*Good article on Q/LU relationship to trial cdma2000 (1xrtt), CSM5000, MSM5000. Note positive benefits associated with infrastructure divestiture*
PCS ?99?Lucent, Qualcomm to Develop 3G Wireless System
9/24/99 In one of the hottest announcements at this week?s PCS ?99 showcase,
Murray Hill, NJ-based Lucent has signed a teaming agreement with San
Diego, CA-based Qualcomm, Inc. Under the alliance, the two companies plan
to commercialize cdma2000 technology that increases the capacity and data
capabilities of Lucent's CDMA network equipment.
Through the joint development pact, Lucent will equip its CDMA base stations
with new channel cards incorporating Qualcomm CDMA Technologies' recently
introduced CSM5000 cell station modem (CSM). In addition, Qualcomm will
develop terminals, which incorporate the MSM5000 mobile station modem, to
work over Lucent?s cdma2000 network
Unveiled earlier this year, the CSM5000 chip is specifically targeted at cdma2000
infrastructure designs. This chip complies with cdma2000 1XRTT while doubling
the overall capacity for voice users as compared with IS-95A CDMA systems.
The CSM5000 chip exceeds the International Telecommunications Union's (ITU?s)
144 kb/s mobile data rate requirement for 3G systems by supporting 307.2 kb/s
on both the forward and reverse links. In addition, the CSM5000 integrates up to
32 simultaneous users, which is a four-fold increase over the previous generation
CSM.
Using this chip, Lucent says it can develop a radio card that users can install in
their base stations to establish 3G services. By doing this, Lucent Spokesperson
Sam Gronner says engineers can preserve almost all of their RF elements when
moving from 2G to 3G. Gronner says this reduces the cost and eases the
deployment of cdma2000 services.
An interesting venture
One of the interesting things about today?s release lies in the fact that Qualcomm
and Lucent are working together. Over the past two years, both companies have
fought against each other for market position in the CDMA base station market.
Now, however, Qualcomm has sold off its infrastructure business and established
a new link with Lucent for its ASIC products.
By selling off its base station division, Luis Pineda, director of product
management for Qualcomm, says there have been friendlier relationships with
Lucent?s CDMA base station developers. Therefore, the companies can now
jointly work on CDMA developments without the worry of competing against each
other.
Qualcomm and Lucent anticipate to field trial the combined engineering solution
during the first half of 2000 using Lucent's Flexent base stations and trial handset
terminals developed by Qualcomm. By highlighting the improved transmission
rates, the companies hope the trials will help accelerate the commercialization of
wireless enhanced voice, high-speed data, video-on-demand, interactive e-mail,
and remote monitoring services to consumers around the world.
Edited by Robert Keenan |
