DBDM WCDMA/CDMA2000 Chipsets (Update)
[Reverse Chronology]
This January 26, 2004 competitive alert from Portelligent statuses Samsung's, LGE's and EoNex's DBDM development:
>> One Chip DBDM Handset to be Commercialized in 2004
portelligent.com
Development of a WCDMA chip which achieves dual band and dual mode with one chip is near completion and a single chip DBDM (dual band dual mode) handset is scheduled to hit the market in the second half 2004 according to inews24, a Korean web-based technology news site. ... An SK Telecom representative commented that only Samsung Electronics has a single chip which enables DBDM at this point. "If testing of the chip begins in January 2004 after completion of the development, handsets containing the chip will be available in July 2004." The same representative said that Qualcomm has not revealed its DBDM chip development schedule, thus there have not been discussions concerning single chips with Qualcomm. LG Electronics revealed that it is conducting tests on EoNex's single chip. LG says handsets containing the chip will be available in the second half 2004. As Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are both going to start tests on their single chips, it is most likely that handsets with single chip DBDM will be achieved in the second half 2004, says an industry expert. [M. Robertson, Portelligent] <<
March 2003
This presentation linked from KISDI (slide 18) from March 2003 deals with IMT-2000 3G service delay and the mandated DBDM single chip (as opposed to tri-chip, and dual-chip already commercially delivered but unsatisfactory) and has a line item stating "Qualcomm: excluded the MSM6600" and next line item has Samsung producing at end of year (2003 presumably) and needing 6 months to stabilize.
apectel27.org.my
Background
In 2000, SKT, KTF, and LGT, all selected WCDMA for their IMT-2000 2.1 GHz technology choice. Subsequently the Korean Ministry mandated that at least one carrier choose CDMA2000 and the poor loser or lucky winner or odd man in or out depending on your perspective was LGT. More or less concurrently the Ministry mandated that if SKT and KTF were going to implement WCDMA in IMT-2000 it would have to be interoperable with CDMA-2000 in cellular (SKT) or PCS (KTF) spectrum. and would require a DBDM handset.
Im March 2001 Qualcomm announced a DBDM chipset (the MSM6600) and subsequently decided not to bring it to market, at least near term. As a consequence EoNex, LGE, and Samsung all initiated their own DBDM development.
The Dearly Departed Qualcomm MSM6600
>> QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies Announces 3G Multimode Solutions for Highly Integrated Global Roaming Handsets
MSM6500 and MSM6600 Single-Chip Devices Support Third-Generation and Second-Generation Air Interfaces, Including IS-95, cdma2000 1x/1xEV, WCDMA and GSM/GPRS
Las Vegas
March 20, 2001
qualcomm.com
QUALCOMM Incorporated ... today announced the MSM6500™ and MSM6600™ Mobile Station Modem (MSM™) integrated circuit and system software solutions to support third-generation (3G) wireless technology. ... The MSM6600 solution supports cdma2000 1x, Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and GSM/GPRS, enabling true second-generation (2G) and 3G global roaming.
<snip>
Sampling of the MSM6500 and MSM6600 solutions is expected in 2003. <<
RIP <g>
- Eric - |
