Baseband Development for 3GPP-LTE Just Got Easier

The baseband processing signal chain presents both the greatest challenge and the best opportunity for innovation in the base transceiver station. No wonder, then, that it has become a key area for product differentiation among OEMs. Competition in baseband architecture designs has intensified with the realization that many of the techniques used for earlier 2G and 3G systems simply will not scale to meet the performance and latency requirements of the 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, wireless' fourth generation.

Not only does the processing chain have to contend with far more processing than previously, but also, all the functions must be completed in much less time. Rounding out the set of challenges facing system architects is the need to develop a system that can meet the operators' aggressive capital- and operational-expenditure reduction targets.

Reprinted with permission from Xcell Journal / First Quarter 2009. Article © Xcell Journal.