Converge! Network Digest
July 8, 2010
IPWireless and Altair Semiconductor announced an LTE USB modem that will support multiple frequency bands including the 800MHz digital dividend band, 1800 MHz and 2.5 GHz. Subsequent devices will also support the entire US 700MHz and AWS frequency. Samples of the device will be available by September, 2010, with commercial availability before the end of the year.
IPWireless’ LTE device will incorporate Altair’s FourGee-3100 baseband and FourGee-6200 RFIC chipsets as well as IPWireless’ own technology solutions and software. The FourGee-3100 is a 3GPP LTE baseband processor that supports LTE category 3 (CAT-3) throughputs (100Mbps/50Mbps DL/UL respectively). The chip implements a 20MHz MIMO receiver and is based on a proprietary Software Defined Radio (SDR) processor which offers performance which significantly exceeds traditional communications DSP cores, yet consumes a fraction of the power. The chipset supports FDD as well as TDD versions of the LTE standard and has undergone extensive interoperability testing (IOT) with major infrastructure vendors, allowing IPWireless to accelerate time to market for its LTE USB device product and ensure full compatibility with future LTE networks. The FourGee-6200 is a high-performance, wideband FDD/TDD radio IC which covers any 3GPP LTE frequency band in the range between 700-2700MHz.
In addition to Altair’s chipsets, IPWireless’ LTE devices will use a custom designed multi-band MIMO antenna that will improve both cell edge and peak rate performance. The RF transceiver chains have been highly optimized to provide superior receiver sensitivity. The devices will support Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems, and will have the facility to support over-the-air (OTA) software updates without disruption to the user.
“By partnering with Altair Semiconductor to develop LTE modem devices, we are providing mobile operators and their customers with a high performance, low power solution that will satisfy the needs of consumers as LTE networks are deployed globally. Altair’s flexible chipset architecture enables us to rapidly develop devices that meet mobile operators’ growing demand for high quality LTE devices that support multiple spectrum bands, including the newly released 800MHz digital dividend spectrum band,” said Malcolm Gordon, Chief Operating Officer of IPWireless.