Baseband processing and RF module is for specialised LTE applications
CommAgility has announced the CA-K2L-RF2, a standalone high performance processing module that includes Arm- and DSP-based cores and two integrated wideband RF transceiver channels.
Based on CommAgility’s AMC-K2L-RF2 board, the CA-K2L-RF2 module provides a competitively-priced option to provide LTE and LTE-Advanced capabilities in private, customised and specialised networks. It measures 175 x 122 x 28mm, making it suitable to fit into compact systems. Flexible off-board communications are provided via electrical and optical Gigabit Ethernet and CPRI, providing connectivity to networks, host processors and additional RF.
The module is optionally available with CommAgility’s SmallCellPHY-TI and SmallCellStack software, which is pre-integrated and tested to reduce risk and effort. The software reflects the investment of over 100 years’ of effort, says the company, and is used by telecommunications equipment vendors around the world. CommAgility can customise the software to ensure the best possible fit for specialised applications.
A Texas Instruments (TI) AFE7500 analogue front end provides flexible, high quality RF capabilities. High performance processing is provided by TI’s TCI6630K2L KeyStone II System-on-Chip (SoC), which includes four C66x DSP cores and two Arm Cortex-A15 MPCore processors, all operating at up to 1.2GHz. To keep the cores free for receiver algorithms and other functions, the TCI6630K2L SoC includes wireless basestation coprocessors which offload layer One and layer Two processing demands.
The CA-K2L-RF2 supports wireless baseband processing and a 2×2 MIMO air interface in applications including small cells and radio test systems, for standard or specialized LTE and LTE-Advanced systems up to Release 10 and beyond. It can be used either as a complete baseband and RF small cell solution, or as a baseband unit with its CPRI interface linking to a separate remote radio head (RRH).
The module operates over an extended temperature range of -40 to +70 degrees C with conduction cooling, making it suitable for outdoor and rugged applications.
RF capabilities include Tx output power up to 24dBm average, RF bandwidth up to 20MHz, and FDD/TDD support. Build options cover most LTE bands, with others possible with additional customisation, advises CommAgility. Using external cavity filters, the card can be directly deployed as an LTE small cell.
The CA-K2L-RF2 will be available in Q1 2019.
