Ubiquisys, the developer of 3G and LTE small cells, will demonstrate smart cells, a new type of small cell, at Mobile World Congress.  With support from Intel Corporation, Ubiquisys has developed a new range of communications-tuned modules based on Intel architecture.  When added to a 3G/LTE/WiFi small cell base station, they add massive processing power and storage at the edge of the network, opening new opportunities for operators, end users and application developers. 

Small cell deployments in public spaces, incorporating combinations of 3G, LTE and WiFi, are forecast to grow very rapidly, because they multiply the capacity of mobile networks whilst driving down costs.  They improve the user experience by providing mobile broadband closer to mobile users, and typically use commodity fixed broadband for backhaul. In most small cell deployments it is the backhaul performance, not the air interface that has the greatest impact on data performance.     

The Ubiquisys smart cell modules feature the 2nd generation Intel CoreTM processor CPU family with data plane hardware accelerators.  There are variants based on Intel CoreT processors for public space hotspots and large enterprise, and Intel AtomTM processor-based variants for SOHO and residential environments.           

Ubiquisys is engaging with 3rd party application developers such as Intrinsyc and Edge Datacoms to release the first applications for smart cells.  These include:

Backhaul optimisation: intelligent predictive cache of popular local media maintained and served direct from the small cell, reducing backhaul traffic by up to 40% and delivering fast load times for users.       

Video optimisation: automatic real-time optimisation of video content to improve end-user experience on mobile devices.            

User protection: real-time virus check, deep packet analysis and URL filtering using McAfee technology - all of the quality features of the core network delivered more efficiently at the edge           .

Fast upload: photo and video uploads go to a proxy app in the small cell.  Users get fast uploads with minimum battery drain whilst the small cell takes on the task of gradually uploading to the web.     

"Smart cells are the future - a sophisticated combination of small cell base stations and powerful computing platforms that deliver more than the sum of their parts," said Chris Gilbert, CEO Ubiquisys. "We're now reaping the rewards of our strategic agreement with Intel to enable commercial products that bring the IP communications cloud closer to mobile users and machines."      

"The increased demand from data services is causing rapid evolution of the radio access network and this delivery aligns with the focus of our collaborative efforts," said Rose Schooler, general manager of Intel's Communications Infrastructure Division "With the integration of Intel 2nd generation Core processors, Ubiquisys has been able to move cloud computing platforms closer to mobile devices to reduce costs and provide consumers with a richer, faster and more secure mobile online experience."          

Ubiquisys smart cells running live applications will be demonstrated by Ubiquisys at Mobile World Congress on stand AV92 on 27 February 2012.  The Ubiquisys smart cell modules will be made available to manufacturing partners in Q2 2012.    

Intel, Core and Atom are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries.