It’s efficient! It’s green! It’s converged! It’s ... drumroll ... an all-in-one wireless base station to support 2G, WCDMA, HSPA and LTE in a single unit, out on Thursday from Nokia Siemens Networks.
The Flexi Multiradio is targeting 2G and 3G operators who want to software-upgrade their existing infrastructure to more advanced 3G or to LTE, including CDMA operators who intend to migrate to LTE.
It’s also backward compatible with NSN’s current Flexi Base Station, for capacity upgrades to existing cell sites.
NSN said the converged approach reduces opex by requiring fewer site visits, simplified logistics, reduced maintenance and a smaller requirement for trained staff. Also, the possibility to reuse GSM sites for WCDMA and HSPA delivers savings from reduced rental costs and maximized reuse of existing infrastructure.
“This launch makes Nokia Siemens Networks the only vendor which enables future technology evolution steps exactly with the same hardware without radio technology-specific boards,” said Marc Rouanne, head of the company’s radio access business. “The Flexi Multiradio Base Station is able to provide three technologies in one compact three-sector Base Station of less than 75 liters.”
It also bolsters energy efficiency; NSN said a site running GSM/EDGE and WCDMA/HSPA consumes as little as 790 Watts, while pushing 60 Watts output per sector. It also doesn’t require shelter or air conditioning.
NSN introduced the Multicontroller platform as well, which will be the basis for its future radio network controller products, including GSM and WCDMA. First deployments of Multicontroller are starting from the second half of 2010 onward.
