U.S. wireless carriers spent almost $40 billion on network gear last year. Although carriers put some of that money toward upgrading networks to the newest and greatest technology, most of it went to network capacity and coverage.
Carriers know that voice remains wireless’ most important application, and improving the performance of that application is their primary concern. The necessity of clear calls has given rise to a small, diverse crowd of players offering various technologies to improve call quality and network capacity. Most of these offerings target base stations, antennas and network performance. But one new company claims its 1.5-square millimeters of innovation can improve capacity by 40 percent and help carriers save more than $1 billion in network spending.
“We’re giving the handset a mute button,” explained John Thomas, founder and chief executive officer of startup TensorComm. The company recently emerged from stealth mode with $7 million in new venture funding and potentially major sales prospects.
Thomas said TensorComm’s technology essentially blocks interference that disrupts wireless communications. Interference can come from pilot, paging, synchronization, voice traffic and supplemental data channels-all of which TensorComm’s technology can block. Thus, a handset with the company’s Interference Cancellation Technology doesn’t have to work as hard to hold a voice call. More importantly, a base station doesn’t have to work as hard to hold onto that handset, giving it the ability to communicate with additional handsets. Thomas said the company’s technology can boost carriers’ capacity by 40 percent; im- proves capacity, coverage and quality; and speeds data transmission.
Thomas uses the example of a crowded room to explain TensorComm’s technology. He pointed out that it requires more energy to hold a conversation in a crowded room if everyone else is talking loudly. However, if everyone in the room speaks softly, you don’t have to yell to make yourself heard.
“The base station can essentially whisper and still communicate,” Thomas said. “The base station can now use that extra power to talk to additional handsets. You’ve just increased the capacity of the network.”
TensorComm points to a trial it recently completed with a major U.S. carrier as evidence of its claims. Thomas declined to name the carrier. The trial, covering 200,000 subscribers in a mid-sized metro area, showed ICT-capable handsets would make room for 81,000 additional subscribers without additional network capex. TensorComm said the numbers translate into $20 million in savings for this particular market over a five-year period. For a large carrier with a nationwide network, the savings could be in the billions of dollars.
TensorComm’s ICT technology resides primarily in the handset. The company sells a sliver of silicon measuring 1.5 square millimeters along with some software that allows the phone to block out disruptive interference. Thus, the phone can whisper to the base station rather than shout. The chip sits directly atop a phone’s baseband chip and does not require handset vendors to redesign their phones.
Thomas said TensorComm currently is targeting the CDMA handset market with its technology. He said that although the company’s offering can work within GSM networks and can be installed within base stations, TensorComm first will go after CDMA handsets due to its familiarity with the technology and the company’s relatively limited resources. Thomas said TensorComm is in extended discussions with three CDMA carriers for additional trials as well as three W-CDMA carriers. Thomas declined to predict when TensorComm would score commercial agreements. TensorComm plans first to sign deals with carriers, hoping those carriers then will require their handset makers to implement the company’s technology.
“We need to drive the carriers to carry that message for us,” Thomas said.
TensorComm was founded in 2001 on technology Thomas developed in the mid 1990s. TensorComm is Thomas’ consumer-focused effort; he previously founded a company selling essentially the same technology for military applications. TensorComm has raised a total of $13 million in venture funding.
