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LSI Logic attacks TI and Qualcomm in 3G wireless chip market
Semiconductor Business News
(03/22/01 09:33 a.m. PST)
MILPITAS, Calif. -- In a bold move to attack Qualcomm Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc. in the wireless-IC market, LSI Logic Corp. has announced a new chip set for handsets based on third-generation (3G) technology.
LSI Logic's chip set, called the CBP4.0, is a single-chip, baseband processor that supports a 3G-based standard called cdma2000-A 1xRTT. This standard is based on a protocol called code-division multiple access (CDMA).
Backed by Qualcomm and others, cdma2000 is one of two standards vying for dominance in the chaotic and confusing 3G market. The other 3G standard is called wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA).
For now, LSI Logic is backing cdma2000. "We see the [CBP4.0] CDMA processor as the platform for voice and data communications for next-generation cellular handsets, as well as consumer hand-held and infotainment devices, such as cellular phones with e-mail and Internet access capabilities," Kevin McDermott, director of marketing for LSI Logic's Wireless division.
The products also represents LSI Logic's ongoing thrust in the CDMA chip market. Over the last three years, the company has developed and sold chip sets for use in second-generation (2G), CDMA-based handsets.
Qualcomm still dominates this 2G-based chip market, however. The San Diego-based company holds some 90% of the 2G-based CDMA chip set business, analysts said.
But the 3G-based chip set market is still wide open. Initially, the 3G market, including cdma2000 and W-CDMA, is expected to be deployed in Japan and Korea in late-2001 or early-2002. It is unclear when Europe, the United States, or other regions will deploy 3G.
On the baseband chip front, TI and Qualcomm seem to have the early lead in 3G. In recent months, TI rolled out its chip platform for 2G- and 3G-based handsets.
Recently, Qualcomm rolled out a line of chip sets for cdma2000-enabled handsets. At this week's CTIA Wireless 2001 conference in Las Vegas, Qualcomm described more details about those chips. And, the company also recently announced some chips for W-CDMA-enabled handsets.
Hoping to throw its hat in the ring, LSI Logic will compete in the cdma2000 space with the CBP4.0, a chip that also supports IS-95B and AMPS. Based on a 0.18-micron process technology, the chip incorporates several components on the same device, including ARM Ltd.'s ARM7TDMI line of RISC processor cores and DSP Group Inc.'s OakDSPCore engine.
LSI Logic's chip enables wireless data at speeds up to 153-kilobits-per-second. It also doubles the standby time of previous-generation products. Housed in 280-pin CSP package, the chip set will begin sampling in the second quarter of 2001.
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