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PC802 - the flexible 4G/5G, low power SoC optimised for disaggregated small
cells.
Features
- Silicon runs Picocom's 5GNR and LTE PHY (lower and upper) software
- SCF FAPI interfaces
- Ceva XC12 5G-optimised 1280-bit vector signal processors
- RISC-V scalar processor clusters
- Codecs: LDPC, Turbo and Polar
- Fourier transforms: FFT, iFFT
- Equalisers: MMSE / MMSE-IRC / MLD
- Digital Front End (DFE)
- O-RAN eCPRI Open Fronthaul
- IQ compression / decompression
- Secure on-chip boot capability
- Debug and device monitoring
 Bristol, UK - 01 December 2021 - Picocom,
the 5G Open RAN baseband semiconductor and software specialist, today announced
the introduction of its
PC802 SoC
(system on chip). The company's flexible, low power device empowers the innovation
of a new breed of 5G NR open small cell products. The PC802 is the world's first
4G/5G device dedicated to developing small cells with integrated support for Open
RAN (Radio Access Networks) standards. It supports disaggregated 5G small cell platforms,
including indoor residential, enterprise and industrial networks, neutral host networks
and outdoor networks.
"I am honoured to announce the PC802, the culmination of three years' work and
a milestone achievement for the company by the whole Picocom Team," said Peter Claydon,
President of Picocom. "We will deliver product to our lead customers before the
end of the year."
The PC802 is a purpose-designed PHY SoC for 5G NR/LTE small cell disaggregated
and integrated RAN architectures, that includes support for 4G. The SoC includes
support for industry-leading Open RAN specifications, and interfaces with a layer
2/3 stack via the SCF FAPI interface over PCIe. The PC802 supports seamless interfacing
to Radio Units (O-RU) via the O-RAN Open Fronthaul (eCPRI) interface or directly
to RFICs with a standardised JESD204B high-speed serial interface.
"The big vendors design their own chips optimised for performance, power and
cost. A disruptive Open RAN ecosystem needs innovative chips to compete with this,
so it's good to see Picocom coming to market with optimised, flexible silicon,"
stated Caroline Gabriel, Founder and Research Director at Rethink Research.
"We believe we've hit the ‘sweet spot' in addressing the need for optimised silicon
to power Open RAN. We are delighted with the pre-launch interest in PC802 and the
positive feedback we've received on its specification. For successful deployments,
it's clear that Open RAN needs optimised silicon, and PC802 SoC delivers. We expect
to see PC802 in end-products commencing field trials during 2022," added Oliver
Davies, VP Marketing at Picocom.
The PC802 SoC is optimised for disaggregated small cells. It employs the FAPI
protocol (defined by the Small Cell Forum) to communicate with and provide physical
layer services to the MAC. It has an integrated O-RAN Alliance Open Fronthaul interface
(based on eCPRI) to connect and communicate with Open RAN (remote) radio units (RUs),
as well as JESD204B interfaces to connect gluelessly with commonly available radio
transceivers.
For small cell applications, the PC802 device transforms FAPI messages from the
L2/3 into IQ samples for the radio and vice versa. This includes driving the external
physical and software interfaces, PHY processing and Digital Front End (DFE) functions.
The PC802 is also optimised to provide upper PHY processing in an O-RAN Alliance
O-DU. It achieves this by transforming the FAPI messages from the L2/3 into frequency
domain IQ samples using eCPRI and Open fronthaul messages, which can be transmitted
over the Ethernet to O-RU remote radio units.
For more information and/or to download the product brief on Picocom's PC802
5G small cell SoC, visit www.picocom.com/products/socs/pc802.
About Picocom
Picocom is a semiconductor company that designs and markets open RAN standard-compliant
baseband SoCs and carrier-grade software products for 5G small cell infrastructure.
The company, founded in 2018, has R&D engineering sites in Hangzhou and Beijing,
China, and Bristol, UK. Picocom founding members have significant experience and
track record in leading teams designing baseband infrastructure products. Picocom
is a proud member of the Small Cell Forum, O-RAN Alliance and Telecom Infra Project
wireless industry associations.
For more information, visit www.picocom.com.
Contact:
Picocom
Picocom - DeskLodge House
Redcliffe Way
Bristol, Bristol
BS1 6NL United Kingdom
Phone: +1-800-591-2796
Web: www.picotech.com
Posted December 3, 2021
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