PMC-Sierra's PALADIN 20 Targets Remote Radio Head Architecture

PMC-Sierra introduced its third generation Digital Predistortion (DPD) solution targeting next gen wireless equipment designed for Remote Radio Head (RRH) deployments. RRH promises to significantly lower the cost of 3G network rollouts by reducing power requirements for base stations and thereby eliminating the need for expensive air-conditioned housing.



PMC-Sierra's new PM7820 PALADIN 20 device, which offers full software compatibility with its existing PALADIN family, powers new Doherty power amplifier (PA) architectures to achieve power efficiencies in excess of 40 percent, more than doubling the efficiency of currently deployed Class A/B LDMOS PAs.



Together with PMC-Sierra's BRIC family of standard Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) baseband to RF interconnects, the PALADIN 20 provides an end-to-end digital solution for distributed base station architectures.



The Paladin 20 provides 20 MHz of bandwidth for WCDMA, CDMA2000 and WiMAX applications giving wireless Service Providers enhanced flexibility to deploy various carrier configurations.



PMC-Sierra said the new PALADIN 20 provides the enhanced linearization a Doherty PA requires and increases efficiency by reducing the thermal and memory effects that contribute to performance degradation. The solution's DPD algorithm enables Doherty PAs to exceed the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) WCDMA specification requirements with greater than 3 dB of margin. The use of highly efficient Doherty PAs in WCDMA and CDMA2000 system deployments provides significant cost savings, including reduced energy expenses due to reduced heat dissipation, cost-effective plastic cooling units, and a smaller footprint that saves cost and board space on the RRH. Doherty PAs, combined with the PALADIN 20's advanced DPD technology, can cut annual energy costs by as much as 50 percent compared to DPD Class A/B PAs. For a typical 15,000 BTS rollout, with three PAs per BTS, this translates into an annual savings of more than $2.1M.

http://www.pmc-sierra.comIn February 2006, PMC-Sierra introduced its second-generation, single-chip Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) solution for enabling 3G distributed architectures. As mobile operators increase the coverage and capacity of their cellular networks, distributed base station architectures using Remote Radio Heads can help them realize major performance improvements and significant capital and operational savings.



PMC-Sierra said its Baseband to Radio Interface Controller (BRIC) product family will accelerate the adoption of distributed wireless base station architectures, significantly reducing capital and operational expenditures for carriers.