China grants patents to base station IP

Signal-compression technology provider Samplify Systems Inc., has been granted its first patents in China, the company reports. Two utility model patents were granted by the China State Intellectual Property Office for Samplify's Prism IQ technology on the use of compression on links that carry digital baseband or RF signals in wireless base stations manufactured or sold in China.

Patent number 200920178152.5 is for apparatus for compression of baseband signals in base transceiver systems, and patent number 200920178151.0 is for apparatus for compression of signals in base transceiver systems.

Prism IQ cuts the cost and increases the capacity of fiber-optic connections, based on the Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI), between the radio units and baseband units at the top and bottom of a wireless base station, respectively. In TD-LTE deployments, the compression technology increases fiber-optic capacity from 10Gbit/s to up to 20Gbit/s.

According to Al Wegener, founder and chief technology officer, Samplify, "The deployment of TD-LTE in China will require up to 20Gbit/s connections between the radio units and the baseband units. Working with China's leading mobile BTS manufacturers, we have already verified 2:1 data compression rates which will save millions of dollars as China rolls out TD-LTE nationwide."

The patents are seen as a demonstration of China's willingness to enhance the country's business environment and relationships with foreign corporations. Tom Sparkman, CEO, Samplify, noted that "Protection of intellectual property is the cornerstone for enabling China's migration from 'Made in China' to 'Designed in China'...These patents not only protect our technology, but will give Chinese OEMs wider access to international intellectual property that will accelerate their time to market for differentiated solutions."