SOMA Networks Selects Sequans’ Mobile WiMAX Chip Solution for Increased Network Efficiencies

Sequans Communications, a leading provider of base station and subscriber station chips for both fixed and Mobile WiMAX, announced today that SOMA Networks, Inc., a leading provider of Mobile WiMAX systems, is using Sequans' new SQN2130 chips in the award-winning FlexMAX Mobile WiMAX System.

SOMA's FlexMAX System supports the IEEE 802.16e-2005 Mobile WiMAX standard and is focused on bringing Mobile WiMAX and advanced applications to the home market. SOMA will incorporate the new chip into its FlexMAX ABS-1000 macro basestation, which is OBSAI-compliant, as well as leverage the SQN1130 chip for use in the FlexMAX subscriber gateway family.

"Sequans is first to market with the most complete Mobile WiMAX chip solution for both base stations and gateway devices," said Tom Flak, Senior Vice President of Operations at SOMA Networks. "Similar to SOMA's goal of providing our carrier customers with complete, end-to-end systems, Sequans' all-in-one chipset solution allows us to greatly accelerate our interoperability testing, and fully focus on developing a better Mobile WiMAX solution that delivers advanced multimedia features for our Mobile WiMAX system. The high performance, low power, Wave 2-ready Sequans chips also give us the flexibility to offer a number of different product configurations for our global customers."

"As the leader in delivering advanced applications to the home over broadband wireless technology, SOMA's FlexMAX system makes use of the full technical benefits of our combined chipset solution," said Georges Karam, Sequans CEO. "By using Sequans chips at both ends of the wireless link, the FlexMAX System can deliver the highest performance through advanced multi-antenna technology, and support the addition of custom software and features that can differentiate each vendors' WiMAX offering. We are excited to partner with SOMA as they bring the latest applications to their customers."

Sequans' SQN2130 chip is the industry's first custom-designed ASIC optimized for Mobile WiMAX base stations. It is a highly integrated MAC and PHY baseband chip, providing high performance, scalability, and flexibility to support any size or configuration of base station without compromising on features. SQN2130 delivers very high throughput, delivering the full line rate even with small packet sizes, and can serve tens of thousands of subscriber stations. It is 802.16e, Wave 2-ready, supports TDD and FDD, and standard interfaces to ASN gateways for easy integration into existing deployed networks.