SK Telecom and Korea Telecom (KT) have emerged as early leaders in the race to deploy small cell LTE base stations. “We know they’re going to be the first to deploy LTE small cells … starting in fact as early as of the December quarter of this year,” says Mindspeed (MSPD) CEO Raouf Y. Halim. Halim made the comments in the company’s quarterly earnings call, saying that his company is a supplying 4G LTE small cell wireless base stations to manufacturers supplying both SK Telecom and Korea Telecom.
Today SK Telecom and KT both said that they are also buying integrated LTE small cells from Cavium, Inc. (CAVM). “Cavium’s Fusion processor platform provides a market-leading LTE small cell solution with proven carrier grade capabilities for large multiuser small cells,” SK Telecom said in a statement. “Cavium’s Fusion processor platform offers a complete carrier grade LTE small cell solution with proven hardware and software supporting a large number of users and the application requirements for multiuser small cells,” said a KT manager.
As carriers around the world build out their networks to accomodate the explosion in mobile data, small cells are extending the capabilities of existing macrocells. Earlier this year, AT&T (T) reportedly began contacting vendors for information about small cells that can support 3G, LTE and Wi-Fi.
As carriers look for smaller solutions, chip designers are racing to integrate the various functions of a cellular base station into a single processor, or a “base station on a chip.” Integrated base stations that support 3G, LTE and LTE-Advanced are being developed by several of the leading semiconductor companies.
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