Cambridge, 7 April 2009 – ip.access (www.ipaccess.com), the multi-award winning developer of femtocell and picocell solutions, has today announced new capabilities in its Oyster 3G femtocell product in support of the just-published femtocell standards from 3GPP and the Broadband Forum. With these developments, ip.access has made significant progress towards compliance with the new standards for both management and network integration.
ip.access has taken a leading role in driving femtocell specifications for Operations, Administration, and Management (OA&M), from the original requirements developed within the Femto Forum through to implementation by 3GPP and the Broadband Forum. These specifications define how plug’n’play provisioning works, as well as Fault Management and Performance Management. They are the key to delivering easy, scalable and cost-effective deployment and reliability – essential for both consumer and operator acceptance of femtocells.
The Oyster 3G Femtocell Access Point incorporates an OA&M agent to enable provisioning by an Iu-h compatible Auto-Configuration Server using the new femtocell adaptation of the Broadband Forum’s TR-069 standard. Fault Management and Performance Management for the Oyster 3G femtocell are already aligned with the Broadband Forum’s femtocell data model which was announced today and with the 3GPP Release 8 OA&M standards.
ip.access has also been an active participant in the formulation of the recently agreed Iu-h specification in Release 8 of the 3GPP standards, which details the way femtocells connect over the IP backhaul link to the mobile operator’s core network. The Oyster 3G solution comprises both the Femtocell Access Point and the Femto Gateway, enabling ip.access to develop and test both ends of the Iu-h link. Based on the industry standard IPsec security framework, Oyster 3G has the added benefit of already meeting future 3GPP Release 9 requirements for bandwidth efficiency over the IP backhaul link. By implementing an innovative multiplexing scheme, the ip.access solution satisfies the requirement to handle four simultaneous calls within 200 kbps, enabling Oyster 3G femtocells to work effectively even over a basic broadband connection.
ip.access is actively working to make the Oyster 3G system fully compliant with the Iu-h standard. Operators deploying Oyster 3G today will be able to upgrade the system to full Iu-h compliance via a software update.
“The femtocell industry has collaborated very effectively to define these key standards,” said Dr. Nick Johnson, Chief Technology Officer at ip.access. “Our market-leading experience in deploying picocells with IP backhaul has enabled us to make significant contributions to the standards requirements and specifications, and to make rapid progress in implementing the standards within our Oyster 3G femtocell solution.”
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About ip.access
Based in Cambridge, UK, ip.access ltd (www.ipaccess.com) is a leading manufacturer of cost-effective picocell and femtocell infrastructure solutions for GSM, GPRS, EDGE and 3G. These solutions bring IP and cellular technologies together to drive down costs and increase coverage and capacity of mobile networks.
ip.access is the company behind the multi-award winning Oyster 3G™ femtocell. The Oyster 3G increases cell capacity and coverage, drives down costs and dramatically improves the 3G user experience at home.
The ip.access nanoGSM® is the world’s most deployed picocell solution. It provides GSM, GPRS and EDGE coverage and capacity for offices, shops and (using satellite backhaul) passenger aircraft, ships and remote rural areas.
With deployments in more than 40 live networks around the world and growing, ip.access is the partner of choice for operators competing in the new converged marketplace.
ip.access counts Scottish Equity Partners, Rothschild Gestion, Intel Capital, Amadeus Capital Partners, ADC, Cisco, Qualcomm and Motorola Ventures among its shareholders.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Dave McCann / Paul Nolan
CCgroup
T: +44 118 920 7650
E : ipaccess[at]the-cc-group[dot]com
W: www.the-cc-group.com
Distributed on behalf of ip.access by NeonDrum (http://www.neondrum.com)
Nicky Davis
Tel: +44 7747 017654
nicky[at]neondrum[dot]com