QUALCOMM's Flarion: "TI Inside"
>> QUALCOMM August 11 CC:
Message 21620068
TIM LONG, BANK OF AMERICA SECURITIES: Thank you. I believe Flarion was working with Texas Instruments on the silicon side. Can you tell me if this acquisition in any way is going to change the strategy as far as partners on the silicon side, if that would have any impact on timing of getting this technology deployed? Thank you.
DR. PAUL JACOBS: So our intent right now is to allow them to continue to work on the path that they are on in terms of bringing out their new chipsets but clearly it's to our benefit to try and aggregate the volumes that we get with the volumes that we have on the CDMA chips into the future. <<
>> EuroTelcoblog: Contracts and Handsets (July 2004)
tinyurl.com
Flarion seems to be pursuing a strategy of getting the technology embedded in networks first, then using the carriers' leverage with handset suppliers to produce units in volume. The company remarked that it believes all it needs is one commercial order for handset production to kick off, and that such an order may not be far off. The chipset, developed in cooperation with Texas Instruments and Philips, is ready for production, and there is a prototype handset, which can be viewed in the factsheet ..
flarion.com
... and also in high resolution here:
flarion.com
It is interesting to note that Motorola is the networking partner for Flarion's public safety trial in Washington D.C., particularly in light of Motorola's apparent leadership position in integration of other technologies into GSM handsets (BT's Bluephone, expected Wi-Fi integration), and also its long-standing relationship with Nextel. <<
flarion.com
>> Interview with Mike Gallagher, president of Flarion Technologies (January 2003)
tinyurl.com
Q. You have raised funding from Cisco Systems, formed alliances with companies such as Fujitsu, HP, Flextronics, Philips and Texas Instruments, and initiated field trials in Korea with SK Telecom and Hanaro Telecom. Explain how Flarion is planning on going to market. Flarion’s go-to-market strategy:
A. Sell direct to licensed mobile operators. Provide availability of Flarion’s mobile broadband products. Products include the RadioRouter™ base station, PC 1000™ Network Interface Card (PCMCIA form factor) and FLR 1500™ Mobile Broadband Chipset. Flarion’s base station and PC Card products will be manufactured by Flextronics and our chipset by Texas Instruments and Philips Semiconductor. All products will be available January 2003. Flarion will also have reference designs to license to OEM companies. ... Alliance program. The program includes over 27 leaders and innovators in fields that complement Flarion’s core products and skills. Flarion works with these companies to deliver a complete system offering to its customers. Current members include Cisco, Dynamicsoft, Flextronics, Fujitsu, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Invertix, Northrop Grumman, Philips, Powerwave, Ricoh, Siemens and Texas Instruments to name a few. <<
>> Flarion and Flextronics Enter into Agreement to Manufacture RadioRouter® and PC Cards for flash-OFDM™ System
Flarion PR
Bedminster, N.J.
September 19, 2002
tinyurl.com
Flarion Technologies, the architect of the flash-OFDMTM mobile broadband system for licensed operators, today announced its production plans for the RadioRouterTM base station, FLR1500TM Chipset, and the PC1000TM wireless modems for mobilizing laptops and Personal Digital Assistants (PDA).
As a central piece of its product strategy, Flarion has contracted with Flextronics, a global provider of operational services focused on delivering design, engineering, testing, manufacturing and logistics solutions to technology companies, to produce its RadioRouter and PC Card products. Flarion previously announced alliances with Philips and Texas Instruments for chipset manufacturing. Flarion plans to release its products for production in December 2002.
"Flarion is taking advantage of manufacturing options that, until recently, have not been widely used by the incumbents or available to challengers in the wireless industry," said Ray Dolan, Flarion's CEO. "With the Flextronics relationship, Flarion has leveled the playing field and put in place the foundation on which to commercialize the most compelling mobile broadband network system available. This is a win-win for Flarion and mobile operators."
With Flarion's flash-OFDM system, operators now have the tools to offer profitable mobile broadband services -- over a nationwide network -- that cost 5-10 times less than any competing technology. Flarion's system seamlessly connects mobile data users with a LAN-like experience, accessible from anywhere, anytime. The mobile network service is easy and intuitive to use, by simply plugging in a PC card to a notebook or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). It can be offered at price points that will excite both enterprise customers and mass-market customers.
"We are very excited about our relationship with Flarion, and the promise of Flarion's technology. Flextronics' global manufacturing leadership gives Flarion and its mobile operator customers the flexibility to scale to market demands for mobilized broadband access to the Internet," said Kevin L. Gonor, vice president, business development for Flextronics.
Flarion's Network System Solution
* flash-OFDMTM technology: At the heart of the Flarion system is the flash-OFDM air interface, a packet-switched wireless access technology that seamlessly transports Internet Protocol (IP) services over-the-air between the network and devices. It requires only 1.25 MHz of paired radio spectrum. The technology is frequency-band-agnostic and can operate in licensed frequencies up to 3.5 GHz. flash-OFDM supports vehicular mobility of up to 200 mph and interoperability with Wireless LAN systems.
* RadioRouterTM base station: Flarion's RadioRouter provides wide area wireless access and IP packet routing. The system is capable of connecting large numbers of fully mobile users in a macro-cellular environment (Wide Area Network) to the Internet. The RadioRouter offers an average sustainable throughput of 1.5 Mbps per sector in only 1.25 MHz of paired radio spectrum and burst rates as high as 3Mbps. The RadioRouter defines the true mobile edge of the IP core network, thereby enhancing and simplifying IP service creation and provisioning.
* PC1000TM Wireless Terminal: The Flarion PC card terminals are PCMCIA plug-and-play cards compatible with existing and standard computing devices, such as notebooks, PDAs and IP-based digital cameras and require no changes to host operating systems, applications or content. The standard 'Type 2' (single slot) PCMCIA cards provide an air link to the operator's flash-OFDM mobile network, offering each user secure access to the network with average speed of 1.5 Mbps.
* Element Management System (EMS): Incorporated into the RadioRouter product is Flarion's EMS, which performs fault configuration accounting, performance, and security functions for the flash-OFDM network. The Flarion EMS is fully standards-based, including support for SNMP, J2EE, and CORBA interfaces. This allows an operator to integrate EMS into existing network management architecture, and to manage and control the distributed flash-OFDM system from a regional or national Network Operations Center (NOC).
* FLR1500TM Chipset: Incorporates Flarion's custom baseband digital and mixed signal RF ASICs, in conjunction with commercially available components. It can be integrated with a range of host devices including portable computers, PDAs, mobile phones, digital cameras, gaming consoles.
"We believe Flarion is causing many wireless carriers to rethink current network migration paths, especially given the wireless industry's well-documented difficulties in raising new capital," said Ned Zachar, director of Telecom Services Research at Thomas Weisel Partners. "Flarion's superior data rates are likely to be created at a much lower cost compared to conventional 3G, which could give carriers that adopt the Flarion solution a distinct marketing advantage with higher-spending business customers." ... <snip rest> <<
- Eric - |
