STMicroelectronics Offers One-Stop Shopping for Pico Base Stations29 November 2005
STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a leading supplier of System-on-Chip (SoC) solutions for the wireless market, today unveiled the industry's most comprehensive solution for pico-cell base-station modems. ST's unique offering combines the superior performance of the market's first SoC baseband processor for wireless infrastructure applications, the STW51000, with multi-standard software libraries, optimized for GSM, EDGE, W-CDMA, and WiMAX networks. Driving up base-station channel density, ST has tested and specified the device to be used with 20 concurrent voice users in a Release 4 WCDMA network. Pico-cell base stations provide enhanced wireless coverage inside office buildings, college campuses, subways, airports etc. Their importance grows with the arrival of 3G services, where even a relatively small number of high- speed data users can consume all the available resources of the nearest macro- cell base station. Recent industry research also suggests that as much as 70 per cent of subscribers will be located indoors when accessing wireless broadband applications. By combining a DSP, ARM cores, a large amount of embedded memory, and dedicated co-processors in a single device with unique software libraries, ST's baseband modem offering meets critical cost and size constraints of pico- and nano-cell base-station designs. STW51000's unparalleled chip-level integration results in the lowest cost-per-channel and an outstanding channel density of 20 voice users for the 3GPP WCDMA Release 4 with a single device. Compared with competing solutions, ST's base-station modem offers a lower Bill of Materials (BOM) and smaller footprint, as well as better performance. One chip delivers up to 1.2 GHz of quad-MAC DSP core performance and 300 MHz of ARM926 processing power. Both DSPs only run the signal processing tasks, which they are optimized for, and thus no DSP cycles are wasted to execute the control tasks. The ARM926 acts as the SoC controller, handling all control tasks such as protocol stacks, memory management, RTOS, and drivers. PHY and lower MAC benchmarks have shown that the STW51000 supports the industry's highest voice and data channel density. Two STW51000 can handle as many as 16 HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) users sharing a 14.4-Mbps throughput, while a single-device implementation can address up to two-carrier GSM/EDGE and a complete WiMAX 802.6e 10MHz PHY, set up in the TDD (Time-Division-Duplexing) mode The ST solution includes a full set of associated software libraries, providing the market's most comprehensive wireless standard portfolio. For the first time, original equipment manufacturers can implement wireless standards such as GSM, EDGE, WCDMA - including HSDPA and HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink Packet Access) - as well as WiMAX from a single source, simplifying their supply chain and reducing their development costs. Thanks to its multi-standard support, the same device can be easily upgraded to fit the requirements of a new application. "Cost-effective pico-cell deployments are set to unlock a lucrative revenue stream to our customer, delivering increased capacity and improved coverage in areas of high user density," explains Daniel Abecassis, Groups Vice President and General Manager of ST's Wireless Infrastructure Division. "Optimized for Pico BTS implementations, ST's solution provides one-stop shopping for equipment suppliers, saving their material and design costs, as well as simplifying and speeding up modem deployments in pico-cell base stations." STW51000 samples, evaluation boards and tools, as well as optimized software libraries are available now. Delivered in the PBGA 569 package, the device costs $50 in volume. A leading supplier of advanced products to the wireless industry, STMicroelectronics offers a full spectrum of digital and RF devices for wireless infrastructure applications, covering most functions in cellular base stations and wireless broadband systems. From dedicated solutions (ASIC) to optimized standard products (ASSP), ST's wireless infrastructure portfolio, defined in co-operation with leading telco manufacturers, ensures the highest level of integration and flexibility. This press release is also available at http://www.st.com/stonline/press/news/year2005/p1721h.htm ... with links to further information on the STW51000. About STMicroelectronics STMicroelectronics is a global leader in developing and delivering semiconductor solutions across the spectrum of microelectronics applications. An unrivalled combination of silicon and system expertise, manufacturing strength, Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio and strategic partners positions the Company at the forefront of System-on-Chip (SoC) technology and its products play a key role in enabling today's convergence markets. The Company's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, on Euronext Paris and on the Milan Stock Exchange. In 2004, the Company's net revenues were $8.76 billion and net earnings were $601 million. Further information on ST can be found at http://www.st.com.
Source: PR Newswire
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