Roke Goes Wide on FemtosRoke Goes Wide on Femtos

New design delivers more than 40,000 times the area covered by most other femtocells, claims vendor

July 7, 2010

1 Min Read

ROMSEY, U.K. -- Roke Manor Research has developed the world’s first 3G Wide Area Coverage Femtocell capability. Using picoChip’s technology as the development platform, Roke’s reference design has a 40km range which delivers more than 40,000 times the area covered by most other femtocells. It is also the first to support full mobility at speeds of up to 120 kilometres per hour, allowing mobile users to travel while connected to the 3G base stations.

The new Wide Area Coverage Femtocell requires minimum infrastructure, and its small form factor significantly reduces power consumption, making it a cost effective option for network operators. It supports up to twelve simultaneous users, with Release 5 HSDPA, and a software upgrade to Release 6 HSUPA. Roke has also developed custom firmware enhancements to picoChip’s industry-standard PC8208 femtocell solution.

Prasid Shah, Business Sector Manager at Roke, said: “Previously the best range femtocell technology could deliver was two kilometres, useful for wireless services on a campus, but uneconomic for network operators that would have to deploy large numbers in order to fill signal black holes in the countryside. Roke’s concept means that a reliable 3G mobile service in some of the most remote areas in the world is now a cost effective reality for network operators, which could be a solution to help address the ‘digital divide’.

Roke Manor Research Ltd.

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