picochip at Mobile World Congress

Feb 15, 2010 06:25 ET

Continuous Computing, picoChip and Cavium Networks Deliver Industry’s First Complete end-to-end LTE Femtocell Reference Design

Live Demonstrations at MWC 2010 Booths: Continuous (1F4), picoChip(1D56), Cavium (2C5)

BARCELONA, Spain --(Business Wire)-- Feb 15, 2010ContinuousComputing, picoChipand CaviumNetworks (NASDAQ:CAVM) today announced that they have collaboratedto produce the world’s first complete Long Term Evolution (LTE)femtocell reference design. Available immediately, this solution helpsaccelerate time to market for product developers, femtocell access pointmanufacturers, network equipment vendors and operators. The referencedesign is the industry’s first to include the LTE modem (PHY), radiofrequency (RF) and packet processors, protocol software, intelligentrouter functionality and a complete Evolved Packet Core (EPC) simulator.

Femtocells – small, low-cost cellular basestations designed fordeployment by end-users – are increasingly being seen as key todelivering improved mobile communications services in a wide range ofcontexts, and are expected to play a crucial role in upcoming LTEnetworks. LTE femtocells will allow users to benefit from the bestpossible experience from day one, while also enabling operators todeploy their new networks more efficiently and cost effectively thanpreviously feasible. By employing small cells, operators can build theirLTE networks in line with demand, thereby matching investment withrevenue while also reducing capital expenditure.

“It is only with femtocells that LTE can truly meet its potential. Theyare the key to providing the experience that users will expect at aprice that operators can afford. We believe that LTE femtocellsultimately will carry the vast majority of indoor mobile data trafficwhile also providing vital improvements to outdoor coverage andcapacity, in both major cities and in remote areas,” said Nigel Toon,CEO and President, picoChip. “While there are numerous vendordemonstrations of a subset of the functions of an LTE femtocell, thisreference design represents the world’s first integrated andfully-tested solution.”

“The demand for LTE femtocells is unquestionable. We are already seeingoperators asking for small cell access points to start testing in thesecond half of this year. Femtocells represent the key to avoiding thedifficulties surrounding the first 3G deployments where rollouts costtoo much, took too long and did not meet user expectations,” said MikeDagenais, President and CEO, Continuous Computing. “This LTE femtocellreference design is the culmination of a major three-way effort andrepresents highly sophisticated, state-of-the-art engineering andintegration.”

“Conventional mobile network design is reaching its capacity limits atexactly the same time that user demand for data services is reallystarting to rocket. Femtocells are the only viable means of renderingmobile networks capable of meeting future demands,” said Syed Ali,President and CEO, Cavium Networks. “This complete LTE reference designallows equipment manufacturers to initiate trials quickly in order toiron out the challenges of LTE small cells. Customers can then take thesystem from trial to deployable product rapidly either by using acustomer form factor or by leveraging the reference design’sinfrastructure.”

The LTE femtocell reference design consists of a microTCA systemincluding a chassis with a picoChip modem, mezzanine RF card and Layer 1physical layer (PHY) software, together with Cavium Networks’ OCTEON^®Plus multi-core MIPS64^® processor. Continuous Computingprovides Trillium^® LTE Layer 2/3 protocols, the eNodeBreference application and a complete EPC Core Network Emulator (CNE).Continuous Computing’s Trillium LTE eNodeB protocols have been optimizedon Cavium’s Simple Executive software environment to providemarket-leading performance and reduced latency.

All three companies have extensive femtocell and LTE experience.picoChip provides the PHY solutions underlying the first wave ofcommercial 3G femtocell deployments and was also one of the firstcompanies to show LTE in action back in 2008. Continuous Computingalready has 13 LTE design wins, extending from the Radio Access Networkto the EPC, as well as 20 femtocell customer wins. Finally, with widerange of design wins in the 3G and 4G markets, the Cavium NetworksOCTEON processor is becoming the mainstream solution ranging from Layer2 to Layer 7 processing for base stations and the processor choice forpacket core equipment.

The LTE femtocell reference design will be demonstrated at all threecompanies’ booths at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and is availableimmediately. For more information, please visit one of the web sites orMWC booths: Continuous Computing (Hall 1, Stand F4), picoChip (Hall 1,Stand D56), Cavium Networks (Hall 2, Stand C5).

About Continuous Computing

Continuous Computing^® is the global source of Trillium^®-poweredwireless and packet processing hardware and software solutions thatenable network equipment providers to overcome the mobile broadbandcapacity challenge quickly and cost effectively. Leveraging more than 20years of telecom innovation, the company enables customers to increaseROI by focusing internal resources on differentiation for 3G, Long TermEvolution (LTE), Femtocell and Deep Packet Inspection (DPI)applications. Expertise, innovation and responsiveness are thedifference: only Continuous Computing combines best-in-class ATCAplatforms with world-famous Trillium software to createhighly-optimized, field-proven products. www.ccpu.com.

Continuous Computing is an active member of 3GPP, CP-TA, ETSI, FemtoForum, Intel Embedded Alliance, PICMG and the SCOPE Alliance.

About picoChip

picoChip is enabling the next generation of wireless infrastructure. ItspicoXcell™ family of optimized silicon devices is the leader in the fastgrowing market for femtocell access points. Its picoArray™ family offlexible wireless processors is the leading solution for OFDMA-basednetwork equipment, and is backed by comprehensive software support forglobal standards such as EDGE, HSPA, HSPA+, TD-SCDMA, WiMAX, LTE,cdma2000 and GSM. Located in Bath, UK and Beijing, China, picoChip isre-shaping mobile networks. For more information, visit www.picochip.com

About Cavium Networks

Cavium Networks is a leading provider of highly integrated semiconductorproducts that enable intelligent processing in networking,communications and connected home applications. Cavium Networks offers abroad portfolio of integrated, software-compatible processors ranging inperformance from 10 Mbps to 40 Gbps that enable secure, intelligentfunctionality in enterprise, data-center, broadband/consumer and accessand service provider equipment. Cavium Networks processors are supportedby ecosystem partners that provide operating systems, tool support,reference designs and other services. Cavium Networks principal officesare in Mountain View, CA with design team locations in California,Massachusetts, India and Taiwan. For more information, visit www.caviumnetworks.com.

OCTEON^®, NITROX^®, ECONA™ and PureVu™ aretrademarks of Cavium Networks, Inc. Continuous Computing, the ContinuousComputing logo, and Trillium are trademarks or registered trademarks ofContinuous Computing Corporation. Other names and brands may be claimedas the property of others.

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