Wavesat preps LTE baseband processor samples

The baseband chip, under the family name Odyssey 9000, is suitable for inclusion in USB dongles, data cards, mobile handsets and mobile internet devices (MIDs), the company said and the company expects to have an LTE-plus-3G baseband processor by mid 2010.

The Odyssey 9000 architecture flexible and so can also support other 4G technologies including WiMax and Japan's XGP standard.

Wavesat launched the Odyssey 8500 with support for WiMax Wave 2, 802.11bg and Personal Handyphone networks in May 2008.

The Odyssey 9000 architecture combines DSPs and hardware acceleration blocks to allow scaling to support 150-Mbit/s downlink devices (CAT-4).

The first LTE baseband processor in the Odyssey 9000 family, the OD9010, will sample in October 2009, Wavesat said, and will come with an LTE protocol stack including MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC and NAS layers, as well as a ready-to-manufacture reference design. A follow-on dual-mode chip, the OD9050, is scheduled to sample by mid-2010 and will offer both 3G and LTE on the same chipset, the company said.

"We are very excited about the feedback from leading network operators and OEMs to our Odyssey 9000 family of products, as it will enable device manufacturers to offer production quality LTE mobile devices with CAT-3 capability by the end of this year," said Raj Singh, president and CEO of Wavesat. "We are working now with a few lead operators and OEMs to have fully interoperable LTE devices in place to meet the demand as LTE networks go operational worldwide beginning next year."

Related links and articles:

www.wavesat.com

Three tech firms garner VC funding

Will WiMax and LTE find happiness in multimode?

Wave of consolidation set to hit 4G chip sector

LTE emerges as early leader in 4G technologies