The picoArray and reconfigurable baseband processing for wireless basestations

There is much discussion on devices for signal processing based on novel architectures. picoChip have recently sampled just such a platform, together with complete toolchain and systems library. This product is based on a massively parallel array of heterogonous processors and delivers extraordinary computational power, eliminating many of the constraints imposed by traditional architectures. The picoArray delivers 200GIPS and 30GMACs is a scalable fabric. Crucially, it is easy to use with significantly faster development time (including integration, verification, test) than traditional approaches. This system is very well suited to complex wireless systems and the baseband portions of “software defined radios”. Reference designs for WCDMA (FDD), including HSDPA, have been developed. Support for other systems (including 802.16 / WiMax and TD-SCDMA). This paper will discuss how parallel architectures can be applied to demanding signal processing systems, based around the case-study of a real design exercise for a 64 channel 3G (WCDMA) basestation.