DesignArt Networks first to deliver on 3GPP small cell SoCs

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL: DesignArt Networks announced the availability of several complete compact base station reference designs for the DAN3000 SoC family, including the availability of the DAN3000 LTE PHY software pack. Reference designs include several RF module options for the design of compact in- and outdoor LTE small cell products.

Operators need compact, low-cost, carrier-grade small cell products for deployment of service capacity and coverage in a data-centric heterogeneous 3G and 4G radio access network. DesignArt now offers single-SoC hardware reference designs with minimum bill of materials and extremely low power consumption, designed for passively cooled indoor access points and with RF options for very powerful outdoor pico- and micro base station equipment.

Ready for immediate productization, DesignArt Networks has tested and released a fully integrated and standards conformant 3GPP LTE PHY software solution, for LTE and LTE Advanced small cell deployments. Combined with the available Unified Mobile Backhaul software pack, DAN3000 base station reference designs represent a fully integrated single-SoC LTE Advanced small cell base station with embedded self-backhaul and relay.

“DesignArt took the lead in the 3GPP small cell game with the availability of the DAN3000 SoC family. Now we are raising the bar, offering fully tested single-chip reference designs for multi-protocol 3GPP small cell and LTE relay products,” said Assaf Touboul, CTO of DesignArt Networks. “We have completed and shipped our LTE PHY software pack, including a flexible, high-performance API to higher layers, tested in IOTs together with leading mobile equipment vendors and leading stack vendors as part of commercial end-to-end LTE base station products.”

DesignArt reference designs support the concurrent operation of the Universal Mobile Backhaul software pack – creating powerful integrated single-SoC small cell relays that are compliant with, but not limited to, 3GPP LTE Advanced service access and relay functionality.

“Beyond mobile data offload, mobile operators have been experimenting with in- and outdoor deployments of small cell prototypes for many years. As a consequence of the rapid evolution to a data centric 3G and 4G radio access network, these operators are now looking for products that enable deployment of a dense small cell base station layer,” said Will Strauss, president of Forward Concepts.

“DesignArt Networks now offers hardware and software reference designs for various form factors of compact 3GPP small cells, also addressing a critical deployment issue with the availability of software-embedded self-backhaul and relay capability. A pre-cursor to 3GPP LTE Advanced standards – this combination can significantly reduce cost and complexity of small cell deployments.”

DesignArt’s advanced LTE PHY/API software packs for 3GPP small cells complement the recently announced DAN3400 and DAN3300 base station SoCs. Evaluation kit and system reference designs with various RF options are available.