Small Cells

Continuous Computing has a deep understanding of Femtocells / Picocells / Microcells and the key necessity for network equipment providers to deliver Femtocell Access Point (Home NodeB and Home eNodeB), Picocell and Microcell devices plus Femtocell Gateway (NodeB and eNodeB), Picocell and Microcell infrastructure quickly and cost-effectively.

Femtocells / Picocells / Microcells are strategic for Continuous Computing; we have 29 Small Cell wins.

We invested early (and heavily) in Trillium software and ATCA platforms to deliver deployment-ready Femtocell Access Point, Picocell and Microcell reference platforms and FlexTCA platforms that support Femtocell Gateway, Picocell and Microcell applications.

What’s more, the thought leaders within our engineering and product line management teams have written extensively about the specific requirements of Femtocells, Picocells and Microcells:

• Mobile Data Redefines Operator Battleground
• LIPA: Local IP Access via Home Node B
• Iuh: A Protocol Solution for Scaling Femtocells
• LTE Femtocell Roadmap: From Concept to Reality
• Femtocells: Spectrum Efficiency Improved
• CPE WAN and FAP Management Protocols
• Should LTE Be Deployed Differently than 2G and 3G?
• What’s Next for Femtocells?
• Why Femtocells?
• Femtocells: Opportunities and Challenges for Business and Technology

Small Cell Diagrams

These diagrams illustrate how Trillium protocols, system software and ATCA hardware may be combined to create deployment-ready Femtocell, Picocell and Microcell solutions:

To illustrate our system-level approach to addressing Femtocell / Picocell / Microcell key requirements, let’s drill down a layer.

Femtocell Access Point (FAP)

An average consumer spends 50 to 60% of his or her time in an indoor environment, and 70% of wireless calls originate and terminate indoors. But, many subscribers are frustrated by bad coverage and poor data rates within their homes and/or offices.

What to do? Femtocells.

A femtocell is a small wireless base station that resides in the consumer’s home or office and transmits at very low power. Femtocells use an IP broadband connection (e.g., cable, DSL, fiber) for backhaul.

Femtocells eliminate the need for dual-mode handsets as virtually any existing wireless handset should seamlessly work with a femtocell offered by the carrier.

Furthermore, femtocells not only provide excellent indoor coverage, but also free up capacity in the macro-cellular network. In other words, indoor subscribers’ cell phone traffic is parked on a femtocell as opposed to on a macrocell.

Femtocell Gateway (FGW)

A Femtocell Gateway aggregates femtocell access point traffic backhauled over fixed line broadband links such as cable modem, DSL or fiber. The Femtocell Gateway application routes traffic according to service type: voice to the IuCS interface of the mobile core network and packet data to the IuPS interface. In addition, traffic destined for the Internet may be off-loaded at the FGW to minimize impact on the wireless core network.

A Femtocell Gateway system solution would typically include control plane and forwarding applications as core modules. A customer might also equip the system with Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) capabilities to support policy enforcement as well as a security module to meet Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) requirements related to the Internet offload function (country-specific requirements).

Leverage Our Small Cell Expertise

Related Products & Information

TRILLIUM WCDMA FEMTOCELL PROTOCOLS

TRILLIUM LTE FEMTOCELL PROTOCOLS

Contact Us

For more information on our extensive Femtocell Access Point, Picocell, Microcell and Femtocell Gateway capabilities, please contact us.