Tokyo, February 25, 2013 - NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) announced today the latest update to its solution portfolio for small cell backhaul. The announcement reflects the company’s continuing development efforts, and builds upon NEC’s leadership in industry adoption of millimeter wave technologies for mobile backhaul (i.e. use of radio transmission in 60GHz and 70-80GHz frequencies).

In line with expected large scale deployments of small cell networks in the near future, NEC is providing all of the key technologies required for the backhaul of small cells: high capacity millimeter wave and microwave, non-line-of-sight (NLOS) radio, wavelength division multiplex (WDM) optical access, full IP routing, unified network management systems and complementary software tools for network planning and optimization. 

Specifically the products included within the solution portfolio include:

iPASOLINK SX for urban street-level connectivity – 60GHz (V-band) compact high-capacity all-outdoor radio, currently being evaluated by 5 major network operators in Europe, scheduled for commercial availability in the second quarter of 2013;

iPASOLINK EX for urban small cell traffic aggregation and distributed RAN ‘fronthaul’ – New 70-80GHz (E-band) all-outdoor radio capable of delivering capacities in excess of 10Gbps, commercially released at the time of this year’s Mobile World Congress and  preselected for deployment by two major pan-European network operators;

• iPASOLINK AX all-outdoor radio, and iPASOLINK split-mount series for remote small cell connectivity and urban aggregation – NEC’s core wireless backhaul products in 6-42GHz frequency ranges;
• NLOS products for small cell connectivity in obstructed radio environments – a range of available products, each targeting unique allocations of radio spectrum specific to a deployment region, availability is subject to customer requirements;
• New WDM optical access for small cell connectivity, distributed RAN ‘fronthaul’, and aggregation in urban hotzones – simple plug-and-play solution complementing wireless technologies with optical Gigabit Ethernet connectivity, currently under evaluation;
• iPASOLINK GX for street level branching and outdoor traffic aggregation – compact all-outdoor router supporting up to 4 direct power and data connections to all-outdoor radios, commercially available;
• MS5000 for integrated network management – multi-layer network management system supporting NEC’s complete transmission product portfolio;
• Backhaul Resource Manager for maximizing network utilization – intelligent path provisioning and optimization software based on unique calculation algorithms developed by NEC research labs, currently in development.

All of the products are optimized in performance, physical footprint and cost for a variety of small cell use cases, from capacity driven dense urban deployments to coverage motivated rural implementations. NEC also offers local services to assist with planning, deployment and operations, and in cases where customers choose to use NEC’s small cell products, NEC can offer an increased level of physical and service management integration of small cell and backhaul equipment.

Dejan Bojic, NEC’s Director of Product Strategy for Mobile Backhaul, says: “Small cells in the context of heterogeneous Radio Access Network (RAN) are essential to fulfill the promise of 4G user experience, and the backhaul of small cells is currently perceived as the major obstacle by network operators. We have listened carefully to what our customers want in terms of performance and cost, and we believe we have developed the most advanced and the most comprehensive solution package available in the market.”

Mr. Bojic continues: “Being effectively a one-stop shop for all of our customers’ backhaul needs gives us the capability to uniquely enhance network performance and drive down the cost of ownership. And as with any other solution provided by NEC, we provide the industry-best quality and operational excellence on which our customers can rely, a key advantage when adopting new technologies and new network architectures.”

NEC is showcasing its solution portfolio for small cell backhaul at Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona, Spain from February 25 - 28 at the Fira Gran Via, Hall 3, Stand 3B4.

For further information or to register for forums please visit http://www.nec.com/mwc/.