Asia Pacific Watch

May 12, 2005
Fujitsu WiMAX SoC sets stage for base station, subscriber station implementation

SINGAPORE -- Fujitsu Microelectronics recently introduced its highly integrated WiMAX system-on-chip (SoC), the MB87M3400, which complies with the IEEE802.16-2004 standard and will enable development of a new generation of WiMAX-compliant broadband wireless access (BWA) equipment.

The Fujitsu WiMAX SoC sets the stage for base station and subscriber station implementation, which will bring cost-efficient, high-quality, fixed broadband connectivity to MAN users, without the need for direct line-of-sight access to base stations from their remotely connected subscriber stations. The MB87M3400 is designed to enable deployment of BWA equipment for both base stations and subscriber stations in licensed or license-exempt bands below 11GHz.

The MB87M3400 uses an OFDM 256 (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) PHY that supports channels from 1.75MHz up to 20MHz, and can operate in TDD or FDD modes, with support for all available channel bandwidths. A programmable frequency selection generates the sample clock for any desired bandwidth. When applying 64QAM modulation in a 20MHz channel and using all 192 sub-carriers, the SoC can sustain raw peak data speeds up to 75Mbps uplink sub-channelisation is also supported. The Fujitsu WiMAX SoC incorporates sophisticated processing power, including a powerful main RISC engine that implements the 802.16 upper-layer MAC, scheduler, drivers, protocol stacks, and user application software. Also on board is a secondary RISC/DSP that function as a co-processor, which executes lower-layer MAC functions, offloading processing from the upper-layer MAC and enhancing total performance. A multi-channel DMA controller handles high-speed transactions among agents on a high-performance bus.

The Fujitsu WiMAX SoC incorporates radio control and all required analog circuits, along with a comprehensive set of integrated peripheral functions. To ensure security, the MB87M3400 uses DES/AES/CCM encryption/decryption engines for the 802.16 MAC privacy sub-layer. The chip also includes a memory controller, an Ethernet engine for interfacing to the network, and high-performance DAC/ADC for flexible base band interface. The MB87M3400 comes in a 436-pin BGA package and is now available. The price begins at US $45 in 1,000-unit volumes. A complete reference design, including all required software and hardware for a cost-effective system solution, is also available. The reference design is scheduled for certification by the WiMAX forum. Fujitsu plans ongoing, comprehensive support for the WiMAX standards, as the WiMAX forum and its member companies work to deliver IEEE 802.16e to serve mobile wireless broadband applications.

Michael Shih, vice president, Electronic Devices Group Asia, Fujitsu Microelectronics, said: "I believe WiMAX will revolutionalise the broadband and telecom industry, and present new opportunities to bring wireless high-speed connectivity to even the most remote areas. Especially in emerging markets where deploying wired broadband infrastructure is tedious and costly, WiMAX would be the ideal solution. I am very much excited to offer our Fujitsu WiMAX SoC which is the industry's most integrated, modular, scalable and cost-efficient solution. I hope it will bring about a lifestyle change in the way we connect up anywhere and at anytime."