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picoChip claims to be the first company to have implemented the advanced options of 802.16-2004 WiMAX, demonstrating them at WiMAX World 2005. picoChip showed both basestation and subscriber station reference designs with multi-user subchannelization and multiple antennas for both input and output (STC and MRC, 2*TX, 2*RX). According to the WiMAX Forum, these features can increase area covered twenty times compared to a standard WiMAX chipset and are critical for indoor (self-install) CPE. Both systems are programmable and software-upgradeable from 802.16d to 802.16e.



Multi-user subchannelization is a technique in 802.16d that shares the uplink tones and allows many subscriber stations to transmit simultaneously. The advantage is that uplink power can be 'concentrated,' increasing effective power and hence range. This is essential if CPE are to be self-installed indoors.



Several OEMs have announced SS products that support subchannelization. picoChip's is the first solution to offer this capability for full end-to-end operation for both basestations and subscriber stations.



Although distinct from the OFDMA mode of 802.16e there are a number of similarities; in particular, while both techniques improve uplink performance they significantly complicate the task of the basestation, which now must be capable of recovering multiple signals transmitted on different channels at the same time. The software release to add these features demonstrates the upgradeable nature of the picoChip solution.



picoChip's PC6520 is the industry-standard basestation reference design for fixed WiMAX, with more than 15 major licensees. Products using the PC6520 are available from Airspan, Intel, Ericsson, Nortel, Marconi and a number of other manufacturers. It is being used in a number of deployments, including publicly declared ones in Japan (Yozan), UK (Pipex) and Italy (Marconi and Italian Ministries).



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