Airspan Extends LTE Small Cell Portfolio to Include a High Performance Enterprise Femto eNodeB and Introduces AirSON -- LTE-Advanced Self Optimizing Network Technology


BOCA RATON, FL--(Marketwire - Feb 21, 2013) - Airspan Networks Inc., a leading provider of 4G LTE access solutions, announced today that it has extended its AirSynergy product range to include an indoor, carrier-grade "public access" small cell for LTE, Wi-Fi and later, support for Release 10 3G-HSPA UMTS. Airspan also announced the introduction of its Self-Optimizing Network (SON) solution, called AirSON, to the company's LTE heterogeneous RAN portfolio.

AirSynergy 1000 is an indoor, high performance, high power, LTE-A carrier-class "enterprise" small cell, designed to bring public access LTE networks into large enterprises and high density public spaces. The new indoor AirSynergy 1000 series complements the existing outdoor AirSynergy 2000 picocell and will be deployed in customer trials in Q2 2013. AirSynergy 2000 already provides the outdoor pico layer of a heterogeneous LTE-A network deployment (HetNet). Airspan's AirSynergy series brings several industry firsts by supporting LTE-A and being able to support multiple LTE interfaces at the same time. It is also the only small cell solution with an integrated Non-Line-of-Sight wireless backhaul technology, called iBridge, which enables direct connections to an LTE operator's transport network.

Eric Stonestrom, CEO and President of Airspan Networks, commented, "The introduction of our new high capacity baseband technology into AirSynergy 1000 and 2000 product completes a multi-year development program aimed at creating the highest performance and most differentiated small cell solution in the industry. Small cells are all about driving up the capacity of a network within a limited frequency resource and we just rewrote what was possible with this technology."

Both AirSynergy 1000 and 2000 have an advanced 3GPP Release 10 feature set that includes support for SON and LTE-A eICIC, which enables N=1 frequency re-use between the outdoor Macro cell network and AirSynergy small cells. The AirSynergy series has the ability to run multiple LTE interfaces per eNodeB (either FDD and/or TDD) and is ready to support Release 10 Carrier Aggregation which enables a single node to deliver up to 450Mbit/s in a bonded configuration. AirSynergy can be deployed using enterprise broadband connections, or with the iBridge wireless backhaul solution. The iBridge backhaul option has a differentiated cooperative QoS feature which ensures the Quality of Experience (QoE) inside of the enterprise matches the QoE on an outdoor Macro cell network.

Also announced today is AirSON, Airspan's LTE-A Self-Optimizing Network feature set that is combination of a centralized SON server and distributed SON functions which execute on each AirSynergy eNodeB. AirSON is a comprehensive framework for the rollout of hyper-dense small cell networks.

AirSON solves the key issues associated with small cell deployment, namely;

  • Optimization of handover and mobility management
  • Optimization of resource partitioning between macro and small network
  • Management of resource and Frequency co-ordination features to minimize interference
  • Short term and long term load balancing between macro and small cell network layers
  • Unified optimization of resource mappings for iBridge wireless backhaul and LTE access

Airspan Networks is exhibiting at MWC 2013 and has a live demonstration of AirSynergy HetNet that utilizes LTE-Advanced Release 10 eICIC (enhanced Inter-cell Interference Coordination) and associated features. Airspan Networks can be found at stand D90 in Hall 6. For more details on LTE Advanced Release 10 eICIC download our whitepaper called Unlocking the HetNet.

About Airspan Networks Inc.
Airspan (PINKSHEETS: AIRO) is a leading 4G LTE RAN solution provider, with over 1000 customers in over 100 countries. Airspan is regularly recognized as a leader and pioneer in 4G LTE and broadband wireless technologies. Airspan has an expansive product portfolio, which includes indoor and outdoor Femto and Pico cells, and all-outdoor, compact Micro and Macro base stations, a wide variety of user devices, and advanced core network products. These connectivity solutions operate in bands from 700 MHz up to 6.4 GHz. www.airspan.com.

Oak Investment Partners XI, Limited Partnership holds a controlling interest in Airspan. Airspan is not subject to the informational reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and, accordingly, does not file reports, financial statements, proxy statements, information statements or other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, including statements regarding our strategy, future operations, financial position, future revenues, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management, may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. The words "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "may," "plans," "projects," "will," "would" and similar expressions or negative variations thereof are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements we make. Investors and others are therefore cautioned that a variety of factors, including certain risks, may affect our business and cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

Contact Information:

For Media Inquiries, contact:
Paul Senior
Chief Technical Officer and SVP of Product Strategy
Airspan Networks Inc.
Tel. +1 561.443.1007
Email: psenior@airspan.com