Motorola (MOT) has announced the launch of two additions to its base station portfolio: the CTU4 and RCTU4. The next-generation radios are both based on Multi-Carrier Power Amplifier (MCPA) technology and are GSM, Evolved-EDGE (EDGE) and LTE capable, offering service providers next-generation readiness as well as increased capacity and functionality on legacy equipment, according to the company.
The CTU4 and RCTU4 are on display this week at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Motorola says the CTU4 and RCTU4 address the challenges that service providers face today, that being cost and energy-efficient delivery of high quality voice and data services. Additionally, the radios will help protect service providers’ investment through the future migration to LTE as the radios support both GSM and the new LTE standards.
The CTU4 is a plug-in unit for Motorola’s existing Horizon II base stations that makes it ideally suited to established networks. The RCTU4 is a remote radio unit (RRU), which is particularly suitable for ‘greenfield’ deployments or major system expansions and gives service providers an opportunity to achieve a minimum total cost of ownership without compromising on performance.
These new radio products are based around a modified radio architecture that sees the baseband and RF functions (traditionally in the same unit) split into physically separate modules that are connected via an optical fiber.
