Startup intros WiMAX silicon platform to address backhaul conundrum

DesignArt Networks, an Israeli fabless semiconductor startup, announced a WiMAX silicon platform designed to assist with the backhaul costs and capacity problems expected in this high-speed data world. The company is also planning a similar product for LTE. The company's new System-on-Chip (SoC) platform is made to enable operators to deploy smaller-sized base stations that can be  used for backhauling the massive data traffic along with serving customers. The platform does this by integrating a technique called in-band backhaul, or in-band relaying, which integrates both base-station and backhaul capabilities.

Back in April, Sprint Nextel said provisioning of backhaul was the primary hold-up to the operator's nationwide deployment of mobile WiMAX. Sprint was having difficulty finding high-capacity transport links to connect cell sites as typical T-1 lines that feed today's mobile networks are inefficient for high-speed wireless broadband data.

To find out more:
- read Unstrung [1]

Related stories:
Backhaul [2], billing causes of Xohm delay
Sprint's backhaul [3] conundrum