SpiderCloud Wireless has announced that its small cell software smarts will be integrated into a customised baseband processor by Mindspeed Technologies, developing a processor solution that puts the company's proprietary self-organising network and scalable system features onto Mindspeed's System on Chip (SoC).
The aim of the collaboration is to produce an in-building coverage and capacity product, optimised for use in enterprises and businesses, that is scaleable and efficient in terms of its use of network resources.
SpiderCloud takes a slightly different approach to other small cell providers by providing a system that includes cellular access points coupled with a site controller node. Calls can be handed off between mini sites as employees move around a building, and by having a services node on-site, traffic can be kept local, if need be, optimising the backhaul and signalling load back to an operator's core network. It also allows for integration between mobile and an enterprise's own network, so that users can access corporate applications and servers through their mobiles.
SpiderCloud's Enterprise Radio Access Network (E-RAN) system includes SpiderCloud's own physical layer software – the key to its ability to handle mobility and interference between radio nodes, which are controlled and powered by the enterprise premises-based services node.
For Mindspeed, it's another customer reference for a company that has done much to extend femtocell and small cell technology and capability. Mindspeed has 70% share of the high-speed packet access (HSPA) market according to data from ABI Research, and said that is the only small cell SoC company that has demonstrated support for both HSPA and LTE in its small cell SoCs, and the only one to have shown both frequency-division duplexing (FDD) LTE and time-division LTE (TD-LTE) solutions.
“Small cells have quickly become a recognised part of carrier network plans for both metro area and residential services. Still, despite a good deal of focus, the challenges of the corporate environment have been tougher to meet,” said Peter Jarich, Vice President, Consumer and Infrastructure at Current Analysis, in a company statement. “This co-operation, and the level of development that has gone into it, is further evidence of how complex the enterprise segment truly is. More generally, it is an indication of how the small cell market continues to innovate and the opportunities continue to grow.”
Earlier this year SipderCloud and NEC announced NEC would be reselling SpiderCloud's solution as part of its enterprise small cell strategy.