Smart Antenna Technology for WiMAX and 3G

US : Addressing wireless service providers’ needs to reduce operating expenses while increasing network performance, ArrayComm and Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) announced a collaboration to combine ArrayComm’s smart antenna technology with TI’s high-performance digital signal processing for wireless infrastructure applications. Compared with existing systems, this combined solution provides operators with four-fold improvements in wireless system coverage, data rates more than doubled, and a capacity increase as much as ten times, all with better coverage quality for 802.16/WiMAX and WCDMA/HSDPA networks. Service providers using the combined solution will reduce capital and operating costs while increasing network performance. For more information, please visit www.ti.com/wimaxwi.

The combination of ArrayComm’s Network MIMO™ smart antenna software and TI’s family of high-performance TMS320TCI6482 DSPs on a single reference design provides base station equipment manufacturers with critical differentiation including shorter time to market, higher equipment performance and greater flexibility as wireless standards evolve.

"Our collaboration is a win-win for both the service provider and the base station equipment manufacturer," said Steve Sifferman, executive vice president of operations with ArrayComm. "TI has the industry’s most powerful, versatile and complete DSP platform for wireless infrastructure solutions. Coupling TI’s DSP with our smart antenna software will yield substantial improvements in the service providers’ network implementations for both 3G and WiMAX."

The first element of this collaboration is a reference design for WiMAX infrastructure applications that incorporates ArrayComm’s Network MIMO software, offering unique support of multiple input / multiple output (MIMO), adaptive antenna system (AAS) and combined MIMO/AAS modes. ArrayComm’s Network MIMO software implements all the antenna processing aspects of the WiMAX profiles approved by the WiMAX Forum Mobile Task Group (MTG) for IEEE 802.16e. MIMO and AAS, used in combination, increase subscriber data rates, improve cell-edge link budgets, manage interference, and maximize overall network capacity. The result is a significant performance advantage for WiMAX. The Network MIMO architecture leverages more than 14 years of ArrayComm experience in commercial smart antenna applications, yielding a software solution that accelerates development of advanced base station products and reduces technical risk.

For the first time, ArrayComm’s Network MIMO software has been ported to TI’s 1 GHz TMS320TCI6482 DSP. This optimized DSP performs at nearly twice the clock speed of other available solutions, yet consumes only three watts of power, making it the industry’s most power efficient DSP for wireless infrastructure systems. The TCI6482 DSP’s unique combination of high performance and low power provides infrastructure OEMs with a platform to upgrade current systems easily and expand product portfolios efficiently. The software programmable nature of the TCI6482 DSP allows users to upgrade their solutions to meet the needs of evolving standards. Also, it simplifies feature changes and upgrades to meet certification requirements.

"ArrayComm’s expertise in smart antenna technology matched with TI’s industry-leading TCI6482 DSP creates a unique combination that can positively impact equipment manufacturers’ ease of use and time to market," said Jerold Givens, DSP platform manager, communications infrastructure, Texas Instruments. "In addition, this solution will help carriers to lower their deployment costs and further protect their network investments."

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