Verizon Wireless connects Georgia cities to nationwide 4G LTE data network

Verizon Wireless customers who reside in Valdosta, Georgia (the state, that is, not the Eastern European country) and its surrounding areas may rejoice. They're about to reap the benefits of a connection to the biggest 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in the U.S.

On August 16, Verizon will be introducing its 4G LTE wireless services to Valdosta and 34 other markets. That brings the total of Verizon's U.S. markets to 371, which translates to coverage of more than 75% of the American population. Verizon will also be expanding its existing networks in 38 other markets.

Verizon subscribers in Valdosta, Cordele, Dublin, Thomasville, and Waycross will be able to access the fastest 4G network in the U.S. through a large selection of 4G LTE devices such as smartphones, mobile hotspots, and tablets.

Additionally, Valdostan residents will be able to draw upon the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network for high-speed, in-home wireless Internet access through the HomeFusion broadband provider. HomeFusion will allow users to connect to the Internet even in areas in areas where connectivity is weak or unavailable.

Verizon Wireless will also offer a variety of smart accessories such as the MotoACTV Bluetooth Smart Health Tracker & Music Player and the FitBit Ultra Wireless Activity Tracker. These accessories will provide various additional services for Verizon's 4G LTE subscribers.

According to Jonathan LeCompte, President of Verizon Wireless' Georgia/Alabama regional division, "Our growing 4G LTE network enables customers in Valdosta to use their 4G LTE devices to stay in touch like never before, uploading, downloading and connecting on line, all with speeds up to 10 times faster than before, he promised. "We will continue expanding and enhancing our 4G LTE network in Georgia and across the country to provide our customers with the best wireless experience possible."

Freescale DSP enhances Huawei TD-SCDMA base station performance

Thanks to Freescale Semiconductor and its MSC8156 digital signal processor (DSP) solution, Huawei was able to take the performance of its TD-SCDMA wireless networks to new heights, allowing for the delivery of scalable, low-cost, energy-efficient base stations.

Freescake's MSC8156 DSP combines six fully-programmable enhanced 1 GHz SC3850 DSP cores to provide a high level of performance and integration. Its MAPLE-B accelerator is integrated on-chip and supports hardware acceleration for Turbo and Viterbi channel decoding as well as the DFT/iDFT and FFT/iFFT algorithms. It supports multiple networking protocols through its internal RISC-based QUICC engine subsystem, ensuring data is reliably transported through packet networks and significantly offloading processing from the DSP cores.

In addition to having a large embedded internal memory, the MSC8156 supports a variety of advanced high-speed interface types. It has two RapidIO interfaces, two gigabit Ethernet interfaces for network communications, a PCI Express controller, two DDR controllers for high-speed, industry standard memory interface, and four multi-channel TDM interfaces. Its pin compatibility with all MSC825x and MSC815x DSP devices grant the MSC8156 a high degree of scalability.

“Huawei is committed to offering customer-centric solutions and products,” said Chen Xi, chief technology officer of Huawei’s Wireless Network Business Unit, ” which leverage the performance and programmability of Freescale’s MSC8156 DSP.”

According to Mr. Xi, Freescale's highly efficient DSP cores and accelerators significantly enhanced overall base station efficiency. Huawei gained the ability to boost system flexibility and provide the industry’s highest number of TD-SCDMA carrier waves in a base station.”

KanOkla triples network capacity through PureWave Quantum base stations

Value-added distributor Moonblink announced that KanOkla Networks recently selected the PureWave Quantum 3.65GHz Mobile WiMAX base stations to vastly expand its network capacity.

According to Justin Mayo, KanOkla’s Network Operations Manager, the company's wireless network had reached capacity in some of its markets. The Kansas-based KanOkla needed a solution to meet the needs of a new generation of data-hungry customers. In particular, the solution should be able to enhance and improve media-rich applications such as video streaming.

KanOkla determined that the 700 MHz band possessed excellent propagation characteristics. However, the equipment available to the company was not designed to handle high-bandwidth applications.

With the help of distributor Moonlink, which specialized on finding wireless and video surveillance solutions, KanOkla determined that PureWave’s semi-licensed 3.65GHz solutions was the optimal choice to expand the Kansas company's wireless backhaul network.

KanOkla came to its decision based on  PureWave Quantum's capabilities, which included superior link budget, optimized cell radius, and capacity to enhance coverage in NLOS conditions. In addition, the FCC-certified PureWave Quantum base station could operate in the entire 50MHz available within the 3.65GHz band.

50MHz of spectrum is available on the 3.65GHz band. The spectrum is accessible to most operators, even those who only have a non-exclusive license. The 3.65GHz band also offers optimized performance with limited interference. This is important because each deployment site needs GPS coordinate registration. Operators who used the same band within a particular site need to coordinate their operations.

Another advantage is that the Purewave base station could also operate with or without an access service network gateway (ASN-GW.)

PureWave Quantum base stations are based on the PureMax Smart Antenna Technology. The system deploys multiple, self-calibrating antennas that will deliver premium link budget. 6x6 MIMO technology is used to enhances network capacity up to 300% while simplifying planning.

KanOkla intends to deploy the base stations in standalone mode. This has the advantages of reducing costs and easing the deployment process.

To date, fifteen PureWave Quantum base station sectors have already been successfully deployed in standalone mode. In addition, KanOkla intends to develop a 3.65GHz overlay to the current 700MHz network that will further expand its capacity.