Paris — CDMA chip specialist Qualcomm is planning to integrate 802.11b wireless LAN capabilities in its next generation of chip sets for third generation mobile communications.
"We plan to have a device by next year that combines CDMA or W-CDMA and wireless LAN networking. Our approach is similar to the one we have taken with Bluetooth. Many of our parts include that already on chip, though it is up to the customer whether they actually use these networking capabilities", said Siegmund Redl, director of European marketing at Qualcomm CDMA Technologies.
"The cost of integrating these capabilities is not very significant -- a few extra gates on the chip set. We are also starting to incorporate GPS capabilities, though not for the UMTS version of the chip set yet", Redl added.
Redl was speaking at a demonstration of live UMTS organized in conjunction with Lucent Technologies at the infrastructure equipment maker's facility in Paris. The demo showed calls roaming from one mobile phone cell to another while maintaining a continuous voice/data connection.
The transmission speed was about 130kbit/s, significantly lower than the theoretical data rate of 384kbit/s but still good enough to play live video on a PC while moving through Paris traffic, and to make fast data calls over a live UMTS network. The companies say the next version of Qualcomms's chip set will achieve about 200kbit/s transmission.
Qualcomm has supplied its UMTS capable test handset to other infrastructure suppliers, though Redl could only name Nortel and Ericsson as carrying out similar tests with their commercial grade infrastructure equipment.
At the event, Bruce Dale, vice president of UMTS/W-CDMA product and offer realization, defended the company's success in securing contracts with European mobile carriers for its infrastructure. To date Spanish carrier Telefonica has specified Lucent gear for a trial of enterprise services in Madrid that is scheduled to start later this year, and KPNQwest will use Lucent gear in several of the European countries where it operates.
"Europe is a really tough battle at the moment, but we are satisfied with progress. We need to convince carriers and enterprises that they can make money from these high data rate mobile services.
And don't believe some of the other equipment suppliers when they claim 10 or 20 'contracts' for their UMTS infrastructure. In reality these are Memorandums of Understanding. There are very few real contracts out there where money has actually been exchanged," said Dale.
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