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5G Small-Cell Reference Platform Speeds System-Integration Tasks

May 19, 2022

The pre-integrated platform, which delivers high data rates from four 100-MHz channels, reduces risks and effort for system integrators.

David Maliniak

Related To: Microwaves & RF

The Overview

Wireless Telecom Group's CommAgility brand now offers a four-channel small-cell platform for high-performance 5G applications, such as industrial private networks, cloud applications, and video streaming. The SC-RF4-5Gn78 is a standalone 5G small-cell gNodeB platform for indoor applications, turning into a complete baseband and RF small-cell solution.

Who Needs It & Why?

The SC-RF4-5Gn78 enables system integrators to achieve high data rates from the platform’s four 100-MHz RF channels. This can be advantageous to system integrators working on complex and specialized 5G applications. Often, off-the-shelf, small-cell equipment from Tier 1 suppliers don't offer the flexibility to support complex tasks.

Under the Hood

Each of the platform's four flexible RF channels provide up to 100 MHz of bandwidth, enabling 4x4 MIMO downlink operation and delivering gigabit throughput, fulfilling the promises of high-data-rate 5G. The platform combines CommAgility’s SmallCellPHY-5G and SmallCellSTACK-5G software along with its baseband and RF hardware, which is based on NXP’s Layerscape and Layerscape Access SoCs. The pre-integrated platform reduces development risk and effort, and optionally includes closed-loop digital-predistortion support for optimal RF performance.

The reference platform can be licensed for customer modification to specific needs, or CommAgility could make such modifications. The company also is able to customize its 5G software to the specific needs of each project, which simplifies development, cuts time to market, and reduces risk. With the full software stack developed in-house, the platform is adaptable for customer-selected 3GPP Release 16 and 17 features.

The SC-RF4-5Gn78 is based on NXP’s Layerscape and Layerscape Access processors, and combines 16 Arm Cortex-A72 cores with NXP VSPA DSP cores, security, and wireless accelerators. As a collaboration partner with NXP for its Layerscape Access processors, CommAgility can provide services and support to others developing and deploying 5G products using the NXP platform.

CommAgility’s comprehensive software portfolio for 5G New Radio (NR) development includes pre-ported and validated physical-layer (PHY) and stack software, a 5G core, and PHY reference chains. This simplifies the development of 5G small cells and private networks, with the software’s flexible architecture making integration easier with hardware accelerators and libraries. Versions are available for both 5G gNodeB and UE product developers.

In addition to the SC-RF4-5Gn78, the company also offers the SC-RF2-5Gn78, a two-channel version, and the 5G Reference gNodeB, a pre-integrated reference design.

About the Author

David Maliniak | Executive Editor, Microwaves & RF

I am Executive Editor of Microwaves & RF, an all-digital publication that broadly covers all aspects of wireless communications. More particularly, we're keeping a close eye on technologies in the consumer-oriented 5G, 6G, IoT, M2M, and V2X markets, in which much of the wireless market's growth will occur in this decade and beyond. I work with a great team of editors to provide engineers, developers, and technical managers with interesting and useful articles and videos on a regular basis. Check out our free newsletters to see the latest content.

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About me:

In his long career in the B2B electronics-industry media, David Maliniak has held editorial roles as both generalist and specialist. As Components Editor and, later, as Editor in Chief of EE Product News, David gained breadth of experience in covering the industry at large. In serving as EDA/Test and Measurement Technology Editor at Electronic Design, he developed deep insight into those complex areas of technology. Most recently, David worked in technical marketing communications at Teledyne LeCroy, leaving to rejoin the EOEM B2B publishing world in January 2020. David earned a B.A. in journalism at New York University.