Ramsey, I was just about to answer your 3g wideband wireless speed transmission data capacity throughput applicability inquiry when that darned Gregg P. swept down and cut off my water. My response would have been more technically elegant, and certainly more detailed at the micro-circuit level, but if you can live with what was essentially a layman's interpretation, I suspect we should just move on. Techno-geeks can e-mail me privately for the full poop[TM].
On the real cutting edge, I note that IBM is going in to volume production of Silicon Germanium gizmoes which are supposed to be just the cat's pajamas for wireless applications. Big Blue says that these little guys are smaller, lighter, faster, cooler (as in temperature), and will permit carriers to customize the handsets containing them with a whole bunch of neat tricks and doo-dads. Next step is to shrink all the gizzards on to one single slice of silicon and, voila, you got your Dick Tracy wrist-watch/phone.
Now, while I have taken certain liberties in the paraphrasing area from the IBM press release, the meat of the coconut is as described. It being summer vacation and all, most of my fellow M.I.T. colleagues have taken off and the Silicon Germanium expert in residence is among the missing. So, what means this? Will everybody buy Blue's ASICs and not the Mighty Q's? As long as we get royalites do we care? Can the Q grab an armfull of that SiGe stuff and stick it in their chips? Remember that my doctoral work was in the Mathematics of Discontinuous Functions, and I wouldn't know a Germanium from a geranium. It would seem, however, that with Blue sniffing in our turf, the drawbridge should be raised and the gates manned. What's the scam what am? Surfer Mike |
