Picochip unveils next-generation femtocell chip

Wireless developer Picochip has unveiled the latest generation of its femtocell system-on-a-chip (SoC) technology, the PC3008, which is small enough to fit in a USB stick.

Femtocells are miniature base stations for a mobile phone network, designed to cover a small area with internet coverage, typically using a broadband connection for backhaul to a carrier's own network.

The PC3008 chip marks the third generation of the firm's picoXcell range, which it said would enable the creation of the world's smallest 3G base-stations for use in homes or offices to provide improved internet access.

The firm's vice president of marketing, Rupert Baines, explained that the creation of a chip with such a small form factor was vital to help meet the growing network capacity demands that smartphones and tablets are putting on mobile operators' networks.

"In the past the issue was around the coverage story but now it's all about capacity. Voice is a low capacity service but with the rise of smartphones capacity is being chewed through as data is very intensive on capacity," he said.

"The way to meet these demands on the networks is to use more and more cell sites to provide widespread capacity and femtocells can do this five times more efficiently than macro cell sites at a far lower cost."

Baines added the company expects demand for the technology to grow rapidly.

"There will be products with the PC3008 in a USB form factor by this time next year as small cell technology continues to grow as more devices enter the market that can host the technology," he said

The PC3008 femtocell chip can handle data for up to eight users or devices and has a maximum download speed of 21Mbit/s and upload of 11.5Mbit/s. It runs on a 950MHz ARM11 processor with TrustZone security built in.