Qualcomm Inc. announced its chipset for CDMA 1x EV-DO Revision A networks is now available for sampling. The news comes shortly after Qualcomm said it will suspend the development of its EV-DV chips due to industry interest in EV-DO Rev. A.
“Qualcomm is proud to deliver the next step in the migration of EV-DO technology,” said Sanjay Jha, president of the company’s CDMA Technologies business. “The on-time sampling of our MSM6800 chipset underscores Qualcomm’s commitment to the timely commercialization of 1xEV-DO Rev. A networks and services, enabling our OEM and operator partners to quickly respond to market demand for higher quality wireless multimedia.”
Qualcomm’s new EV-DO Rev. A MSM6800 chipset features a variety of high-powered features and functions. It supports peak data rates of up to 3.1 megabits per second on the forward link and up to 1.8 Mbps on the reverse link, as well as Quality of Service technology for IP-based services such as Voice over Internet Protocol. It also includes digital camera support for up to 4 megapixels, 30 frames per second on-demand video and 15 fps for camcorder functions, three-dimensional sound and MP3/AAC/aacPlus audio support, gpsOne position services and an integrated Bluetooth 1.2 baseband processor.
Interestingly, the chip also supports EV-DO Gold Multicast, which allows carriers to simultaneously offer high-quality video and audio to a large number of users. Qualcomm is developing its MediaFLO multicast technology for similar services, which would rely on a network separate from EV-DO technology.
