China drafts road map for CDMA
push
By Sunray Liu
EE Times
(06/29/00, 2:53 p.m. EST)
SHANGHAI ? China's road map for a market push into next-generation
wireless equipment came into focus during the China International
Telecommunications Exhibition as local equipment makers showed
code-division multiple-access (CDMA) systems and handsets.
The gear, including some commercial products, reflects several years of
intense development and heavy investment in CDMA and third-generation
(3G) wireless that could position China's top manufacturers as key market
players, despite persistent uncertainties about standards, experts at the
exhibition here said.
The event was sponsored by China United Communication Corp. (Unicom);
China PTIC Information Industry Corp. and Datang Telecom Technology
and Industry Group, both based in Beijing; Huawei Technologies Inc. and
ZTE Corp., both in Shenzhen; Jinpeng Group Co. Ltd. (Guangzhou); and
Shanghai Bell Co. Ltd. Overseas competitors also displayed CDMA systems
and terminals.
Beijing has designated Unicom, China's second-largest communications
carrier, as China's sole carrier of CDMA wireless services. The state-run
company, which recently became listed on the New York Stock Exchange
and on the Hong Kong exchange, expects to attract 40 million subscribers
over the next three years.
Encouraged by Unicom's ambitious CDMA road map, local manufacturers
have invested several hundred million dollars in CDMA research and
development. For instance, CDMA pioneer ZTE demonstrated China's first
commercial CDMA system, which includes a mobile basestation, a mobile
switch and handsets based on the IS95A/B and cdma2000 1x standards.
ZTE has committed more than 500 engineers to its CDMA and
third-generation (3G) wireless development efforts, including 300 alone
working on basestation development. Building on its existing basestation
development, ZTE has generated algorithms in such areas as fast-power
control, selector functions and software switching.
Daxiong Xie, general manager of ZTE's CDMA Cellular System Product
division, said the company is keeping pace with overseas competitors. ZTE
signed an agreement in October with CDMA developer Qualcomm Inc. (San
Diego) to cooperate on R&D projects.
Close cooperation between ZTE and Qualcomm also paved
the way for an intellectual property agreement between
Unicom and Qualcomm, as well as subsequent R&D
agreements between Qualcomm and eight other Chinese
OEMs.
ZTE said it launched its CDMA system and received a
certificate for it from China's powerful Ministry of
Information Industry (MII) in April. The system taps a
high-speed packet network platform to provide multimedia
data services, and it can provide cdma2000 1x service
through a software upgrade. The upgrade would further
allow the system to evolve to higher-capacity, cdma2000
3x services.
To obtain other key technologies for CDMA, ZTE joined such Chinese 3G
R&D projects as the 863 Project, the China Wireless Telecom Standard
group and the China 3G Intellectual Property Right Alliance, along with
international organizations such as 3GPP2. It established a research facility
in South Korea focusing on CDMA handsets as well as a systems
development company in San Diego, near Qualcomm.
"We have over 20 experienced engineers in South Korea who have helped
us develop our first CDMA handset," Xie said. He said the company's U.S.
research facility has joined the Telecommunications Industry Association
(Arlington, Va.), an industry standards group. "That's why Chinese
manufacturers have achieved so many breakthroughs in [such] a short
period," Xie said.
Broad development
Other local manufacturers have completed CDMA system development.
Huawei, the largest telecommunications equipment supplier in China,
recently announced that its M800 CDMA core network had passed a
comprehensive MII test. The system could be ready for commercial use in
several months.
PTIC is a state-run industrial group with revenue from its subsidiaries and
joint ventures approaching $4 billion. Its regional subsidiaries, PTIC Capitel
Group (Beijing) and Eastern Communications Co. Ltd. (Hangzhou),
respectively rolled a CDMA basestation system and a switching system at
the exhibition.
China's market potential and the progress of Chinese manufacturers have
attracted many foreign manufacturers seeking to form strategic
partnerships with local companies. Jinpeng Group, a top local manufacturer
founded by several local research institutes and companies, is focusing on
mobile switch systems. It launched a GSM/CDMA mobile switch system
that has gained Jinpeng market share and the attention of key foreign
players. Jinpeng and Motorola Inc. are working jointly on switching systems
and basestations.
Datang, a public company spun off from the China Academy of
Telecommunications Technology, began research and development for
China's 3G standard based on its synchronous CDMA access technology in
1998. The International Telecommunication Union (Geneva, Switzerland)
certified Datang's time-division synchronous CDMA system as one of three
3G standards.
TD-SCDMA is designed to aid in the migration from GSM to 3G. Several
global telecom companies have adopted the technology. Siemens AG
announced its support for the standard and is working with Datang and
other Chinese R&D partners.
An industry source said Datang is expected to launch trials of the format
soon and to introduce TD-SCDMA cellular phones by the end of the year.
Aside from its TD-SCDMA work, Datang has announced IS-95-based CDMA
products, including a CDMA mobile switch and handset. The company said
it manufactured all chips for the systems.
Analysts here said CDMA technology offers a unique opportunity for
emerging Chinese telecom manufacturers. Some observers said China could
eventually establish one of the largest CDMA industries in the world, if the
government and carriers such as Unicom offer sufficient incentives for
growth over the next few years.
Despite promised trials of CDMA 1x systems next year, followed by planned
deployments of the technology, some uncertainties persist as the industry
awaits a government decision on the pace of deployment. Most of the
leading manufacturers at the exhibition displayed General Packet Radio
Systems, for upgrading current GSM networks, as well as wideband CDMA
systems.
Some experts here have proposed that the government divide the
potentially huge Chinese market into as many as three sectors, covering
cdma2000, W-CDMA and the country's homegrown TD-SCDMA
technologies. |
