Vanu sets up R&D centre in B'lore

US-based Vanu Inc, which provides software radio solutions for cellular operators, opened its research and development centre in Bangalore.

The centre will focus on Enhanced General Packet Radio Service (EGPRS) and Enhanced Data rates for GSM (EDGE) technologies employed by cellular operators.

Going forward, the company will take up work relating to 3G technology, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and Radio Network Controller (RNC) development at the Bangalore centre.

"By tapping India's software engineering talent, we will speed up the pace of innovation while offering solutions that are tailored to emerging markets, particularly India's rural communities. We intend to expand staff starting next year to develop 3G and 4G waveforms in India," Vanu Inc CEO Vanu Bose said on Thursday.

Vanu, founded in 1998, has developed a solution "" Anywave Software Radio solution "" which helps cellular service providers operate multiple standards such as GSM and CDMA on a single platform.

It utilises open standards architecture with each wireless standard. All signal processing is developed in high level software running on Linux and general purpose servers.

"This eliminates the use of proprietary chipsets and delivers ongoing price-performance improvements. It also significantly reduces backhaul costs and enables new wireless standards and system capacity to be added through remote software downloads. The Anyway Base Station is the first software defined radio (SDR) to achieve certification from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)," Bose said.

He pointed out that Anyway Base Stations had been deployed by cellular operators in North America. He said the company was looking at the Indian market for growth.

"We are in talks with all leading wireless carriers who are planning to offer both CDMA and GSM services. By deploying the Anyway Base Stations, these companies can greatly reduce their investments on setting up infrastructure. We are also in talks with mobile tower companies," he added.

Vanu has already conducted field trials of the technology in Tamil Nadu. "The technology has the potential to change the entire rural wireless landscape in India by allowing wireless carriers to easily add new standards and upgrade their networks through simple software downloads," said Vanu India Managing Director Pradeep Malhotra said.