Article Tools

• 

The Strategy Analytics RF & Wireless Component Service has released, “Femtocells Enabled by PicoChip to Square Off Against VoFi,” which notes that low-cost femtocells could emerge as an attractive alternative to voice-over Wi-Fi (VoFi) in future homes.

PicoChip has developed inexpensive baseband processors for very low-cost femtocell base stations that can be installed in the home. These femtocells have the potential to reduce the demand for cell phones that include Wi-Fi, which many in the cell phone industry believe will emerge in high volumes over the next several years to support the convergence of fixed and mobile communications.

According to Chris Taylor, director of the RF & Wireless Component service, “We believe that femtocells will attract wireless operators and consumers alike. However, the bill of materials for femtocells will have to fall close to that of cell phones that include Wi-Fi chipsets for femtocells to really take off.”

Asif Anwar, director of the Strategy Analytics Compound Semiconductor Service, commenting on the femtocell opportunity for component suppliers, added, “The handset market shows that GaAs can compete against silicon technologies on cost, but the low transmit power of femtocells suggests that this market will probably use SiGe and LDMOS transistor-based PAs initially, eventually shifting to transceivers with on-chip CMOS PAs.”