Ericsson Radio Systems said it has transmitted data at a rate of 144 kilobits per second on 5 megahertz of channel bandwidth, using Code Division Multiple Access technology, in a Swedish test lab.
“We don’t think this needs to be designed for voice,” said Dr. Jan Uddenfeldt, vice president of research and development for Stockholm-based L.M. Ericsson.
Ericsson is one of the few wireless equipment manufacturers that has shied away from producing infrastructure equipment for CDMA technology. The company’s president, Lars Ramqvist, said Ericsson doesn’t feel it can promise buyers the new technology can perform, although Ericsson recognizes the potential of CDMA.
“But with wideband CDMA, we have patent applications for video and we are in the lead,” Ramqvist said.
Ericsson’s test lab in Kista, Sweden, is exploring mobile video applications. For instance, a camera is placed in a moving van and another is positioned in the lab. People in the van and people in the lab can watch each other with only a slight delay.
Pennsylvania-based InterDigital Communications Corp. also is creating a product using wideband CDMA technology. InterDigital said it has a trademark on the term Broadband CDMA, or B-CDMA. It has licensed and is working with Siemens AG and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. on applications using 7 to 15 megahertz of channel bandwidth.
InterDigital’s first B-CDMA product, TrueLink, is expected to be a wireless local loop offering that will manage voice, fax and data at 28.8 kbps, as well as private branch exchange, leased line and pay phone services. TrueLink is scheduled for beta testing in 1997 with commercial availability later that year.
Finland-based Nokia Corp. also has demonstrated video applications using Global System for Mobile communications technology. Ericsson said it is testing wideband GSM for data and has demonstrated a speed of 64 kbps.
