Application Note: Designing GaAs Power Amplifiers for Femtocells.

Wireless 3G and 4G networks give subscribers on the go access to data, multimedia, and entertainment services through mobile handsets, smartphones and PCs. These new networks operate over far wider areas than can be served by WiFi hotspots.

But once the mobile user gets back to the office or comes home, there’s often a problem. Wireless signals tend to be weaker indoors, and this prevents subscribers from taking full advantage of those advanced services. Even WiFi routers can’t eliminate the difficulty. While they often provide WLAN connectivity inside homes and offices that’s faster and more reliable than a traditional WWAN network, they lack the full broadband capability of the macro cellular network.

Femtocells Bridge the Gap

Femtocells offer a solution to the indoor connectivity problem at an affordable price. They extend the reach of wireless network services into homes and offices, enabling subscribers the use their voice and wireless data services just as they do outdoors.

A Femtocells is a consumer premises equipment (CPE) device about the size of a wireless router. It creates a local cell site or home node that operates on the same licensed frequencies as the network operators’ macrocell towers so it can connect seamlessly to the handset or other mobile device that the subscriber uses for remote access. The benefits to the user are obvious: better service indoors through a single device