DesignArt Networks Unveils 4G Silicon Platform and Delivers Fully Integrated WiMAX SoC

Zero-cost backhaul, integrated in SoC architecture will be the catalyst for accelerated 4G network deployments

Ra'anana, Israel -- June 9, 2008 -- DesignArt Networks, a fabless semiconductor company, today unveiled a groundbreaking solution to the most pressing issue of broadband wireless deployments--the staggering cost and operational complexity of backhaul. DesignArt's highly integrated system-on-chip (SoC) platform architecture integrates high-capacity backhaul capability with standards-compliant WiMAX and LTE base station functionality, delivering zero-cost backhaul solutions. The company also announced its first product, the DAN2400 open SoC platform for WiMAX base station and relay designs.

"Operators realize that the steadily increasing bandwidth required to support broadband wireless services will eventually require a massive increase in cell density. As more cells are needed for increased coverage and capacity, an underlay network of cost-effective and compact outdoor and indoor micro, pico and femto cells is required to complete the macro cellular network. The backhaul of these cells is one of the most critical impediments for 4G roll-out," said Oz Barak, CEO of DesignArt Networks. "Today we are delivering our first zero-cost backhaul solution to the broadband wireless market, with the DAN2400 WiMAX SoC platform. Eliminating the cost of additional equipment, spectrum and recurring tariffs, as well as the operational complexities resulting from traditional backhaul methods, we believe our solution will be a crucial catalyst to accelerate the deployment of 4G."

"Mobile operators need to compensate for lower voice revenues, increasingly offering broadband data services with rich multi-media content as part of the mix. However, current experience with wireless broadband and mobile data services leads to flat revenue projections. This leaves next-generation wireless operators with the challenge to provide steadily increasing bandwidth and capacity to subscribers, while having to reduce the total cost of the network-a challenge that requires major technical improvements," said Caroline Gabriel, research director and lead analyst, Rethink Research. "One approach is to deploy a dense, high-capacity radio underlay network, as DesignArt Networks supports with its silicon base station and relay solutions, and a further economic barrier is removed with the integration of its 'zero-cost backhaul' capability."

The DAN2400 is an open WiMAX SoC platform, based on a software-centric, purpose-built multi-core architecture, designed for high-performance, carrier-grade networks. The DAN2400 provides a complete single-chip PHY and MAC solution for mobile WiMAX base station designs. It integrates a powerful DSP controlling a 6-channel smart antenna module, an embedded high-capacity network processor and several control plane CPUs to enable the most compact design architecture for any type of WiMAX base or relay station on the market.

Equipment vendors benefit from a single R&D framework for the development of a full range of base and relay stations for WiMAX macro cells and WiMAX underlay networks. DesignArt's SoC supports any base station form factor (macro, micro, femto and pico cells) and any integrated backhaul topology (in-band and out-of-band, multi-hop relay, cluster and mesh, point-to-point long-haul).

"WiMAX operators have started to plan for underlay networks that include compact indoor and outdoor pico and micro cells to offer the high-capacity density and indoor coverage they need to support bandwidth-intensive services," said Monica Paolini, President of Senza Fili Consulting. "WiMAX base stations with integrated backhaul can be deployed in self-connected clusters to provide fill-in coverage and increase the capacity density of outdoor deployments. These clustered base stations form a cellular underlay network that can use in-band backhaul connectivity and service aggregation at no additional cost. With in-band backhaul, operators can extend wireless broadband services from outdoors to indoors with autonomous mesh networks for residential, business, rural, campus, malls and large in-building coverage."

About DesignArt
DesignArt Networks LTD is the leading supplier of system-on-chip (SoC) solutions driving the evolution of the 4G radio network infrastructure, towards high-capacity, high-density deployments with ubiquitous outdoor and indoor coverage. Current DesignArt products are based on the mobile WiMAX standard, IEEE 802.16e-2005, offering single-chip solutions for any type and form factor of base and relay station. DesignArt is the first and only WiMAX silicon vendor to fully integrate all base station processing systems, enhanced with high-capacity backhaul, relay and cluster capabilities, on a single-chip SoC product. DesignArt offers the most compact and powerful design options to equipment manufacturers, enabling them to build the widest range of WiMAX femto, pico, micro and multi-sector macro base stations, including multi-media relay and WiMAX cluster solutions. Zero-cost in-band backhaul solutions drastically lower the total cost of ownership (TCO) for operators, and are the catalyst to accelerated WiMAX and 4G deployments. www.designartnetworks.com