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To: MileHigh who wrote (1647)	9/18/1999 12:23:00 AM
From: John Inine	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 13582

I'm not a chip design engineer, but here is my 2cents. I think it may happen someday, but right now the functions of a full fledged Pentium class CPU and CDMA ASIC are sufficiently different that it makes sense to keep them separate. Because: (IMHO) Right now the architecture of these devices is uncertain. Usually this high level of integration happens when the product is more mature. The chip size would be pretty big, high cost. It would probably be a major IPR headache. Lots of software issues, who's instruction set runs what, are there conflicts. I think we'll see more computing power added to the CDMA ASIC before we see the CDMA functions move to the CPU. I hope this helps, and your question is not dumb.

To: MileHigh who wrote (1647)	9/18/1999 9:15:00 AM
From: jackmore	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13582

Mile High, Re: ...there might be a move to integrate the CDMA ASIC technology onto a WIA chip. Is this physically possible? Does it make sense? I am no chip designer, but have had a similar question on my mind for some time. Found some info on LSI Logic website a few weeks ago that may pertain, but not being too tech savvy I don't know for sure. It describes, in general terms, LSI's approach to 3G wireless chip design (system-on-a-chip). What caught my eye initially was the listing of Rambus as a "core building block" (since I am long Rambus in addition to Q). But this info may be pertinent to your question as well. Note LSI is both a Q and a Rambus licensee. lsilogic.com I am not qualified to interpret all the info that's here, but would be interested in insights from anyone on the thread who could shed light on: 1. What possible memory requirements might be for 3G data applications. 2. Any known interactions between Q and Rambus re chip design or any other collaborations. 3. Whether Q is approaching 3G chip design in a similarly integrated way. Any info/comments would be greatly appreciated. Regards, jack

To: MileHigh who wrote (1647)	9/18/1999 9:29:00 AM
From: Clarksterh	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13582

MileHigh - there might be a move to integrate the CDMA ASIC technology onto a WIA chip. Is this physically possible? Does it make sense? Technology: First, I know only a little about chip technology, but the core silicon technology behind a CDMA baseband processor and the core silicon technology behind a microprocessor are almost identical - if not exactly identical. Thus putting both on the same chip shouldn't be a silicon technology problem. The bigger issue is separation of function. You do not want your MP bringing down your CDMA network because the operating system crashed. Cost Effectiveness: CDMA chipsets are very powerful 'computers' in their own right. There would be a non-trivial cost for putting them on a microprocessor, and thus there has to be a pretty big market for wireless data before I think that it would happen. Clark PS Note that not all ship technology is compatible. The silicon processes required for RF processing (vs baseband processing) are very different, so thus it is a neater trick when companies manage to combine the two on one chip. Just FYI.