NEC Node Bs eye 3G radio access networks

NEC Corp. has announced that it would start marketing 3G Node Bs based on the recently developed CPRI specification.

In partnership with Siemens, NEC is adapting its range of fully compliant 3GPP compliant Node Bs. The products will be supplemented by the introduction of distributed architectures in 2005 to facilitate simpler Installation and Commissioning. The objective is to provide Mobile Network Operators with more flexible base station architectures which can reduce Capex while maximizing capacity and performance.

The Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) is an industry cooperation aimed at defining a publicly available specification for the key internal interface of 3G radio base stations between the Radio Equipment Control (REC) and the Radio Equipment (RE). The parties cooperating to define the specification are Ericsson AB, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. NEC Corp., Nortel Networks SA and Siemens AG.

The CPRI specification will encourage independent technology evolution for the two main segments of the basestation, permitting manufacturers to focus on core technology competence.