智能手機(jī)所帶來(lái)的移動(dòng)上網(wǎng)洪流，催生了小型基站(small cellular base station)的概念，就像小沙包一樣堆置在電信業(yè)者的網(wǎng)絡(luò)中；不過(guò)芯片供貨商LSI Corp. 卻仍對(duì)小型基站將成為主流趨勢(shì)抱持懷疑態(tài)度。 “已經(jīng)有許多針對(duì)小型基站利與弊的試驗(yàn)；”LSI首席技術(shù)官Greg Huff在最近接受 EETimes美國(guó)版訪問(wèn)時(shí)表示：“它們能填補(bǔ)網(wǎng)絡(luò)覆蓋范圍的漏洞，但也會(huì)變成管理者的夢(mèng)靨──這是非常棘手的問(wèn)題，因此小型基站還在受評(píng)估階段。” 過(guò)去一年多以來(lái)，電信業(yè)者等廠商在傳統(tǒng)大型基站(macro base station)之下提出了四種等級(jí)的小型基站，包括metro cells、pico cells、micro cells與femtocell。而到目前為止，只有femtocell獲得了某種程度的采用，主要是運(yùn)用在蜂窩網(wǎng)絡(luò)信號(hào)死角的住宅內(nèi)。 “我們從客戶聽(tīng)到的意見(jiàn)，是認(rèn)為中、大型基站才是正確解答，小型基站的管理太困難，因此大多數(shù)設(shè)備業(yè)者還是只生產(chǎn)大型基站以及再低一個(gè)等級(jí)的方案?！?Huff表示：“我們?cè)谶@個(gè)領(lǐng)域一直是跟隨客戶的需要，他們說(shuō)最大的芯片市場(chǎng)還是在大型基站以及低一個(gè)等級(jí)的方案；有些人押注在更小的基站，但投資報(bào)酬率不太好。” Huff補(bǔ)充指出：“在4~5年內(nèi)，小型基站市場(chǎng)可能會(huì)更有趣，但目前該類產(chǎn)品因?yàn)槌鲐浟颗c產(chǎn)品平均銷售價(jià)格(ASP)，無(wú)法跨越投資報(bào)酬率障礙?！彼囊庖?jiàn)并不是每個(gè)人都同意，例如通信設(shè)備業(yè)者愛(ài)立信(Ericsson)的高層就對(duì)小型基站前景看法樂(lè)觀。 “我們的大客戶都在尋求小型基站布建，因?yàn)榭山鉀Q覆蓋率的問(wèn)題，并非網(wǎng)絡(luò)流量的問(wèn)題；”愛(ài)立信技術(shù)策略與研發(fā)副總裁Erik Ekudden表示：“大型電信業(yè)者正在朝向真正的異質(zhì)網(wǎng)絡(luò)(heterogeneous networks)發(fā)展，這在明年就會(huì)看到實(shí)際布署。”愛(ài)立信號(hào)稱是最大的蜂窩式基站供貨商，并越來(lái)越專注于產(chǎn)品陣容廣泛的基站與有線/無(wú)線骨干網(wǎng)絡(luò)解決方案。 晶片供貨商高通(Qualcomm)最近則是收購(gòu)以色列新創(chuàng)公司 DesignArt Networks，打算藉此提供能與無(wú)線骨干網(wǎng)絡(luò)整合的小型基站芯片；DesignArt Networks擁有pico基站應(yīng)用的LTE芯片產(chǎn)品線，已經(jīng)獲得無(wú)線骨干網(wǎng)絡(luò)調(diào)制解調(diào)器的采用，未來(lái)高通將開(kāi)發(fā)結(jié)合DesignArt Networks的IP與自家技術(shù)的后續(xù)系列芯片產(chǎn)品。 “我們將開(kāi)發(fā)怎樣的芯片還未可知，也不確定將會(huì)支持mero、mico或是pico基站；”Qualcomm Atheros業(yè)務(wù)開(kāi)發(fā)副總裁Nick Karter表示：“這個(gè)領(lǐng)域的產(chǎn)品命名等一切都還在不斷變動(dòng)?！? 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 編譯：Judith Cheng 參考英文原文： LSI takes skeptic's view on small cells，by Rick Merritt

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{pagination} LSI takes skeptic's view on small cells Rick Merritt LSI chief technologist Greg Huff (shown) is skeptical carriers will deploy a new generation of small cell base stations to handle the flood of mobile data. SAN JOSE, Calif.--The flood of mobile data traffic from smartphones has spawned the concept of a new tier of small cellular base stations, piled on carrier networks like sandbags. LSI Corp. is among the companies still skeptical the trend will take hold. "There have been several small scale trials [of small cells] with pluses and minuses," said Greg Huff, chief technologist at LSI, in a recent interview with EE Times. "They filled holes in coverage, but they turned out to be a management nightmare--it was very cumbersome, so they are still in evaluation," Huff said. For more than a year, carriers and others have described as many as four tiers of small cells below traditional macro base stations—metro cells, pico cells, micro cells and femto cells. So far, only femto cells have gained some adoption, generally for use in residences located in cellular dead zones. "What we hear from customers is big and medium cells are the right answer, and small cells are too difficult to manage, so most equipment providers are making macro cells and one step below it," said Huff. "We’re following our customers' bets here, and they say the biggest market for semis is in macro cells and one step below them," Huff said. "Some people are placing bets below that, but the ROI there is not great," he said. "In four to five years [small cells] could be more interesting, but today they don’t meet ROI hurdles" in terms of units and ASPs, he added. Not everyone agrees. In a wide ranging interview, an Ericsson executive was more bullish on small cells. "Our biggest customers are looking for small cell deployments [because] they solve a coverage problem, but not a capacity issue," said Erik Ekudden, vice president of technology strategies and development at Ericsson. "Big operators are moving into truly heterogeneous networks--that will happen in the next year with deployments." Ericsson claims it is the largest supplier of cellular base stations. It increasingly aims to sell a broad package of the base stations and wireless and wired backhaul networks. Qualcomm's recent purchase of Israeli startup DesignArt Networks aimed at a similar play, selling chips for small cell base stations that integrate wireless backhaul links. DesignArt has a line of LTE chips for pico base stations now being qualified that build in wireless backhaul modems. Qualcomm will design a follow-on family combining its in-house technology with the startup’s IP. "The chips we are designing are agnostic, and will handle metro, micro or pico cells," said Nick Karter, vice president of business development at Qualcomm Atheros. "The whole nomenclature in this space is in flux."