mimoMAX 2.0 delivers 2Tx closed loop diversity for +5.5 dB increase in link budget, improved coverage, and superior mobile performance
BARCELONA, MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS, Stand 2A116 — February 15, 2010 — Sequans Communications, leading WiMAX chipmaker, announced the release of mimoMAX™ 2.0, an upgrade to the patented technology at the heart of its new generation WiMAX semiconductor solutions. mimoMAX combines a high-efficiency maximum likelihood MIMO decoder on the downlink with dual independent transmit channels on the uplink. With two uplink channels, mobile WiMAX devices can combine the output power of the two transmitters and immediately realize a 3 dB gain, significantly improving range and throughput. And now, mimoMAX 2.0 adds a powerful new algorithm, 2Tx Closed Loop Diversity (2T CLD) that further improves the performance of the uplink by adding diversity gains of up to 2.5 dB, for an amazing 5.5 dB overall gain.
“Every WiMAX device has two antennas and you must have two transmit channels on the uplink to fully exploit this, said Georges Karam, Sequans CEO. “Sequans was the first and is still the only chipmaker providing this capability, and now with our new 2T CLD algorithm we have enhanced it. 2T CLD dynamically selects the best diversity for a given channel environment—switched diversity or full diversity – delivering link budget gains well beyond the primitive single Tx solutions available today. The gains enabled by this technology can dramatically improve indoor penetration, cell-edge and network entry performance, and throughput. This translates into significantly improved operator economics and end-user satisfaction.”
mimoMAX 2.0 maximizes the benefits of 2Tx by using channel condition information from the downlink to dynamically optimize the use of the dual transmit antennas on a tone-by-tone and frame-by-frame basis, thereby guaranteeing the best possible uplink performance at every sub-carrier frequency in the channel. Furthermore, by combining the output power of two transmit channels, mimoMAX 2.0 enables a further increase in the uplink transmit power of WiMAX devices within a small footprint.
“Any chipmaker can give you switched diversity, but only Sequans can give you adaptive full diversity and 3 dB extra power—and much more,” said Karam. “With our technology, operators have options for uplink diversity and significant link budget gains that are completely transparent to existing base stations, and they also have the option of full uplink MIMO for those base stations that support it – it is future proof.”
Sequans’ SQN1200 series of Mobile WiMAX semiconductor solutions are the most advanced and most highly integrated chips in the industry. Along with mimoMAX 2.0, they deliver baseband and triple band RF integrated in a single, 65 nm die, delivering ultra low power consumption and high throughput at a very low cost.
About Sequans Communications
Sequans Communications is a 4G chipmaker, supplying LTE and WiMAX chips to equipment manufacturers and mobile operators worldwide. Founded in 2004 to address the WiMAX market where it is now a global leader, Sequans has recently expanded to address the LTE market. Sequans chips are inside the world’s leading WiMAX networks and will soon be inside the world’s leading LTE networks. Sequans is based in Paris, with additional offices throughout the world, including USA, United Kingdom, Israel, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. www.sequans.com
Press contact: Kimberly Tassin,+1.425.736.0569, kimberly@sequans.com
