Cell phone data access is cool, but let’s face it, it’s slow. TI and others are working to remedy that situation, increasing peak speeds to 100 Mbps downlink and 50 Mbps uplink. As Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA) deployments continue to expand worldwide, Texas Instruments Incorporated is now looking beyond 3G to Long Term Evolution (LTE). An initiative of the Third Generation Partnership Program (3GPP), LTE encompasses higher data rates and flexibility in frequency allocations needed to support IP-based applications set to deploy between 2008 and 2012. In order to accelerate OEMs’ time to market with LTE technology, TI has created a development ecosystem, combining its wireless infrastructure optimized digital signal processors (DSP), software libraries and ATCA/AMC cards from systems developers Mercury Computer Systems and Silicon Turnkey Express (STx).

TI says that LTE, and the evolution of mobile communications systems, goes beyond the current GSM/EDGE and W-CDMA HSPA air interfaces. Current 3G networks support a mixture of voice and data traffic over the same circuit-switched network. Operating at peak performance, these networks can deliver speeds of 14.4 Mbps downlink or 5.76 Mbps uplink. Packet-based LTE is designed to offer peak speeds of 100 Mbps downlink and 50 Mbps uplink, making streaming media and true interactivity a viable reality on the handset.

Although the LTE standard has not yet been finalized, service providers are planning for its trial today. TI’s development ecosystem provides OEMs a preview into how their systems can support the LTE air interface. Using the TMS320TCI6482 and TMS320TCI6487 DSPs, TI has created a series of designs taking advantage of system-level benchmarks. These benchmarks illustrate various system architectures to support existing 3G standards, WiMAX and LTE. The software library capitalizes on TI’s existing WiMAX Wave 2 compliant library, with a host of LTE-specific algorithms. Combined, this hardware/software package provides a starting point for LTE development and enables faster and easier development of prototype systems.

Base station manufacturers are also eager to evaluate the new standard. TI has partnered with system developers MCS and STx to offer ATCA/AMC-based development platforms that can reduce the OEM’s time to market. These platforms allow developers to assemble a hardware test platform, mirroring a typical system including DSPs, a general purpose processor (GPP), and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). Using an advanced mezzanine card (AMC) approach, separate cards with these devices can be easily connected and development can start before any final hardware decisions are made. Both the TCI6482 and TCI6487 baseband processors are available on AMC development cards.

The DSPs and benchmark configurations for LTE are available today. The third-party development platforms are also available today. The first release of the LTE software package will be available at the end of second quarter 2007. It will be updated throughout the year as the standard moves toward ratification.