To accelerate the adoption and deployment of the small-cell network in China, the China Mobile Research Institute (CMRI) and Mindspeed Technologies are researching nanocells.
Pictured are Naser Adas, Mindspeed’s Vice President and General Manager, Wireless (left), and Bill Huang, Director of CMCC Beijing Research (right), after signing the MOU at China’s Nanocell Round Table Forum.
As China Mobile continues to roll out TD-SCDMA and TD-LTE networks, it faces some of the same coverage gaps encountered elsewhere in the world: spotty indoor coverage, insufficient capacity for crowded public places, and more. In response, the China Mobile Research Institute (CMRI) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mindspeed Technologies, Inc. (www.mindspeed.com; see photo). They will collaborate on multiple initiatives related to nanocell research in China.
Nanocell is a newly defined radio-access equipment category. It integrates cellular small-cell and carrier-grade wireless-local-area-networking (WLAN) access points. Mindspeed will work with CMRI in Beijing to accelerate the field trial of TD-LTE small-cell systems across the China Mobile Communications Corp.’s (CMCC’s) network. It also will work on research issues like self-organizing-network (SON) technologies, synchronization methods, and network topology. With more mobile subscribers in China than any other country, the development of a small-cell network is critical to meeting that network’s growing data and traffic demands.