November 15, 1996
A CDMA BELIEVER
As a developer of CDMA technology and products, we would like to lend some perspective to "Broadening CDMA's Pipe" (Emerging Technologies, Sept. 15). We agree with Irwin Jacobs of Qualcomm that CDMA technology will need to operate in a broader bandwidth to offer advanced services and higher data rates. In fact, InterDigital has been developing broadband code division multiple access (B-CDMA) technology for the past 10 years. [10 years from 1996 is 1986, 3 years before Qualcomm was incorporated, and right around the same time that IDC was already trying to commercialize the Ultraphone (TDMA fixed wireless.]
Like Qualcomm, InterDigital believes that CDMA technology is the logical choice to support next-generation person communications services. Definitions of PCS vary, and we [believe] that, in the U.S., initial PCS products will offer nothing more than digital cellular service. InterDigital defines "true PCS" as the ability to provide bandwidth on demand or as requested by individual users, [and] access to a broad range of services, from wireline quality voice to integrated services digital network, multimedia and video.
To deliver true PCS, our engineers have achieved significant breakthroughs in the development of B-CDMA technology. There are many differences between Qualcomm's narrowband CDMA and our proprietary B-CDMA....
For example, we have developed an effective, highly stable, power control scheme--critical in any CDMA system--that is distinct from Qualcomm's....
We have circumvented many of the difficulties associated with low-rate voice coding and the need for "soft handoffs......"
We employ selected standard techniques for voice coding, allowing toll-quality speech transmission.
Moreover, we do not rely on simultaneous connectivity between a subscriber terminal and multiple base stations for diversity protection. Diversity is needed primarily to mitigate the effects of radio signal fading that impairs transmission of narrowband signals. Because of its broadband nature, B-CDMA technology signals do not fade.
Jacobs is not alone in the world of CDMA innovation. This creates an extremely competitive environment which will ultimately center around our proprietary B-CDMA technology.
William A. Doyle, President, InterDigital
Fast forward to today, close to a year after Nokia and IDC started working on fixed and wireless 3g WCDMA.
January 24, 2000
INTERDIGITAL CHARTS TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT COURSE FOR YEAR 2000; Patented Inventions and Innovations Position InterDigital As Value Added Partner as New Wireless Technologies and Products are Introduced
King of Prussia, PA, January 24, 2000 . . . InterDigital Communications Corporation (ASE: IDC) provided insight today into its near and long term technology development objectives and its patented technologies that are or will be essential or commercially important to advanced wireless systems today and in the future. InterDigital has a deep heritage in developing Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technologies.
"For the Year 2000, InterDigital intends to increase its commitment to the development of Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA) technologies, encompassing Time Division Duplex (TDD) and Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) specifications, for third generation applications and to expand its portfolio of patented inventions. These objectives support InterDigital's overarching business goal - to create long term growth through active participation in worldwide third generation markets," stated Harry Campagna, Chairman.
InterDigital is developing leading edge W-CDMA technology that will facilitate an evolution from today's GSM-based operating systems which dominate throughout most of the world. W-CDMA technology will enable mobile devices to deliver high data rate services, such as high speed Internet access and multimedia communications, on the move, and will allow operators to achieve higher subscriber capacity. InterDigital is driving its W-CDMA development work to meet critical market windows for third generation products in the coming years. To do so, InterDigital has dedicated its entire engineering staff to W-CDMA development projects and is actively hiring additional engineers to further strengthen its project teams.
"We are well positioned financially, and have a strong team in place for our W-CDMA development work. We will be adding to our staff throughout the year to expand resources and enhance our ability to drive our objectives. InterDigital's first priority is to meet customer commitments, and we will allocate all the resources needed to accomplish that," said Howard Goldberg, Interim President.
"Our second priority is to build our base of strategic relationships in order to enhance our position as a technology developer and to generate growth," continued Mr. Goldberg. "Among the more important potential relationships is one with a strong semiconductor company, to work with us in bringing a standards compliant 3G system-on-a-chip to market. We are well underway in our design work with our experienced team, building from a strong technology base that provides us with an important advantage. A semiconductor partner will bring complementary technologies, production capability and market access, allowing us to focus on our strengths - core technology development and systems design, which are becoming more and more important as ASICs contain higher levels of functionality," he said. "We have received strong interest from the semiconductor industry in this type of partnering and are excited about opportunities to build relationships that will further position InterDigital as an important technology content provider and create substantial long term value."
InterDigital's role as a technology developer is rooted in its heritage of inventions for the wireless telecommunications industry. "In the 1980s, InterDigital developed technology that is essential to TDMA-based products in use today," explained Mr. Goldberg. "Through our work in the laboratory, and then our extensive efforts in deploying TDMA systems in the field, we amassed a portfolio of know-how and patented technologies that made us a leader in TDMA applications."
InterDigital's core TDMA inventions include (among others):
The fundamental architecture of commercial TD/FDMA systems
Methods of synchronizing the operation of TD/FDMA systems
A unique approach to managing system capacity and maintaining agility through the reassignment of online subscriber units to different time slots and/or frequencies in response to system conditions
The design of a multi-component base station where the intelligence is distributed allowing for more robust performance
Initialization procedures that enable roaming
"Those patented inventions have helped make TDMA technology and products available to consumers around the world, dramatically accelerating the introduction of mobile digital wireless communication to millions of people," said Mr. Goldberg.
The same heritage of invention and innovation is reflected in InterDigital's development of CDMA technologies in the 1990s. "When we began our Wideband CDMA technology development effort in the early 1990s, we adopted the same development philosophy that we had in our TDMA work. We wanted to develop leading-edge, robust technology which would help change the wireless marketplace," Mr. Goldberg explained. "We are delivering. InterDigital and its strategic partners were among the first to deploy a Wideband CDMA system (a B-CDMA? system) in field trials, and the technology worked well.
"Long before the 3G standards were established, we were developing enabling technology for the very services the new standard is designed to support. Through our development efforts over many years, and our work within and contributions to the 3G standards bodies, we now have numerous inventions on which we hold patents (or have applied for patents) which are either essential or commercially important for third generation products built to present standards specifications," he said.
InterDigital's key CDMA inventions include (among others):
The use of a common pilot channel to synchronize subchannels in a multiple access environment.
Various techniques for bandwidth allocation, including multi-channel and multi-code mechanisms.
Highly efficient schemes for controlling the transmission power output of terminal and base station devices vital in a CDMA system.
Communication system overlay techniques, which allow new wireless systems to be deployed with existing wireless technologies without frequency reallocation.
Joint detection and interference cancellation for reducing multiple access interference in a physical receiver.
Enhancements to soft handover techniques between designated cells.
Various subchannel access and coding techniques.
During 2000, InterDigital's continuing research and development is expected to provide results that will add to that list of inventions. "We are working to refine our core technologies to make them as valuable as possible for the producers and consumers of wireless devices and the operators who provide advanced services around the world," said Mr. Goldberg.
Mr. Goldberg noted that "Our patented inventions have a significance that is much broader than the patents themselves. Inventions of this type flow from underlying technical competencies and from the creativity of our engineering team. To position InterDigital to grow through cooperative relationships, we are offering the skills and innovative thinking of our people to customers and partners. We do so to contribute to the industry and to help the third generation marketplace grow. We believe we can help accelerate early implementation of 3G products in order to contribute to the success of equipment producers, consumers, operators and ultimately InterDigital."
"The world is on the verge of a revolution in wireless products and we are excited about the benefits the next generation of products will bring to consumers. In the next several years, people will be offered a wide range of wireless devices which will give them the ability to communicate around the world and to gain access to new services utilizing large amounts of data from their homes, offices and while traveling. New wireless technologies, embedded in mobile phones, personal digital assistants, laptop computers, and other devices, will dramatically improve the speed, flexibility and global reach of personal and business communications. That is a thrilling view of the future and we are excited to be a contributor to it," Mr. Goldberg concluded.
InterDigital holds approximately 800 patents or patents pending around the world for its wireless inventions, including approximately 270 patents or patents pending for CDMA technologies. The portfolio of wireless telecommunications inventions being developed by InterDigital is growing steadily. During 1999, the Company received 37 new patents, 22 in the United States (the majority of which were for CDMA inventions) and applied for more than 50 new patents worldwide.
Today, more than 20 companies are InterDigital licensees, including prominent telecommunications leaders such as Nokia, Sharp, NEC, Hughes, Toshiba and Robert Bosch. The focus of those licensing agreements is on TDMA wireless mobile products, including those manufactured under the GSM standard. InterDigital is actively working with various companies with regard to CDMA patented technologies and expects that its CDMA portfolio will contribute significantly to the Company's future growth. For more information, please visit InterDigital's website: www.interdigital.com.
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