Feb 24 2014
Silicon Image, a leading provider of advanced connectivity solutions, today announced its entry into the small cell wireless backhaul market with the introduction of two high-throughput, single-chip CMOS beam-steering 60GHz RF transceivers designed to address the rapidly growing market for high-capacity wireless backhaul links in urban environments.
These new transceivers deliver robust and interference-free gigabit per second performance in a smaller form factor and at lower installation and maintenance costs than associated with today’s 60GHz wireless backhaul product offerings.
Rapid growth in data consumption on mobile devices is causing a spectrum crunch, especially in urban areas, where reduced capacity can result in dropped calls, unreliable video delivery, or slow web access. Since new spectrum is expensive and unlikely to fully meet projected demand, operators are turning to small cells to increase capacity. Wireless backhaul of small cell networks requires high bandwidth, good spectrum reuse and lack of interference, which are key attributes of 60GHz technology.
“60GHz connectivity will be an exciting enhancement to the capabilities of mobile operators, offering gigabit per second throughputs with minimal regulatory overhead for small cell applications,” said Jonathan Wells, PhD, Principal Backhaul Analyst at Mobile Experts. “With more than one million outdoor small cell backhaul units forecast in 2017, 60GHz wireless will offer a quick way to connect them without regulatory headache, and semiconductor innovations like this are necessary to make wireless backhaul cost-effective. We project the RF semiconductor TAM should reach a level of $150-200M by 2017.”
Silicon Image’s new backhaul products are based on its proven third-generation 60GHz RF beam-steering technology, offering the following advantages compared to current small cell wireless backhaul approaches:
- Smaller unit size by removing the need for an external fixed antenna
- Substantially lower installation costs as only rough unit alignment is required
- Higher reliability due to reducing sensitivity to sway such as wind induced motion
- Lower power consumption due to CMOS technology
“Silicon Image’s 60GHz RF transceiver technology has the potential to significantly increase the flexibility and reduce the total cost of ownership of 60GHz wireless transport solutions,” said Pete Gelbman, CEO at Alpental Technologies, Inc. “Flexibility and cost are critical for addressing the massive densification and scaling issues associated with emerging deployments of urban WiFi, LTE-Advanced, and a variety of fiber extension applications including future 5G network architectures.”
“Operators must meet consumers’ expectations for service reliability in an increasingly cost sensitive environment,” said Tim Vehling, senior vice president of the connectivity products group at Silicon Image, Inc. “We believe wireless backhaul products that use our new 60GHz devices will deliver the cost, reliability, and performance that operators expect—changing the dynamics of the small cell market.”