Prarie.com announces GSM/CDMA chipset.
3/17/00 - PrairieComm's chipsets aimed at muiltimode
Mar. 17, 2000 (Electronic Buyers News - CMP via COMTEX) -- Silicon Valley- Expanding its portfolio of
cellular-phone ICs, PrairieComm Inc. recently announced a line of chipsets, including a multimode product
that supports two digital standards, CDMA and GSM, on the same device.
PrairieComm has also jumped into the third-generation wireless-IC market with a chipset supporting the
cdma2000 standard, one of two protocols vying for dominance in 3G wireless networks.
Announced at the recent CTIA Wireless 2000 trade show in New Orleans, the chipsets will enable a new
class of wireless handsets, according to John Diehl, president and chief executive of PrairieComm,
Rolling Meadows, Ill. The six-year-old company was founded by former employees of Cadence Design
Systems Inc. and Motorola Inc.
Until now, the company has focused primarily on producing chipsets for the TDMA digital-cellular
standard. PrairieComm has sold more than 1 million TDMA-based chipsets to such companies as
Mitsubishi and Panasonic, according to company executives.
Now, however, PrairieComm is turning its attention to multimode chipsets. Last year, the company
announced what it said was the world's first chipset to support GSM and TDMA on the same device.
PrairieComm's new CDMA/GSM chipset advances the company's strategy. "The business model is
rapidly changing," Diehl said. "In the future, handsets will not support a single standard. We believe the
market is moving toward multimode handsets."
The CDMA/GSM chipset supports several functions, such as Bluetooth and global positioning system
technology. The company has not yet disclosed shipment or price information for this dual-mode product.
PrairieComm will continue to produce single-mode chipsets, according to Diehl, including the recently
announced cdma2000-based device for 3G handsets.
The chipset complies with the 1x Multi-Carrier specification and is backward-compatible with CDMA
standards such as IS-95A and IS-95B.
Supporting wireless data rates at speeds up to 153 Kbits/s, the chipset, which is not yet priced, will begin
sampling in the second quarter, according to the company.
JohnG |
