Cambridge Consultants demonstrates Centaur GSM PHY reference design IP

Novel GSM PHY reference design offers potential to narrow the digital divide in developing world markets by enabling ultra-low cost 2G / 2.75G base-stations and femtocells

CAMBRIDGE, England & BOSTON -- Mar 30, 2009 --Cambridge Consultants is demonstrating Centaur, a comprehensive GSM/GPRS/EDGE/E-EDGE physical layer (PHY) reference design, at the CTIA Wireless 2009 event in Las Vegas, 1-3 April. The novel reference design enables the development of advanced cellular base-stations and femtocells that incorporate 2G and 2.75G capability, addressing the ultra low-cost, mass-market and integration requirements of the developing world.

According to the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), much of the recent growth in GSM subscriptions is in the developing world. By the end of 2008, there were 365 million GSM subscriptions in Africa, 100 million of whom had joined that year. In 2008, India saw a massive 47.5% growth in GSM subscriptions, rising by an average of 6.83 million subscriptions each month, from 170 million to over 250 million.

Despite these rates of growth, however, most new base-stations currently being brought to market do not offer 2G GSM capabilities, focusing instead on broadband-capable cellular technologies like 3G and WiMax. This is widening the so called digital divide, and creates a barrier to adoption by the vast majority of the existing GSM user base. Centaur offers the best of both worlds, enabling developers to add 2G capability to their existing designs, and thereby gain access to both the mass-market for 2G and the niche market for advanced standards in one product.

"GSM will still be in operation for many years if not decades to come, delivering the services required by billions of subscribers", explains Tim Fowler, Commercial Director at Cambridge Consultants Wireless Division, "and so it is critical that the deployment of mobile infrastructure includes GSM capability. One of the challenges for the developing world in particular is the cost of infrastructure. Because of its ultra low development, integration and deployment costs, we believe that Centaur can make a significant impact."

The reference design includes a complete framework model and code implemented on the unique architecture of the picoArray from picoChip, the market leading baseband platform for femtocells and software defined base-stations.

Fowler adds: "Delivering the complete range of GSM radio capability that runs on the low-cost, high volume processors from picoChip means that extending networks with Centaur, both in terms of their coverage and their operational life, can be significantly more economic for the operators and subsequently the users."

About Cambridge Consultants

Cambridge Consultants develops breakthrough products, creates and licenses intellectual property, and provides business consultancy in technology critical issues for clients worldwide. For nearly 50 years, the company has enabled its clients to turn business opportunities into commercial successes, whether launching first-to-market products, entering new markets or expanding existing markets through the introduction of new technologies.

With a team of over 300 engineers, designers, scientists and consultants, in offices in Cambridge (UK) and Boston (USA), Cambridge Consultants offers solutions across a diverse range of industries including medical technology, industrial and consumer products, transport, energy, cleantech and wireless communications. For more information visit: www.CambridgeConsultants.com

Cambridge Consultants is part of the Altran group. Altran Technologies, which is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange (FR:003463), employs over 16,000 consultants in 20 countries around the world. In 2007 the group generated a turnover of EUR 1,591.4 million. For more information visit: www.altran.com

About picoChip

Established in 2000, picoChip is the only semiconductor company focused solely on wireless infrastructure and shipping silicon. It provides baseband solutions to address the key challenges of cost, development time and flexibility for the next generation of wireless systems. The company's multi-core processors deliver a world-beating price/performance combination. picoChip is the industry standard architecture for WiMAX basestations, and is the leading supplier for the new wave of femtocells, with support for HSPA, WiMAX, LTE, TD-SCDMA, cdma2000/EvDO and GSM/GPRS/EDGE. The company's products scale from femtocell access points to picocells and sophisticated multi-sector carrier macrocells, and are currently in use by over a hundred network operators, including eight of the global top ten.

GSM related statistics from www.gsacom.com