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World's first cost-effective wideband radio chipset to support all major cellular air interface standards
El Segundo, CA (September, 22, 2003) – TelASIC Communications today announced the BaseFlex™ chipset, the world's first cost-effective wideband radio chipset to support all major cellular air interface standards, including GSM, GPRS, EDGE, IS-95 CDMA, WCDMA, cdma2000, and North American TDMA. The heart of the BaseFlex chipset is the company's high-performance IF sampling data converter technology, which reduces up- and down-conversion to a single stage, simplifying RF front-end complexity. The chipset delivers instantaneous bandwidth sufficient to cover any licensed commercial radio band up to 75MHz, enabling a powerful wideband radio architecture that can process multiple 2G, 2.5G, 3G and future wireless standards at the same time, within the same footprint as today's single-carrier, narrowband architectures. A multi-channel, fully programmable digital tuner completes the chipset.
Tony Giraudo, president and CEO of TelASIC explained, "The BaseFlex chipset embodies the unique value proposition that TelASIC brings to developers of base station hardware. The combination of data converters and our fully programmable tuner delivers the wideband radio architecture that allows base station designers to build a truly universal base station platform that produces both immediate and long-term product portfolio benefits."
The key features of the BaseFlex chipset are:
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High intermediate frequency (IF) sampling analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters optimized for single up- and down-conversion architectures simplify wideband RF front end complexity.
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Wideband transceiver architecture instantaneously supports the entire licensed commercial radio band up to 75 MHz, allowing a single base station to simultaneously support any combination of bands, even those at opposite ends of the spectrum.
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The ability to process multiple 2G, 2.5G, 3G and future wireless standards at the same time, within the same footprint as today's single-carrier, narrowband architectures.
Developers of wireless base stations that use the BaseFlex chipset will reap wide-reaching benefits associated with a common wideband hardware platform:
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System costs associated with the support of multiple air interface standards are reduced, and cost benefits increase as standards evolve and more network capacity is added
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Product line management is simplified by eliminating multiple air interface-specific products
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Production and operations become more cost-effective with reduced product lines and increased economies of scale
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Development cycle time is shortened, resulting in faster time to market
The BaseFlex architecture complements industry organizations that support open radio interfaces, including the Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) (www.cpri.info), which aims to define a publicly available specification for the key internal interface of radio base stations, and the Open Base Station Architecture Interface (OBSAI) (www.obsai.org), which focuses on open specifications for certain parts of the base station's internal architecture and key interfaces.
"Base station manufacturers are under intense pressure to not only keep cost down, but also support an ever-expanding number of air-interface technologies," observed Allen Nogee, principal analyst in wireless technology at In-Stat/MDR. "By employing a common hardware platform, such as that enabled by TelASIC's BaseFlex chipset, manufacturers gain the flexibility to support multiple air standards while still simplifying their designs."
The chipset consists of the TC1411, a 14-bit, 250 MSPS analog-to-digital converter, the TC4000, a multi-channel programmable tuner, and the TC2400, a 14-bit, 480 MSPS digital-to-analog converter. TelASIC's integrated circuits are implemented in IBM's SiGE Bi-CMOS and CMOS process technologies, which contribute to the excellent performance characteristics of each chip in the chipset.
"IBM's SiGe process technology can be of tremendous benefit for high performance data converter integrated circuits like TelASIC's," said Michael Concannon, vice president, Foundry Services, IBM Microelectronics Division. "We understand that companies like TelASIC need to get to market as quickly as possible, with the latest technologies, and working with us allows them to keep their focus on customers and products, while we focus on manufacturing."
BaseFlex Chipset Components
TC1411 - 14-bit, 250 MSPS Analog-to-Digital Converter
The TC1411 is a high IF-sampling ADC that digitizes up to 75 MHz bandwidth centered at 180 MHz, which represents the largest continuous licensed commercial wireless spectrum. It allows for a single down-conversion stage, greatly simplifying system design.
TC4000 - Multi-Channel Programmable Tuner
The TC4000 contains eight receive and four transmit tuner paths and channelization of up to eight air interface services on receive. Each channel can be programmed to support any individual wireless standard or simultaneous combinations of standards; for example, eight GSM signals, eight wideband (WCDMA) services, or six GSM plus two WCDMA channels.
TC2400 - 14-bit, 480 MSPS Digital-to-Analog Converter
The TC2400 is designed to provide low-noise and low-spurious performance with digital intermediate frequency input signals centered at 120 MHz, allowing a single up-conversion RF path.
Availability
Samples and a demonstration system are available now. For more information on the chipset or individual ICs, contact sales@telasic.com.
Media Contact
Ashis Khan
E-mail: info@telasic.com
Phone: +1 310 955 3757
About TelASIC Communications
TelASIC Communications (www.telasic.com) is a leading developer of Remote Radio Head (RRH) products for WCDMA/HSDPA and WiMAX/LTE infrastructure. TelASIC’s highly power-efficient RRHs enable transmission of high output power, which is essential for delivering high data rates and coverage required for mobile TV/video/audio/data-centric 3G data services. The company’s products are based on its world-leading expertise in signal processing algorithms for power amplifier linearization and high performance data converters purpose-built for WCDMA/HSDPA and WiMAX/LTE transmission.
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