NXP Semiconductors is claiming it has a world first with the development of a reference design for a software defined radio multi-mode baseband platform – including support for LTE.
The system solution, built around a DSP core based on NXP’s Embedded Vector Processor, will allow equipment and terminal vendors to define the parameters of the solution through software, which will help the development of LTE terminals and systems in the period up to final standards specification.
NXP’s Carsten Schimanke said that the baseband was designed to cope with the high data speeds planne for LTE, as well as the MIMO architecture and OFDM technology. The solution is capable of achieving data transfer rates of 150 Mbits downlink and 50 Mbits uplink
Because LTE is not yet fully standardised, developers need a flexible solution to allow them to carry out interoperability testing against network equipment and devices, Schimanke said. Using the SDR approach means developers can programme parameters without having to switch out the whole system.
Schimanke said that he is confident NXP is the first company to have followed this approach and produced a multi-band platform that includes LTE.
The first users of the reference platform would be infrastructure vendors, Schimanke said, with the first silicon for devices available in early 2009, with commercial LTE deployment some time in 2010.