Founded in March 2005, Lime Microsystems is a fabless semiconductor company specializing in digitally configurable transceivers for the next generation of wireless broadband systems. Lime has development teams in the UK and Lithuania, with its headquarters based in Guildford, UK. The company is privately owned and backed by venture capital.
The company has developed a specific RF (Radio Frequency) chip targetted at the femtocell market, although it could also be used in other wireless applications.
Their single chip LMS-6002 transceiver measures only 9mm by 9mm, yet can handle all mainstream wireless technologies (UMTS, CDMA, WiMAX, LTE) at frequencies from 375Hz up to 4GHz. The device combines LNA, PA driver, RX/TX mixers, RX/TX filters, synthesizer, RX gain control, and TX power control with very few external components. This allows a single femtocell hardware platform design to be manufactured which can adapt to different country's technical requirements, reducing cost and complexity. List pricing is quoted at $15 for 5,000 quantities.
In December 2009, Lime announced an agreement with picoChip to develop a reference design which can be configured for 3G and 4G operating at a range of different frequencies.
In January 2010, Lime announced an agreement with Percello to develop a similar reference design for 3G/HSPA high performance femtocells.
In July 2011, Cambridge Consultants incorporated the 6002D chip into their reference 2G/3G small cell design, named SideWinder.
In November 2014, Lime released their LMS-7002M which covers the wider frequency range from 100MHz through 3800MHz. It can handle channel bandwidths up to 60MHz and supports MIMO operation.
This part is already embedded in a number of design boards, supported by design tools/software/tutorials through the MyriadRF open source initiative and Nuand BladeRF.
