Femtocell testing
IntelliNet Technologies, a leading provider of data offload solutions, and picoChip, the leading provider of silicon devices for femtocells, announced today that it has recently completed interoperability testing between IntelliNet's Femtocell Gateway and femtocell access points based on picoChip's industry-standard picoXcell platform. The testing validates products against the newly adopted 3GPP standardized Iu-h interface, which allows mobile operators to select customer premise and network equipment from multiple vendors for femtocell service deployments.
Femtocell access points, also known as Home NodeBs, are low-cost cellular base stations. Although originally intended for use in the home, they are now being deployed more widely in enterprises, campus-area and rural environments and to provide hot-zone coverage in areas of high demand. Femtocells connect to the wireless operator's network via the public internet, typically through the subscriber's broadband connection. Subscribers benefit from improved coverage and increased data rates, while operators benefit by offloading traffic from their macro network, freeing up valuable bandwidth resources.
"IntelliNet is pleased to have had the opportunity to successfully test our Femtocell Gateway with several femtocell access points using picoChip's silicon," said Anjan Ghosal, president and CEO of IntelliNet Technologies. "Interoperability is the key to giving operators the confidence to begin large scale deployments."
The IntelliNet Femtocell Gateway provides the secure access to macro network voice and data services and the control capabilities necessary to manage very large numbers of femtocells. It is a 3GPP Release 8 Iu-h based solution towards the access with RANAP and SCTP support as well as standards based Iu-PS, Iu-CS and Gn network interfaces. It is built on a carrier-grade AdvancedTCA platform with an active/standby architecture.
"picoChip is delighted to cooperate with IntelliNet in the interoperability testing of our products," said Nigel Toon, CEO at picoChip. "Strong standards allow core technology providers like picoChip to focus on delivering compliant platforms which reduce costs, accelerate time-to-market, and give our customers a firm foundation for innovation and product differentiation. The overall result is a larger, more successful market."
