Qualcomm demos CDMA 1x at 153 kbits/s
TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 2000 11:42:00 PM EST
Aug. 29, 2000 (Electronic Engineering Times - CMP via COMTEX)
SAN JOSE, CALIF. - Qualcomm CDMA Technologies said it has successfully completed what it calls the world's first third-generation (3G) CDMA 1x multicarrier to support wireless data transmissions up to 153 kbits/second on both forward and reverse channels. The company has also announced sample shipments of its MSM3300 Mobile Station Modem chip set and software, which it calls the first CDMA chip set able to support multimedia.
Qualcomm also said it is shipping its IFR3300 IF-to-baseband receiver for global positioning systems.
To ensure compliance with IS-2000, the 3G CDMA chip set has been put through test transmissions, which have shown gains in voice capacity and coverage, data throughput and coverage, and talk and standby time. Additional tests in operational networks are currently in progress. Commercial 3G 1x service is expected to be deployed in Korea by the end of this year, and similar service is expected in the United States and Japan sometime in 2001.
The test transmissions were conducted between a CDMA wireless handset that used the company's MSM5000 Mobile Station Modem chip set and software, and a basestation using the company's CSM5000 cell site modem chip. A number of applications were demonstrated, including live two-way videoconferencing, simultaneous streaming video, chat, Web browsing and FTP operations. The videoconference demo was done under the toughest real-world conditions, Qualcomm said, between a stationary laptop and an in-vehicle laptop while the vehicle was in motion.
Faster than speeding modem
Both systems used Qualcomm's 3G CDMA 1x trial handsets to establish over-the-air packet data connections running at greater than 144 kbits/s in both directions simultaneously. As a benchmark, a measure was made of the time required to send a 1-Mbyte file. During an FTP data transfer transmission, the Qualcomm 3G 1x system transferred the file in 59 seconds, against an estimated 4.8 minutes for a 28.8-kbit/s land-line modem and 2.5 minutes for a 56-kbit/s land-line modem.
"These successful transmissions illustrate Qualcomm's complete, end-to-end 3G CDMA 1x solution," said Luis Pineda, vice president of product management for the Qualcomm CDMA unit. "The company is committed to providing handset and basestation manufacturers with the most advanced CDMA solutions that will continue to accelerate the rollout of 3G products."
Now ramping for production shipment, the MSM5000 is designed to give operators up to twice the overall capacity available over IS-95A and IS-95B systems by providing features such as fast 800-Hz forward power control and new modulation and coding schemes. Standby time will also be improved in MSM5000-based handsets through the use of a new Quick Paging Channel, Qualcomm said. The MSM5000 chip set and software are backward compatible with existing IS-95A and IS-95B networks, providing a seamless migration path to 3G, the company said. The MSM5000 system software will also include support for packet data and a full Internet Protocol suite.
The CSM5000 solution, which complies with IS 2000 1x, provides operators with up to twice the overall voice capacity of IS-95A and IS-95B systems. It exceeds the International Telecommunication Union's 144-kbit/s requirement for data rates in full wide-area mobility, enabling data rates of up to 307.2 kbits/s on both forward and reverse links.
The chip integrates an ARM microprocessor for reverse-link processing and provides a PowerPC-compatible synchronous interface. The architecture stresses flexibility by providing resource mapping of up to 64 forward-link channels and 32 reverse-link channels, while providing basestation manufacturers with a fourfold increase in the number of simultaneous calls per channel card.
Channel card power consumption per call is greatly reduced, enabling the design of compact basestations and picocells. The CSM5000 solution is now sampling, and is expected to ship in the fourth quarter.
Multimedia goes mobile
The sample shipment of the MSM3300 chip set and software is a further step toward the integration of advanced wireless Internet launchpad technologies. It includes position location, Bluetooth capability, MP3, MIDI and a mass-storage-device controller. Sample shipments began this month, with production quantities expected in the fourth quarter.
The IFR3300 IF-to-baseband receiver, meanwhile, enables the complete integration of a GPS-band radio without the need for additional external RF or IF devices. It too will be available in the fourth quarter.
The MSM3300 is at the center of a modem chip that also includes the RFT3100 analog-baseband-to-RF upconverter, the IFR3300 IF-to-baseband downconverter, RFR3100 RF-to-IF downconverter, PA3100 power amplifier and PM1000 power-management device.
The chip set and software incorporate the company's Wireless Internet Launchpad suite of technologies and software, including the gpsOne position-location solution featuring SnapTrack technology, Bluetooth connectivity capabilities, removable user identity module controller and multimedia features such as Qtunes MPEG-1 MP3 player software and Compact Media Extension MIDI-based multimedia software.
The MSM3300 is available in a 208-ball fine-pitch BGA, and is pin-compatible with the MSM3100. The IFR3300, offered in a 48-bump chip carrier, features low-pass filtering tailored for gpsOne capability.
eet.com
By: Patrick Mannion Copyright 2000 CMP Media Inc.
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