Texas Instruments announced the addition of the RF Software Development Kit (RFSDK) to its Base Station SoftwarePac, enabling small cell developers to configure the baseband-to-radio communication and achieve first call or system verification in just one day compared to the weeks or months it took previously. With the new RFSDK, TI's KeyStone™- based TCI6630K2L small cell System-on-Chip (SoC) and TCI6631K2L backhaul SoC can now seamlessly implement digital radio functions like digital pre-distortion (DPD) and crest factor reduction (CFR), and use a JESD204B interface to communicate with TI's analog front end transceiver, the AFE7500, to maximize performance and system power efficiency. In addition, the RFSDK enables the TCI6630K2L SoC to communicate with TI's analog high speed data converters for industrial solutions.

The innovative RFSDK speeds customers' time-to-market by providing a complete integration code that connects to TI's baseband processor and RF solutions. By providing simple APIs and a web-like interface, the RFSDK abstracts hundreds of radio specific parameters into easy to use system level configurations. In deployment, the RFSDK provides OEMs and operators with the ability to field debug by monitoring and measuring the complete radio chain which is critical in SON deployments.

"By adding a production grade RFSDK software product to our Multicore Software Development Kit and carrier grade LTE PHY, we are providing customers a fuller, more complete Base Station SoftwarePac," said Cal Parsons, product manager, communications processors, Texas Instruments. "Developers will also find that their system testing and performance evaluations are greatly simplified with the test suite, benchmarks and performance reports included with the RFSDK."

The RFSDK is available as part of TI's Base Station SoftwarePac. It is also available for TI's previously announced high performance small cell development platform and in the Hercules solutions platform offered by TI and Purewave Networks.