Faststream Technologies supplies radio subsystems and IP for 5G base stations, private networks, software-defined radio and satellite links. The digital front end — crest factor reduction and digital pre-distortion working together — is the most characterised part of the portfolio, and the part most directly connected to what a radio unit costs to run.
| Product | Function | Typical markets |
|---|---|---|
| O-RAN Radio Unit IP | Programmable circuitry IP for 5G O-RAN radio unit platforms, targeting low power and high bandwidth | Small cell, massive MIMO, macro cell |
| O-RAN Distributed Unit (O-DU) | Real-time high-PHY, MAC and RLC terminating 7.2x fronthaul and F1, with FPGA-accelerated L1 | Macro, small cell, private 5G |
| O-RAN Central Unit (O-CU) | PDCP, RRC and SDAP split into CU-CP and CU-UP, serving many DUs over F1, cloud-native | Centralised RAN, private 5G, operators |
| Baseband Unit (BBU) | Base-station baseband and C-RAN pooling over CPRI/eCPRI; migration to disaggregated DU+CU | C-RAN, macro, operator networks |
| 5G Digital Front End | Integrated subsystem combining digital pre-distortion and crest factor reduction | Base station, RAN OEM |
| eCPRI IP Core | O-RAN 7.2x fronthaul interface: U/C/S/M-plane processing, block-floating-point IQ compression, and PTP/SyncE timing over Ethernet | O-RAN radio, RAN OEM |
| DPD IP Core | Digital pre-distortion with adaptive algorithms, modelling non-linear behaviour across multiple power amplifiers | RAN, satellite, broadcast |
| CFR IP Core | Crest factor reduction using a weighted windowing algorithm, managing peak-to-average power ratio within a 6–9 dB range | RAN, satellite |
| Private 5G Network-in-a-Box | Multi-connectivity private network platform combining terrestrial and non-terrestrial links with Wi-Fi and LPWAN | Enterprise, industrial, defence |
| Carrier Aggregation | Design and integration of intra-band, inter-band and FR1+FR2 aggregation — the scheduler, the RF front end and the 3GPP band combinations | FWA, small cell, O-RAN, modem, SDR |
| 5G O-RAN Radio Unit Platform | Radio unit hardware: 7.2x split, integrated DFE, eCPRI fronthaul, GNSS and PTP timing | Small cell, massive MIMO, macro |
| FPGA Data Acquisition Boards | Multi-channel high-speed ADC and DAC, JESD204 links, DDR, PCIe host interface | Test and measurement, radar, SDR, industrial |
| Drone Modem — Video Downlink and C2 Link | Low-latency video downlink with a separately designed, resilient command and control link for UAV platforms | Inspection, public safety, survey, defence |
| Converged Small Cell — 5G NR and Wi-Fi 7 | gNB and Wi-Fi 7 in one enclosure with 4CC aggregation, MOCN, embedded user plane and edge compute | Enterprise, campus, industrial, neutral host |
| mmWave Radio Unit | FR2 phased array with integrated beamforming, per-element calibration and dissipation-led thermal design | Fixed wireless access, dense urban, venues |
| Digital Filter IP | FIR, CIC, half-band and polyphase resampling with per-stage precision analysis | 5G front end, satellite, SDR, acquisition |
| Polyphase Channelizer IP | Filter-bank channelisation scaling with total bandwidth rather than channel count | Satellite payloads, NTN gateways, multi-carrier |
| Satellite Modem / SDR Platform | FPGA software-defined modem and signal-processing platform | Space, defence, communications |
| NTN Module Integration | Non-terrestrial network module integration for coverage continuity | Tracking, maritime, remote assets |
| 5G FWA CPE | Fixed-wireless customer-premises equipment, indoor self-install and outdoor high-gain, bridging 5G to Wi-Fi and Ethernet | Operators, rural broadband, private networks |
| Portable Base Station | All-in-one RU+DU+CU+core in a rugged battery-powered case; satellite backhaul or standalone island network | Defence, emergency, remote sites, events |
| Indoor Small Cell | In-building 5G NR and Wi-Fi coverage and capacity; ceiling/wall mount, PoE, on-prem or operator core; a DAS alternative | Enterprise, hospitals, retail, venues |
| Outdoor Small Cell | Street-level densification; weatherproof pole/wall/streetlight mount, sub-6 or mmWave, fibre or wireless backhaul | Urban densification, transport, stadiums |
| Massive MIMO AAU | Integrated 64T64R active antenna unit: array, transceivers, beamforming and DFE on the mast; O-RAN 7.2x fronthaul | Macro, dense urban, mid-band TDD |
| O-RAN Fronthaul Gateway | Aggregates and switches eCPRI 7.2x from a cluster of O-RUs onto shared transport; BFP, PTP/SyncE timing | Dense sites, metro fronthaul, operators |
| RIC Platform | Near-RT RIC hosting xApps; E2 to O-CU/O-DU, A1 to non-RT RIC, conflict mitigation; open programmable control | Operators, O-RAN, AI-for-RAN |
| Non-3GPP Interworking (N3IWF / TNGF) | IPsec-secured gateway bringing untrusted and trusted non-3GPP (Wi-Fi) access into the 5G core, with ATSSS traffic steering across 3GPP and non-3GPP | Private 5G, fixed wireless, enterprise Wi-Fi convergence |
What the digital front end and its constituent blocks have been characterised at.
| Parameter | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Peak-to-average power ratio managed | 6–9 dB | CFR block, weighted windowing algorithm |
| System error vector magnitude | 3.9–4.1 per cent | Integrated DFE system |
| Adjacent channel leakage | Improved by adaptive DPD | Modelling non-linear behaviour across multiple power amplifiers |
| Target platforms | Small cell, massive MIMO, macro cell | O-RAN radio unit architecture |
Figures describe demonstrated system behaviour under the stated configuration. Applicability to a specific amplifier, waveform and bandwidth is established during engagement.
In a radio unit the power amplifier dominates energy consumption, and its efficiency improves sharply as it is driven closer to saturation. A 5G NR waveform has a high peak-to-average ratio, so driving hard means clipping, and clipping means spectral regrowth into the adjacent channel and a rising error vector magnitude.
Crest factor reduction shapes the waveform so the peaks are less extreme before the amplifier sees them. Digital pre-distortion applies the inverse of the amplifier's own non-linearity so the output is closer to what was intended. Together they recover the headroom efficiency costs — which is why the DFE is not a nicety but the block that determines the operating cost of the site.
Cellular as the primary path, with satellite carrying continuity where terrestrial coverage does not reach.
High-throughput and low-power links coexisting under one platform rather than as separate silos.
A network-in-a-box arrangement for sites where fixed infrastructure is impractical or temporary.
In the Open RAN architecture the radio unit is the element that handles the radio-frequency and lower physical-layer functions, connected to a distributed unit over an open fronthaul interface. Faststream supplies programmable circuitry IP for radio unit platforms targeting small cell, massive MIMO and macro cell deployments.
It sits between the baseband and the power amplifier, applying crest factor reduction to lower the waveform's peak-to-average ratio and digital pre-distortion to compensate for the amplifier's non-linearity. This allows the amplifier to run closer to saturation, where it is more efficient, without unacceptable adjacent channel leakage.
Yes. They are available as separate cores or as an integrated digital front end subsystem, depending on what the target platform already has.
A non-terrestrial network carries connectivity over satellite rather than terrestrial cell sites. In Faststream's designs it is a continuity layer, not a replacement — cellular is the normal path, and NTN carries traffic where terrestrial coverage is unavailable, such as maritime, remote infrastructure and long-haul transit routes.
Tell us the specification, the constraint and the deadline. Programmes that cross silicon, radio, embedded and AI are where Faststream is strongest.