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MOTOROLA INVESTS IN SNAPTRACK

SnapTrack Inc. last week announced a strategic partnership with Motorola Inc. under which it will license its personal location system to Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector.Motorola will use SnapTrack's technology through a royalty-bearing license agreement to offer personal location services as a part of its...

CARRIERS HONE IN ON HARMONIZATION

Carriers are keeping quiet about events that transpired during a third-generation harmonization meeting two weeks ago in Japan, but an independent study commissioned by Vodafone plc is seen by cdmaOne players as a smoking gun in favor of their technical parameters.Major carriers from around...

FCC INCHES TO STRONGEST SIGNAL DECISION

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission could make a decision on the strongest-signal debate as early as this month at the public meeting, said senior FCC officials last week.While the details of the decision are still uncertain, it seems the cellular industry's efforts to convince the...

PRODUCTS

Nortele-mobility servicesNortel Networks introduced a portfolio of subscriber services, called e-mobility services, that provide rapid, flexible deployment of leading-edge voice and data capabilities optimized for the Internet Protocol environment. The services include Wireless Prepaid, Group Conferencing, Smart Mobile Access, Wireless Voice-Activated Dialing, Mobile Messaging...

CARRIERS TO MEET ON 3G IN TOKYO

The world's carriers are set to meet in Tokyo this week for another round of discussions on converging Code Division Multiple Access-based third-generation technology.The International Telecommunication Union adopted a framework in March resulting in a single flexible standard with a choice of multiple access...

ERICSSON CLARIFIES 3G POSITION

L.M. Ericsson said it supports the third-generation TDMA proposal and a group of 3G CDMA technologies that accommodates three different modes and various chip rates.The statement comes just weeks after ending the deadlock with Qualcomm Inc. over rights to CDMA-based technologies. Ericsson and Qualcomm...

CDMA2000 FACES UPHILL BATTLE IN EUROPE

WASHINGTON-Despite the much-ballyhooed settlement of the patent dispute between Qualcomm Inc. and L.M. Ericsson and the global embrace of multiple third-generation mobile phone standards, it remains unclear whether American wireless technology can break into a European market that has shunned it to date.Some industry...

SILICON WAVE CHIPS ALLOW MORE COMPONENTS, SMALLER SIZE

Silicon Wave Inc. announced it is developing a Radio Modem Control integrated circuit for Bluetooth applications, using an advanced silicon-on-insulator technology known as BiCMOS.Silicon Wave hopes to combine Bluetooth radio, modem and controller functions into a single RMC chip using direct conversion and fully...

QUALCOMM, ERICSSON LEAVE OTHERS TO DECIDE CHIP RATE

Although Qualcomm Inc. and L.M. Ericsson announced resolutions to Code Division Multiple Access disputes and the standoff over third-generation intellectual property rights, the companies didn't resolve key technical differences 3G parties have tried to resolve for more than a year. Qualcomm and Ericsson announced last week they resolved...

NEW DSP CHIP WILL USE IBM TECHNOLOGY

CUPERTINO, Calif.-DSP Communications Inc. announced the D5361, a single-chip radio-frequency solution for the Personal Digital Cellular standard, which will be manufactured by IBM for DSPC using IBM's Silicon Germanium technology.The D5261 RF chip, when combined with a PDC power amplifier chip and DSPC's PDC...

QUALCOMM, ERICSSON NEAR DEAL?

Tensions ran high at the International Telecommunication Union two-week meeting on third-generation technology in Fortaleza, Brazil, as the industry waits for an agreement between Qualcomm Inc. and L.M. Ericsson on cdmaOne patents.Qualcomm and Ericsson won't comment on progress made in negotiating a settlement over...

QUALCOMM SHIPS CSM2000 CHIP

SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. announced it has begun production shipments of its CSM2000 Cell Site Modem chip for Code Division Multiple Access infrastructure and test equipment.The CSM2000 is a multiple-channel digital baseband chip capable of supporting eight forward link channels and eight reverse link channels....

BUSINESS BRIEFS

3Com Corp. and Microsoft Corp. announced they plan to develop co-branded home networking products that initially will include traditional ethernet and home-phone-line networking kits, with radio-frequency and power-line kits to follow. Using a single Internet connection, two or more family members can simultaneously surf...

D.C. NOTES: ANTITRUST, BUT VERIFY

Are today's high-tech firms so different from companies of the Industrial Age as to make classic antitrust analysis archaic and no longer applicable?Top antitrust minds, like Federal Trade Commission Chairman Robert Pitofsky, are wrestling with this very question as government trustbusters take on Microsoft,...

3G ISSUES REMAIN UNRESOLVED

Sources close to International Telecommunication Union activity on third-generation technology say standards likely will not be set during the 31 March meeting in Brazil.The ITU had hoped ideally by the end of March to set a single 3G standard-one that will allow for global...

JAPANESE CARRIERS GEAR UP FOR EARLY LAUNCH OF 3G

TOKYO-Anticipating the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU's) scheduled March decision regarding key characteristics for the third-generation cellular, IMT-2000, Japanese carriers are mounting efforts to be able to kick off their 3G businesses earlier than any other nation.Japan Telecom Co. (JT), in cooperation with Nissan Motor...

IBM RELEASES NEW CHIP THAT AIDS MINIATURIZATION

EAST FISHKILL, N.Y.-A new chip technology developed by IBM Corp. could lead to smaller electronic devices, including cellular phones and personal computers, said the company.The semiconductor technology IBM developed will allow complete electronic systems to be built on a single silicon chip by combining...

CONSUMER GROUP FEARS STRONGEST SIGNAL TO BE AXED

WASHINGTON-Consumer advocates are opposed to the "policy goals" approach government appears to have embraced to solve the wireless 911 dead-zone problem and have raised concerns about the decision-making process associated with the emotionally charged issue.The Wireless Consumers Alliance, which advocates the strongest-signal approach to...

QUALCOMM, ERICSSON TALK

Word broke last week that Qualcomm Inc. and L.M. Ericsson are negotiating a settlement over CDMA Interim Standard 95 patents at issue in a Texas court. The leak came during a key pre-trial hearing over the matter and continued rumblings of U.S. trade action...

PRODUCTS

SONY ELECTRONICSSony Electronics introduced a new alphanumeric pager with a synthesized tuner, generic-over-the-air programming capabilities and the company's Jog Dial operation, called the MP-7001. The generic-over-the-air programming technology, or GOTAP, is an advanced feature of the Motorola Inc. FLEXsuite protocol. Sony also released the...

LUCENT INTRODUCES CHIP

CANNES, France-Lucent Technologies Inc.'s Microelectronics Group said its new digital signal processor chip for wireless base stations can provide 50 percent better performance than competing products.The DSP16410 performs up to 800 million multiply and accumulate operations per second, said Lucent. The chip also uses...

U.S., EUROPEAN EXECS AGREE ON HARMONIZED 3G CDMA FRAME WORK

WASHINGTON-In potentially a major breakthrough in the gridlocked third generation mobile phone controversy, U.S. and European wireless executives here last week agreed to pursue a framework for an umbrella Code Division Multiple Access standard that combines common elements of competing CDMA technologies and gives...

FCC LOOKS FOR POLICY GOALS TO SOLVE ‘DEAD ZONE’ ISSUE

WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission appears to be attempting to develop policy goals to solve the "dead zone" problem.The FCC then would leave it to the cellular industry to come up with technical solutions that meet its policy goals. "We are at our best...

LUCENT BUILDS CHIP WITH AUDIO TECHNOLOGY DESIGNED FOR AIRLINES

NEW ORLEANS-Lucent Technologies Inc.'s Microelectronics Group introduced a Code Division Multiple Access chip that uses technology with origins in the airline industry to make it easier to understand cellular phone callers in noisy environments, such as airports and restaurants.Called the EVRC+, the chip is...