16 Feb 2010

Node-H Shows Cognitive Radio Femtocell Technology

Node-H has shown Femtocell software including a cognitive radio feature enabling the Femtocell to sense the surrounding radio environment and, in agreement with the Home Node-B Management System, to configure itself optimally.

(PRWEB) February 16, 2010 – Node-H’s Femtocell software now includes cognitive radio technology to sense the surrounding radio environment. This enables Node-H software to comply with the Self-Organizing Network (SON) requirements of the 3GPP Iu-h standard. Node-H is demonstrating the capability at the Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona.

Node-H Femtocell software for the 3GPP Iu-h standard is specifically optimized for femtocells and has set performance records for the industry. Node-H has shown sixteen simultaneous calls and the fastest uplink and downlink HSPA speeds. This has been achieved on the Percello Lima platform. SON capability is one of the final steps required before wide-scale commercialization of the technology.

Self-Organizing Network technology makes the rollout of advanced networks simpler and cheaper. Until now, macro-cellular networks have been deployed using detailed network planning in a centralized fashion. In contrast a self-organizing network allows small cells to be set up to provide targeted coverage where it is needed, and the newly deployed cell, along with the neighbouring cells adapt to the new radio conditions. This greatly reduces the cost to the operator of expanding the network and opens the possibility of network extension into homes and offices worldwide.

Node-H software continually scans the radio environment in a process called sniffing, similar to the process that occurs in a handset when it is looking for a cell. The results of the cell scan can be processed locally, but the full benefit of SON is achieved by reporting the scanned results to a Home Node-B Management System (HMS). The HMS can correlate radio measurement results from many cells, and is also aware of the macro cells in the location, and can configure the femtocell for optimum performance whilst maintaining the integrity of the macro cellular service.

The 3GPP Home Node-B standard incorporates the TR-069 family of specifications from the Broadband Forum. Node-H has incorporated the Libcwmp TR-069 client from its partner company AVSystem to communicate with the HMS, and supports the TR-106 and TR-196 standards for management of the femtocell. At the Mobile World Congress Node-H will be showing this capability with HMS software running on an AVSystem hosted VoiceIP-ACS.

Operators and the 3GPP have created a Femtocell standard which encourages interoperability to drive the price of the technology to the point which enables it to become a mass-market phenomenon. With sub-$100 prices now within reach operator deployments are set to rise dramatically. A pre-requisite is for the large system integrators, typically network equipment suppliers, to finalize the standards compliant Iu-h systems which include Femtocell gateways, security gateways, a set of supported Femtocell access points, and a Home Node-B Management System, and offer this as a complete working package to the operators. A significant step in this direction is the ETSI-sponsored interoperability testing which starts next month. With successful interoperability in 2010, Femtocell deployment is set for exponential growth.

About Node-H GmbH

Node-H GmbH is a pure-play 3GPP femtocell protocol software company. The company’s portable Iu-H based protocol software runs to the maximum platform capability on the leading chipset platforms. The high-performance fully integrated software was designed for cost-optimized SoC femtocell platforms to help femtocell and residential gateway manufacturers achieve fast time-to-market with a high-quality solution. Node-H is a member of the Femto Forum. Node-H is privately funded and based in Munich, Germany. For more information about Node-H, please visit http://www.node-h.com.