Just two months after the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) finalized its new femtocell interface standard, three vendors have managed to pack the new protocol into an end-to-end platform. Continuous Computing, PicoChip and Starent Networks (NASDAQ:STAR) said today they have completed interoperability testing and are now showing off a fully interoperable femtocell home base station and network gateway that uses the freshly minted 3GPP IUH interface.

As soon as the 3GPP released the final specifications in April the three companies leaped into a regimen of interface testing in an effort to be the first to market with a fully standards-compliant solution. While femtocells are in several limited trails around the world, few operators have been willing to commercially deploy the technology without a standard in place. Those that have–most notably Sprint (NYSE:S) and Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ, NYSE:VOD)–have tended to be CDMA operators using proprietary technologies. The argument goes that a standard will produce a large range of interoperable equipment, driving down equipment prices and ensuring an operator isn’t locked into a specific vendor’s technology.

“The importance is not the technology,” said Rupert Baines, vice president of marketing for PicoChip. “What is important is the business case. A lot of companies have been saying they were waiting for a standard solution. We happen to be the three companies that have moved the fastest to deliver that solution.”

PicoChip is supplying its femto system-on-a-chip platform and physical layer software, which powers the radio aspects of the femtocell. Continuous Computing contributed its Trillium software and femto reference design, which combined with PicoChip’s silicon form the core architecture of a home base station. Starent is handling the core gateway that connects the femto traffic back to the operator’s network, adding femto management capabilities to its ST40 gateway platform.

by Kevin Fitchard

via Vendor trio readies first standardized femtocell platform | Unfiltered.

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