TI signs deal with Qualcomm, reportedly enters CDMA chip market
By Diane Trommer and Mark LaPedus
Semiconductor Business News
(12/04/00 13:42 p.m. PST)
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DALLAS -- In a major move into the code-division multiple access (CDMA) chip set market, Texas Instruments Inc. here today entered into a worldwide cross-licensing agreement with Qualcomm Inc. of San Diego.
Under the terms, Qualcomm will license its CDMA chip set technology to TI, according to a spokeswoman from Qualcomm. Dallas, Tex.-based TI, the world's largest supplier of baseband controllers for wireless handsets, will reportedly use the technology to enter the emerging CDMA chip set market.
The licensing deal covers all current patents within the companies' portfolios. This includes TI's digital signal processor (DSP) and analog chip patents, as well as Qualcomm's CDMA patents. The agreement also covers all future patents filed by each company prior to the end of 2005.
The agreement will allow the two companies to broaden the range of integrated circuits offered in the market, including those for all wireless standards.
Additional terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
The deal propels TI into the CDMA chip set business--a significant step in the development of this booming digital-cellular technology. It could provide OEMs with more choices of CDMA chip sets in the market, thereby reducing overall handset development costs.
Until now, TI sells DSPs for baseband controller applications in cell phones based on two of the three major digital-cellular standards: global system for mobile communications (GSM) and time-division multiple access (TDMA). The company has yet to field a chip for CDMA, however.
Recently, though, TI took a step in the CDMA chip market by acquiring Dot Wireless Inc., a San Diego-based developer of intellectual-property (IP). Dot Wireless specializes in CDMA chip technology, including second- and third-generation protocols.
When TI enters the CDMA chip set market, the company could help propel this business. So far, only two companies sell chip sets for CDMA applications: Qualcomm and LSI Logic Corp.
In addition to LSI Logic, Qualcomm has also licensed its CDMA chip set technology to three other suppliers, including Intel Corp., Philips Semiconductors, and PrairieComm Inc.
However, Intel scrapped its CDMA chip set efforts earlier this year, while Philips and PrairieComm are still trying to get their respective products out the door.
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