Ubiquisys, a provider of 3G femtocells, today announced the release of Femto-Engine, said to be the world's first software femtocell, effectively separating femtocell functionality from the underlying hardware foundation. Femto-Engine software is said to deliver sophisticated self-organising intelligence, tested with hundreds of mobile devices and hardened through commercial deployments in networks such as SoftBank and SFR.
At the same time, the company announced its "Engine-Ready" hardware programme allowing manufacturers to rapidly produce low-cost devices without having to invest in costly 3G network expertise. Ubiquisys also unveiled the first product forged from this new system, the G3-mini, manufactured by SerComm, which sets new standards in price, performance, miniaturisation and energy efficiency.
For operators, Femto-Engine software is said to provide a sophisticated, proven and ready-to-deploy femtocell at a breakthrough price point for mass-market commercial adoption. It enables a wider range of hardware options for consumer, enterprise and open space applications.
For OEMs, the "Engine-Ready" programme offers a fast track to producing commercial-grade femtocell hardware. Ubiquisys provides a complete hardware blueprint certified for use with its software, and takes care of selecting the key components, including the baseband modem and RF chipsets. The 3G network complexity is encapsulated in the Femto-Engine software, allowing OEMs to focus on product variety and cost-optimisation. The programme also provides a fast track to integrating femtocell modules into a variety of home and enterprise networking appliances.
"This announcement from Ubiquisys is an important step forward for the femtocell industry. This evolution of the Femto concept will enable almost any electronics manufacturer to make femtocell-enabled devices," said Stuart Carlaw, Chief Research Officer, ABI Research. "This type of software based development will be crucial in realising the goal of having femtocell technology embedded in multiple device types and form factors at price points that are acceptable to OEMs, carriers and consumers alike."
"By encapsulating femtocell complexity in our Femto-Engine software we are enabling a more effective femtocell ecosystem. OEMs can follow the DSL and WiFi model to cost-optimise the production of femtocell hardware and quickly integrate the technology into more and more products.
Operators and their customers benefit from a wider choice of femto devices at much lower prices, all powered by the proven sophistication of Ubiquisys Femto-Engine software," said Chris Gilbert, Ubiquisys CEO.
"SerComm has already demonstrated the potential of this new model with the G3-mini, which breaks new ground in terms of performance, price and time-to-market."
The low-cost G3-mini consumer femtocell from SerComm is the first Femto-Engine powered femtocell. It stands just 8cm tall, consumes less than 5W of power, yet it features performance of up to 8 simultaneous calls and HSPA+.