SEQUANS and PMC-Sierra join to deliver complete mobile WiMAX femtocell

Sequans’ SQN2130 is the industry’s first chip optimised for Mobile WiMAX base stations. It is a full MAC and PHY baseband solution and is WiMAX Forum™ Wave 2-ready. It features 2x2 MIMO (2Tx and 2Rx) and high throughput with low power consumption in TDD or FDD mode. The SQN2130 is designed to support the manufacture of any size base station—femto, pico, micro, or multi-sector macro—and can serve multiple thousands of simultaneous users.

PMC-Sierra’s PM8800 WiZIRD 2Tx/2Rx is the industry’s highest density WiMAX RF IC solution integrating full 2Tx/2Rx MIMO capability, multi-band support, direct-conversion ZIF RF transceiver, analog and digital converters, and an industry-standard JEDEC JESD207 compliant baseband digital interface in a single device. The dual-radio path PM8800 WiZIRD 2Tx/2Rx eliminates the need for multiple radio devices and provides programmability to support multiple frequency bands for worldwide WiMAX roaming. The device supports 64QAM modulation for both Tx paths at 0dBm output power level with an EVM performance that addresses a spectrum of WiMAX solutions from base station applications to mobile subscriber solutions.

“PMC-Sierra delivers the only RFIC with the features needed for femtocell applications,” said Bernard Aboussouan, vice president of marketing and business development for Sequans. “These include support for higher modulation, higher output power, 2Tx/2Rx configuration, and multiple frequency bands. Our collaboration delivers a high performance solution with an overall hard-to-beat bill of materials that is of paramount importance in the success of global WiMAX deployment.”

“Our combined solution provides tremendous value to WiMAX OEMs and ODMs who can now address multiple territories with a single cost-effective design, and to WiMAX operators who can extend coverage and minimise capital investment,” said Tom Sun, vice president and general manager for PMC-Sierra’s Broadband Wireless Division.

The Sequans/PMC-Sierra femtocell reference design includes support for network synchronization, a key requirement for applications such as SOHO deployments, which can be performed using either GPS or over the network via IEEE 1588v2.

Sequans and PMC-Sierra are also collaborating on multi-band CPE and will deliver reference designs featuring Sequans SQN1130 baseband and PMC-Sierra’s PM8800 WiZIRD RFIC.

Complete Sequans and PMC-Sierra femtocell and subscriber equipment designs will be on display at WiMAX World USA, McCormick Place, September 26-27 on Sequans’ booth, number 814, and PMC-Sierra’s booth, number 732.