Monday January 3, 7:00 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Lucent Technologies Microelectronics Group
CellPort Selects Lucent Technologies' New
Hands-Free Cellular Phone Chip Targeting Automobiles
and Telematics Markets
Chip Ends Need for Drivers to Look at Cell Phone and Dial While Driving
LAS VEGAS, Jan. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU - news)
Microelectronics Group, the world leader in communications semiconductors, today announced
a chip set for hands-free cellular phone products that helps eliminate the need for manually
dialing cellular phone numbers while driving. The chip set also enables drivers using cellular
phones to be heard more clearly without the need to speak loudly into their phones, and frees
them to turn up the volume on their cell phones to hear more clearly. The announcement is being
made during this week's Consumer Electronics Show here.
Boulder, Colorado-based CellPort Systems will use Lucent's digital signal processor
(DSP)-based chip set in the company's universal hands-free system, scheduled to be introduced
by CellPort in the first quarter. The Telematics Communications Group of Motorola will use the
chip set in its hands-free phone systems slated for use in Motorola's embedded telematics
systems, which they expect to be available by 2001.
``Lucent's high-powered DSP definitely does a much better job of suppressing the multitude of
in-cabin automobile background noises, such as wind, passenger movement, and echo, than the
several other DSP chips we tested,' said Doug Daniels, vice president, marketing and sales,
CellPort Systems. ``The Lucent solution helps the driver using a hands-free cellular phone talk in
a more normal voice without needing to speak unnaturally, as is typical with other systems
available today.
``Most people limit their cell phone sound volumes to avoid echoes,' added Daniels. ``Lucent's
echo cancellation also allows drivers to listen to the far side speaker at high volume levels
without annoying howling or echoes.'
Targeted for use in the range of hands-free markets, including automotive telematics, embedded
cell phone hands-free kits, and completely portable hands-free kits, Lucent's DSP operates at
100 million instructions per second. On a single DSP chip, Lucent can simultaneously enable
voice recognition; hands-free, full-duplex speakerphone functions including adaptive acoustic
echo cancellation, line echo cancellation, and noise suppression; simultaneous voice and data;
and voice memo recording functions. Because of its DSP horsepower, Lucent reduces the chips
typically required for such functions from three to one, thereby reducing overall circuit board
and component costs for its customers. ``We know of no other company that can offer as many
simultaneous hands-free cellular phone functions on one DSP,' said Daniels.
The Advanced Communications Technology Center of Bell Labs developed several key
software algorithms for the Lucent DSP offering. The algorithms were fine-tuned for the
hands-free application, tapping Bell Labs' extensive experience in speech, audio, and other
communications technologies.
Lucent's entry into this automotive market draws on capabilities from other areas of the
company's communications integrated circuits business, such as wireless, access, and computing
systems.
``This new market pursuit shows yet again how focused we are on communications
semiconductor applications, where we are the world leader,' said Rob Franzo, director of the
Automotive Products Group within Lucent's Microelectronics Group. ``As communications
technology and automotive electronics converge, Lucent will be positioned to provide solutions
to the automotive market.'
There is worldwide momentum driving the hands-free cellular phone market. Twenty countries,
including England, Australia and Brazil, currently have laws requiring use of hands-free cellular
phones in automobiles; Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, and 11 other U.S. states have
introduced legislation to implement hands-free cellular phone laws. Brooklyn, Ohio has already
passed a local hands-free law.
Approximately 45% of wireless subscribers in 1999 purchased or planned to purchase
hands-free kits, which equals close to 13 million units in the United States alone, according to
the Yankee Group 1999 Mobile User Survey. ``Hands-free is quickly becoming the most popular
wireless phone accessory, eclipsed today only by carrying cases and extra batteries,' said
Phillip Redman, associate director of wireless/mobile communications. ``As more data-oriented
applications emerge augmented by more accurate speech recognition systems on wireless
networks, using phones hands-free will become critical and provide subscribers a greater ease
of use and added safety.'
Hands-free functions are used more often in wireless phones than any other features, including
message waiting indicator, last number redial, and spell dial, according to a 1998 Yankee Group
study of approximately 1,000 wireless phone users.
Lucent's offering consists of the DSP1627 and DSP1629, both of which operate at 100 MIPS and
2.7 volts. The DSP1627 has 32 kilowords of Read Only Memory (ROM) and 6 kilowords of
Random Access Memory (RAM). The DSP1629 has 48 kilowords of ROM and 16 kilowords of
RAM on chip. A complementary part of the offering is Lucent's CSP1027 coder/decoder (codec)
chip.
Lucent's complete chip set solutions, based on both the DSP1627 and DSP1629, are now
available in sample quantities, and in high volumes in the first quarter of 2000. The
DSP1629-based chip set is priced under $17 in quantities of 100,000, with a feature rich
complement of software functionality and two linear codecs.
Both chips can be used in the various global wireless standards including Global System for
Mobile (GSM) Communications, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division
Multiple Access, and Advanced Mobile Phone System.
Neil |
