among those leading the migration to 4G technology, and we are pleased to collaborate with early adopter companies like AirWalk to bring the initial LTE products to market.”

The picocell relies on Aricent’s software solution to provide a robust platform. It incorporates selected elements from the Aricent LTE eNodeB stack portfolio and includes the industry’s first Layer 2 stack for multi-core implementations.

“Aricent is pleased to collaborate with innovative companies like AirWalk and Mindspeed to introduce an LTE solution based on all three companies’ depth of expertise,” said C.P. Murali, senior vice president, Communications Infrastructure Business Unit at Aricent. “Migrating toward LTE is a priority for the wireless industry, and Aricent is fully committed to offering exceptional solutions.”

AirWalk’s LTE picocell is an affordable access point which will complement macro networks by providing voice and high-speed data coverage and capacity to hot spots and in-building areas that are RF challenged.