UK-based Lime Microsystems, a designer and manufacturer of field programmable RF transceivers, announced a collaboration with Vodafone Group to develop software-defined cellular radio platforms that will support Vodafone's OPEN RAN vision.
The app-enabled LimeNET platform is designed to bring together a large community of developers to help create advanced and tailored cellular applications more quickly and more cost effectively. The applications are intended to encompass all aspects of RAN functionalities and the services on top, ranging from 4G to NB-IoT and enterprise-specific applications.
Lime noted that to date wireless innovation has been limited by access to affordable, maintainable and upgradeable hardware. However, by making the radio network software configurable, LimeNET is aiming to change this and aligns with Vodafone's Open RAN initiative, which aims to virtualise RAN functionality and enable decoupling of hardware, software and third party applications using general purpose platforms.
* In 2016 Lime Micro launched a crowd funding campaign to support the development of its LimeSDR open source software defined radio. The funding had a target of $500,000 but had raised over $1 million as of mid-2017.
As part of this initiative, Lime was working with EE, now part of BT, including setting up projects based on the LimeSDR technology for the provision of high-speed access in remote areas of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. In addition, BT supported the LimeNET and the LimeSDR campaigns.
* In June 2017, the company announced it had launched a second campaign via Crowd Supply and that it had shipped most of the LimeSDR boards.
