WiMAX MIMO RFIC Solutions Introduced For Femtocell Base Stations

Santa Clara, CA -- PMC-Sierra, Inc. introduced its first WiMAX RF IC solutions for Femtocell base stations, Customer Premises Equipment, and Mobile Station designs. The PM8800 WiZIRD 2Tx/2Rx is an integrated WiMAX RF IC solution with full 2Tx/2Rx Multiple In/Multiple Out (MIMO) capability to support a maximum downlink data rate of 63 Mbit/s per sector and a peak uplink data rate of 28 Mbit/s per sector in a 10 MHz channel. The PM8800's Multi-Band capability (2.3 - 2.7 GHz and 3.3 - 3.8 GHz) allows a single design to cover all popular licensed radio spectra in the world. These advanced features enable next generation consumer services such as gaming, video and voice conferencing, streaming media applications, as well as video posting and sharing (e.g.YouTube). The PM8801 WiZIRD 1Tx/2Rx integrates a single transmit and two receive radio paths, as well as Multi-Band support, and is suitable for WiMAX Wave2 subscriber equipment such as CPE and laptop devices. The WiZIRD family is powered by PMC-Sierra's "Extend Range, Rate and Roaming Architecture" (EXTRRRA), which enables WiMAX service providers to expand coverage areas with minimum capital expenditure, increase the data rate using full 2Tx/2Rx MIMO capability, and support global roaming.

PMC-Sierra also announced a collaboration with Sequans Communications to integrate its WiZIRD RF IC family with Sequans' advanced SQN1130 and SQN2130 subscriber station and base station chips. The collaboration has yielded Mobile WiMAX product designs, including Multi-Band CPE, Femtocell, and Mobile Station.

PMC-Sierra and Sequans Communications will be showing IEEE 802.16e-2005 Wave2 WiMAX Femtocell and Mobile Station designs at WiMAX World USA, McCormick Place, Chicago, in booths 732 and 814, September 26 – 27, 2007.

"PMC-Sierra's Multi-Band and 2Tx/2Rx WiZIRD RF IC family meshes perfectly with both our SQN2130 Base Station and SQN1130 Mobile Station baseband chips, delivering the high performance Femtocell, CPE and Mobile Station designs required to drive worldwide WiMAX adoption," said Bernard Aboussouan, vice president of marketing at Sequans Communications.

Global WiMAX service providers need to expand their coverage area with minimal capital investment. The versatility of PMC-Sierra's PM8800 WiZIRD 2Tx/2Rx allows the same RF IC device to be used in both Femtocell base station and subscriber station designs. With the combined volume of CPE and infrastructure markets, cost-effective WiMAX Femtocell base stations can be designed and deployed to extend network coverage. The increase of multimedia content sharing over the Internet requires high downlink and uplink bandwidth. Using PM8800 WiZIRD 2Tx/2Rx's full MIMO capability, advanced Wave2+ Mobile Stations can offer higher uplink and downlink data rates over existing solutions. With its Multi-Band feature, the WiZIRD product family covers the popular licensed spectra planned for WiMAX deployment around the globe and enables OEMs and ODMs to address multiple geographies with a single design.

"Global WiMAX deployment is at a crossroads today, and many of the challenges to large scale deployment can only be addressed by an innovative RF IC solution," said Tom Sun, vice president and general manager for PMC-Sierra's Broadband Wireless Division. "PMC-Sierra's WiZIRD product family with its EXTRRRA architecture is the only RF IC solution that can extend range coverage, increase data rate and enable global roaming."

The PM8800 WiZIRD 2Tx/2Rx integrates full 2Tx/2Rx MIMO capability, Multi-Band support, direct-conversion ZIF RF transceiver, analog and digital converters, and an industry-standard JEDEC JESD207 compliant baseband digital interface in a single device. The dual-radio path PM8800 WiZIRD 2Tx/2Rx eliminates the need for multiple radio devices and provides programmability to support multiple frequency bands for worldwide WiMAX roaming. The device delivers up to 64QAM modulation for both Tx paths at 0dBm output power level with an EVM rating that addresses a complete spectrum of WiMAX solutions from base station applications to mobile subscriber solutions.

The PM8800 WiZIRD 2Tx/2Rx and PM8801 WiZIRD 1Tx/2Rx are sampling now. The devices are implemented in CMOS technology and packaged in a 108-pin MLF/QFN package. The devices are rated for industrial temperature operation (-40 to +85 degrees Celsius).

SOURCE: PMC-Sierra