PCS Releases New 3GPP LTE Release 14-Compliant NB-IoT Transceiver IP Supporting High-Band and Low-Band Operation

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Dec. 13, 2018 – Palma Ceia SemiDesign (PCS), a provider of next-generation wireless connectivity solutions, today announced a new transceiver IP supporting LTE NB-IoT Release 14. The transceiver IP is targeted for the Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) applications.

The transceiver performance conforms to the LTE NB-IoT specification, part of Release 14 from 3GPP for Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) applications that connect large numbers of sensor-type devices. The transceiver supports both high and low bands compliant with the 3GPP Rel. 14 specification. Mobile network operators worldwide, including Verizon, AT&T and China Telecom have announced support for some of these new IoT capabilities.

NB-IoT (Narrowband IoT) is a low power wide area network (LPWAN) radio technology standard developed by 3GPP to enable a wide range of cellular devices and services.

“We continue to update our IP to conform to the latest 3GPP specifications,” said James E. Flowers, co-founder & chief operating officer of Palma Ceia. “This transceiver can deploy with confidence, integrated into any SoC that requires an NB-IoT transceiver.”

New features of the PCS transceiver include:

• Meeting the performance requirements of 3GPP LTE Advanced Release 14 for NB-IoT
• Support for Low Band (LB), from 699MHz to 960MHz: bands 5, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 26, 28.
• Support for High Band (HB), from 1695MHz to 2200MHz: bands 1, 2, 3, 66, 70

Additional features of the PCS transceiver include:

• Direct conversion receiver with a noise figure of less than 2.5 dB and a sensitivity of -116 dBm.
• Highly linear architecture offering operating margin exceeding 3GPP linearity requirements
• Self-contained calibration and correction schemes for better performance and high yield
• Fully automated DC offset correction and I/Q calibration scheme
• Full digital interface to baseband.
• Total RX current of 15mA and TX current of 22mA at max power
• Targeted 200kHz implementation offers lower power versus LTE-M1 at 1.4MHz

LTE NB-IoT is a cellular 3GPP standard that utilizes licensed bands to provide low-power connectivity compared to the conventional cellular connections for smartphones. Setting up networks of IoT devices benefits from cellular capacity handling, allowing the creation of large networks of devices, or sensors, that support the concept of the Internet of Things. The performance (throughput/data handling) is intended to be competitive with proprietary LPWA alternatives but uses the existing infrastructure of cellular services providers.

Palma Ceia is moving along a path to produce both a transceiver chip with baseband that can be used as the wireless communication mechanism to interface IoT and M2M products. Along with the possibility of integrating this IP into an SoC, Palma Ceia will be able to offer customers all the necessary options to implement IOT devices in the many and varied application verticals that make up this market.

The current offering is packaged as hard IP (GDS) complete radio drivers and User/Integration Guide. A test board under development and can be linked to an FPGA for systems testing and validation.

To discuss potential partnerships for deploying the LTE NB-IoT Transceiver, contact Palma Ceia.

About Palma Ceia SemiDesign

Palma Ceia SemiDesign, Inc. is a provider of communication IP and chips for next-generation WiFi and cellular applications. With a focus on emerging WiFi and LTE standards, PCS supports the design of high-performance devices for broadband, wireless, medical and automotive applications. Palma Ceia solutions are differentiated by low-power, high-performance designs and ease of integration. With headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., the company has design operations in McKinney, Texas, and sales and support activities in China, Israel, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Visit Palma Ceia SemiDesign on the web at www.pcsemi.com.