Lime Microsystems, Percello to develop high-performance femtocells reference platform

GUILDFORD, ENGLAND: Lime Microsystems, the multi-band multi-standard RF transceiver IC company, is collaborating with Percello Ltd., an Israeli fabless semiconductor company developing highly integrated and low-cost digital baseband for UMTS and LTE networks, to develop a flexible high-performance reference platform for femtocell designs.

The reference platform combines Percello's PRC6xxx high-performance baseband IC, with Lime's multi-band, multi-standard RF transceiver IC, the LMS6002. It will be used to develop femtocell designs for high data rate UMTS/HSPA+ air interfaces and will enable faster adoption of femtocells in the existing and emerging markets worldwide.

"We are delighted to have Percello as a baseband partner,” states Dr. Ebrahim Bushehri, CEO of Lime Microsystems. “Percello’s cost- and performance-optimised baseband solution is an excellent match for the capabilities of Lime’s transceiver for high data rate solutions. I am confident that this reference platform will go a long way towards accelerating the widespread adoption of femtocell technology.”

“Femtocell technology is redefining cellular network topologies and paving the way for innovative operator services. Percello is focused on developing best-in-class baseband solutions that will enable mass market femtocell deployment,” said Shlomo Gadot, CEO at Percello.

“By working with innovative companies like Lime Microsystems, we can bring cost-effective femtocell solutions to the market. Lime’s IC integrated with our technology quickly and successfully. We’ve addressed all interface requirements between the baseband and transceiver ICs, and the technology is now ready for easy adoption by our end customers.”

Percello’s PRC6XXX is a baseband processor for 3G femtocells which supports up to 16 simultaneous CS/PS/HSPA calls with robust throughput of 21.6/5.76 Mbps HSPA+ data rates. It also supports extended cell range for enterprise and outdoor applications with the capability to cascade 2 or more PRC6xxx to support 32 and 64 simultaneous users.

Lime Microsystems’ LMS6002 is a multi-band multi-standard RF transceiver IC designed for femtocells and small cell base stations. The highly frequency agile transceiver operates at user-selectable frequencies between 375MHz and 4GHz and is suitable for 3G, WiMAX and LTE standards.

The transceiver can be digitally configured to operate in the full range of frequency bands, with 16 user-selectable bandwidths up to 28MHz. This removes the need for individual transceiver chips for each of the different bands, and allows a small cell base station to be reconfigured rapidly and simply.