Omnitron: Give Me PoE, Quoth the Small CellOmnitron: Give Me PoE, Quoth the Small Cell

Omnitron might sound like a robot that converts into a car, but the company actually does something decidedly less "Hollywood" -- though potentially useful -- for operators looking to eventually deploy small cells en masse.

Omnitron Systems Technology Inc. claims to be the first company to make a compact Network Interface Device (NID) that can power and help configure small cells, the tiny basestations that are expected to extend the coverage and capacity of 3G and 4G mobile networks over time.

What it is

Traditionally, the telephone network box -- as NIDs can also be known -- mark the end of the carrier network and the beginning of the customer premises wiring. In this scenario, however, the Carrier Ethernet 2.0-compliant NID connects the small cells -- clustered on a lamp post or on a rooftop -- to the carrier network, be that a mobile operator or a cable MSO that sends them Power over Ethernet (PoE).