IntelliNet Technologies Announces Femtocell Gateway Trial Program
IntelliNet Lowers the Cost and Complexity for Entry into the Growing Femtocell Marketplace
MELBOURNE, FL and LONDON, UK - (June 23, 2010) – IntelliNet Technologies, a leading provider of femtocell solutions, announced today an innovative Femtocell Gateway Trial Program designed to significantly reduce upfront costs and resources historically responsible for keeping many second tier operators and vendors out of the growing femtocell marketplace. The program provides Femtocell Access Point (FAP) vendors, system integrators and application developers with IntelliNet’s Femtocell Gateway (for a period of six months), a critical component for setting up femtocell technology trials in house or for showcasing at the service provider’s site. In addition, IntelliNet will provide advanced technical support delivered by their team of world-class femtocell experts for those involved in the program.
Femtocell access points are low-cost cellular base stations designed to boost cellular signals indoors. Although originally intended for use in the home, they are now being deployed more widely, in enterprises, campus-area and rural environments, and to provide hot-zone coverage in areas of high demand. Femtocells connect to the wireless operator’s network via the public internet, typically through the subscriber’s broadband connection. Subscribers benefit from improved coverage and increased data rates, while operators benefit by offloading traffic from their macro network, freeing up valuable bandwidth resources. A femtocell gateway is needed to connect the femtocells to the core network.
The IntelliNet Femtocell Gateway provides the secure access to macro network voice and data services and the control capabilities necessary to manage very large numbers of femtocells. It is a 3GPP Release 8 Iu-h based solution towards the access with RANAP and SCTP support as well as standards based Iu-PS, Iu-CS and Gn network interfaces. It is built on a carrier-grade AdvancedTCA platform with active/standby architecture, and is designed to support a large numbers of femtocell access points.
To minimize the upfront investment in a femtocell technology trial, the trial version of the IntelliNet Femtocell Gateway is based on an off-the-shelf Linux server and is available with either IP or ATM connectivity. In the absence of a core network setup in the vendor’s lab, core network simulators can be used to test connectivity with the IntelliNet Gateway.
“While several leading operators around the globe have taken the initial steps to test and deploy femtocell technology, the next tier of operators is looking for a lower cost platform for trials and smaller deployments,” said Anjan Ghosal, president and CEO of IntelliNet Technologies. “By significantly lowering the entry barrier to a femtocell trial, our initiative is designed to take femtocells to the masses – a task that has proved elusive until now."
“The appeal of femtocells extends to all mobile operators around the world in a wide variety of different scenarios. From operators in developed markets trying to add capacity and patch small coverage holes to their counterparts in developing markets who can combine the technology with satellite to broach the digital divide,“ said Professor Simon Saunders, chairman of the Femto Forum. “We welcome all efforts to make the technology more accessible so that operators and consumers alike can benefit from improved connectivity.”
IntelliNet is exhibiting and speaking at the Femtocells World Summit in London, June 22 through June 24. IntelliNet is a corporate sponsor of the event and will have representatives available to discuss the Femtocell Gateway Trial Program.