Here is a chip announcement that applies to Qualcomm....It was posted on the other thread but I was hoping to get some analysis here.
DSCP-Chips>
9/17/99 - DSPC to offer cdma2000 chipset -- Korea to be first to deploy new technology, with U.S. not far behind
Sep. 17, 1999 (Electronic Buyers News - CMP via COMTEX) -- Silicon Valley- Looking to address an emerging segment in the
fragmented cellular-phone market, DSP Communications Inc. this week will announce a chipset for third-generation (3G) handsets.
Called the D5441/D6011, DSPC"s new chipset is designed for handsets based on the cdma2000 standard, one of three digital-cellular
protocols vying for dominance in the 3G market.
The chipset enables OEM customers to get an early jump in developing their cdma2000-enabled products, according to Arnon Kohavi,
senior vice president of strategic relations at DSPC, Cupertino, Calif.
"We believe that the cdma2000 standard could get deployed by late 2000 or early 2001," Kohavi said. "Korea will be the first nation that
deploys this technology. In the United States, Sprint and Bell Atlantic have also indicated that they will deploy cdma2000 by that time
or so."
Other worldwide carriers are moving toward 3G, which is expected to unify the current digital-cellular standards-CDMA, GSM, and
TDMA-under one technology umbrella.
To date, however, 3G is split into three competing and basically incompatible camps: wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA), cdma2000, and
UWC-136. Qualcomm is leading the charge for cdma2000, while Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, NTT, and several others are pushing
W-CDMA. The UWC-136 standard is an upgraded version of TDMA.
Despite the market fragmentation, global sales of 3G-enabled handsets are expected to grow from $1.5 billion in 2001 to $9.2 billion in
2005, according to Forward Concepts Co., Tempe, Ariz.
Consequently, DSPC and other wireless-chip makers are hedging their bets and developing products for all 3G segments. "We have no
choice but to back multiple standards," Kohavi said.
Last year, DSPC rolled out a chipset, the D5521, that supports W-CDMA. And this week, the company is addressing the cdma2000
market with its D5441/D6011, a single-chip device built around the ARM7TDMI family of 32-bit RISC chips from ARM Ltd.
The chipset integrates the so-called TeakDSPCore, a recently introduced digital signal processor core from DSP Group Inc., Santa
Clara, Calif. The core handles the handset"s modem and audio functions.
DSPC"s chipset supports data rates of up to 153 Kbits/s over a wireless network, and complies with the IS-95A and IS-95B standards.
The chipset will begin sampling in the first half of 2000, but price and other specifications have not been disclosed.
DSPC is not backing away from the current CDMA standard, cdmaOne. The company sells a line of chipsets for cdmaOne-based cell
phones, and this week it will roll out a reference design kit for handsets based on this standard. The kit includes everything required to
build a CDMA handset: the chipset, software, RF chips, and other components.
"Traditionally, it was enough if you offered a controller," Kohavi said. "Now, customers are coming to us and saying they want
everything from baseband processors to reference design kits."
DSPC also sells chipsets for the TDMA standard, but the company"s largest market is Japan, where it sells chipsets designed for that
country"s proprietary standard, Personal Digital Cellular.
PDC is not compatible with CDMA, TDMA, or GSM. Some Japanese carriers have recently deployed CDMA, and the country hopes by
2001 to be deploying W-CDMA as the standard technology.
DSPC has compiled a long list of PDC design wins with Japanese handset OEMs, including Fujitsu, Kenwood, Kokusai, Kyocera,
NEC, Panasonic, Sanyo, and Sharp. The company claims to have a 25% share of Japan"s PDC-based controller market.
The recent boom in Japan"s cell-phone market helped drive DSPC"s growth in 1998. Sales were up 61% from 1997, to $131 million,
and net income increased 55%, to $33 million. This year, the company"s sales will be 33% greater than in 1998, industry analysts
said. |
