Download PDF

Kineto Wireless, Inc. announced today its full support for the 3GPP agreement reached last week on the Home NodeB (HNB) architecture for femtocell-to-core network connectivity. Recognizing that a standard is needed for the mass market success of femtocells, Kineto took a lead role in developing consensus among the contributing companies. Having an agreed architecture marks a major milestone towards the completion of a global 3G femtocell standard.

“Developing an industry-wide standard requires a tremendous amount of cooperation between vendors and operators, with all parties contributing their knowledge and experience in order to develop the best possible solution,” said Patrick Tao, Kineto’s vice president of technology. “The femtocell standardization effort within 3GPP provides a great example of such cooperation, with the agreed architecture merging key attributes of the 3GPP UMA/GAN-based approach proposed by Kineto with other company proposals to create an optimized architecture capable of supporting mass-market femtocell deployments.”

The agreed 3GPP HNB architecture follows an access network-based approach, leveraging the existing Iu-cs and Iu-ps interfaces into the core service network. The architecture defines two new network elements, the HNB (a.k.a. Femtocell) and the HNB Gateway (a.k.a. Femto Gateway). Between these elements is the new Iu-h interface.

Home NodeB (HNB) – Connected to an existing residential broadband service, an HNB provides radio coverage for standard 3G handsets within a home. HNBs incorporate the capabilities of a standard NodeB as well as the radio resource management functions of a standard Radio Network Controller (RNC).

HNB Gateway (HNB-GW): Installed within an operator’s network, the HNB Gateway aggregates traffic from a large number of HNBs back into an existing core service network through the standard Iu-cs and Iu-ps interfaces.

Iu-h Interface: Residing between an HNB and HNB-GW, the Iu-h interface includes a new HNB application protocol (HNBAP) for enabling highly-scalable, ad-hoc HNB deployment. The interface also introduces an efficient, scalable method for transporting Iu control signaling over the Internet.

With an underlying femtocell architecture agreed, 3GPP has now transitioned to the phase of developing detailed specifications. This work is targeted for completion by the end of 2008.

About 3GPP UMA/GAN Technology
UMA is the commercial name for the global 3GPP ‘GAN’ standard for fixed-mobile convergence. UMA enables secure, scalable access to mobile voice, data and IMS services over broadband IP access networks. By deploying UMA technology, mobile operators can deliver a number of compelling fixed-mobile convergence services. The most well-known applications of UMA include dual-mode handsets, mobile terminal adaptors and 3G femtocells. Leading operators around the world have embraced UMA as the foundation for their fixed-mobile convergence strategies, including France Telecom/Orange, T-Mobile US, Rogers Wireless, TeliaSonera, Ono, and Cincinnati Bell. For more information, please visit www.UMAToday.com.

About Kineto Wireless
Kineto Wireless is a key innovator and leading supplier of 3GPP UMA/GAN and HNB technologies. Kineto supplies infrastructure solutions through OEM partnerships with leading network equipment providers, and also provides software, development tools and support services to mobile platform suppliers, mobile handset developers, femtocell AP developers and other consumer electronics vendors. For more information, please visit www.kineto.com.