Lime targets WiMAX
Demand for WiMAX communications is predicted to grow rapidly in the near future, but which part of the spectrum it will use is likely to depend upon where you use it. Responding to this potential problem, wireless start up Lime Microsystems is developing a digitally configurable transceiver to support transmissions from 700MHz to more than 5GHz.
“Our market entry,” said ceo Ebrahim Bushehri (pictured), “will be WiMAX, but we’re looking at cellular communications, including LTE.”
Initially, the company has produced a reference design targeted at MicroTCA based systems. The design has six user selectable channel bandwidths from 1.5 to 14MHz and operates in bands from 2 to 4GHz.
At the heart of the reference design is Lime’s rf transceiver, which provides support for multiple frequencies. Currently, this is a SiGe chipset, but the company will migrate this to cmos in the near future and plans to unveil the single chip solution early next year. “We’re driving towards a single chip solution,” said Bushehri, “and that’s what we want to sell.”
A further development, expected later in 2008, will be a version of the transceiver capable of supporting MIMO communications.
