Combining FPRF and FPGA to create the future of radio in Europe

In 2013 the EU, in collaboration with the Seventh Framework Programme set out the technology roadmap for radio optimisation.

Called Acropolis (Advanced coexistence technologies for radio optimisation in licensed and unlicensed spectrum), the roadmap seeks to establish the key technologies for future software defined and cognitive radio systems.

Lime's field programmable RF transceiver (FPRF) was named in the report for its ability to manage multiple bands and multiple standards and its ability to deliver MIMO networks.

The EU particularly cited its use on the Eurecom ExpressMIMO2 baseband platform, which is both TDD and FDD LTE-A compliant.

This board combines four Lime LMS6002D FPRF chips with an FPGA from Xilinx (Spartan-6). This combination delivers powerful processing, across a wide frequency range and multiple standards with true MIMO: the board can deliver single band 4x4 MIMO and dual-band 2x2 MIMO.

Lime’s LMS6002D FP-RF transceivers operate on all mobile broadband standards – LTE, HSPA+, CDMA, 2G – including all regional variants; and any wireless communications frequency between 0.3 and 3.8GHz. This includes the regulated, licensed bands and unlicensed / whitespace spectra.