SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Symmetricom®, Inc.
(NASDAQ:SYMM), a worldwide leader in precision time and frequency
technologies, and Mindspeed Technologies®, (NASDAQ:MSPD), an
industry leader in technology for small cell chips today announced
they are working together to set the industry standard for precise
time synchronization to include precision timing and GPS
functionality to small cell system-on-chip (SoC) products.
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The integration of Precision Timing Protocol (PTP) and
Network Time Protocol (NTP) into Mindspeed's Transcede® T2000 and
T3000 device families cuts customers' costs and simplifies
development as external components are no longer needed and the
functionality is directly supported as part of Mindspeed's small
cell reference design.
Like all base stations, small cells require precision timing.
However, the techniques used to achieve this within traditional
macrocells are prohibitively expensive for cost-sensitive mass
market products like small cells. Many small cells therefore use
NTP as a software (packet-based) alternative, necessitating
development and integration. Symmetricom delivers a demonstrated
interoperable solution, accelerating time to market and reducing
risk.
Cellular technologies require very precise timing far more
demanding than many familiar technologies. For example, a small
cell base station must have a frequency accuracy of 100 parts per
billion and must be able to maintain this accuracy over a wide
temperature range and over months or years of operation.
Traditional base stations have used Rubidium clocks and double
ovened oscillators to achieve this accuracy, but are impossible to
use in a cost-sensitive small cell application. In today's
environment, smarter packet-based techniques are used instead.
Symmetricom's SCr/SCe NTP/ PTP and sGPS SoftClock solution will
provide the highest level of time and frequency accuracy to
Mindspeed's industry leading Transcede small cell products.
Symmetricom also supports softGPS which can be used to confirm the
location of the small cell.
The Mindspeed solution supports NTP and PTP directly. No
additional hardware is needed and only requires an external
low-cost radio for GPS as all the processing is done on the SoC.
Unlike many GPS implementations, the solution is optimized for
high-sensitivity so the small cell can get location even indoors
and in areas which were once impenetrable by traditional GPS
solutions.
"As the small cell market continues to grow and our market share
increases, we continue to innovate our products," commented
Alan Taylor, director of product
management of Mindspeed's Wireless division. "By incorporating
support for NTP, PTP and uniquely high-performance GPS into our
chips, Mindspeed has removed another significant pain point for
OEMs, demonstrating once again our technology lead in small
cells."
"GPS, PTP and NTP are key timing protocols to be integrated
within small cell designs," said Manish
Gupta, vice president of marketing and business development
at Symmetricom. "Mindspeed has been a leader in small cell
technology, and is a natural fit with the highly
accurate and innovating timing solutions from
Symmetricom."
Besides timing, GPS is also widely used to provide location. In
some regions like the US, it is required to provide location
information for each small cell. In the US operators do not have
national licenses, meaning that each small cell needs exact
location data to determine which radio band it may use. It is also
a requirement as part of the E911 regulation to enable emergency
services to ascertain where calls originate. Location information
also ensures that small cells remain in their designated area.
About Mindspeed Technologies
Mindspeed Technologies (NASDAQ:MSPD) is a leading provider of
network infrastructure semiconductor solutions to the
communications industry. The company's low-power system-on-chip
(SoC) products are helping to drive video, voice and data
applications in worldwide fiber-optic networks and enable advanced
processing for 3G and long-term evolution (LTE) mobile networks.
The company's high-performance analog products are used in a
variety of optical, enterprise, industrial and video transport
systems. Mindspeed's products are sold to original
equipment manufacturers (OEMs) around the globe.
To learn more, please visit http://www.mindspeed.com.
Company news and updates are also posted
at http://www.twitter.com/mindspeed.
About Symmetricom, Inc.
Symmetricom (NASDAQ:SYMM), a world leader in precise time
solutions, sets the world's standard for time. The company
generates, distributes and applies precise time for the
communications, aerospace/defense, IT infrastructure and metrology
industries. Symmetricom's customers, from communications service
providers and network equipment manufacturers to governments and
their suppliers worldwide, are able to build more reliable networks
and systems by using the company's advanced timing technologies,
atomic clocks, services and solutions. All products support today's
precise timing standards, including GPS-based timing, IEEE 1588
(PTP), Network Time Protocol (NTP), Synchronous Ethernet and
DOCSIS® timing. Symmetricom is the recipient of the
following 2012 awards: Frost & Sullivan Global Technology
Innovation Award, Best Carrier Ethernet Core Product at Carrier
Ethernet World Congress and GNSS Leadership Product Award.
Symmetricom is based in San Jose,
Calif., with offices worldwide. For more information, visit:
http://www.symmetricom.com or join the dialogue at
http://www.twitter.com/symmetricom.
SYMM-P
Symmetricom Contact:
Tracy Schriver
Symmetricom
t: +1-408-964-7649
tschriver@symmetricom.com
Symmetricom Media Contact:
Liam Rose
GolinHarris for Symmetricom
t: +1-415-318-4380
lrose@golinharris.com
Mindspeed Media Contact:
Darren Willsher
EML Wildfire
t: +44 20 8408 8000
mindspeed@emlwildfire.com
Mindspeeed Investor Relations Contact:
Kevin Trosian
VP Business Development and Investor Relations
t: +1 949-579-3111
investor.relations@mindspeed.com
Mindspeed Corporate Contact:
Rupert Baines
VP Corporate Strategy and Marketing Communication
t: +44 1225 469 744
rupert.baines@mindspeed.com
SOURCE Symmetricom, Inc.