Cupertino, Calif.-based chip manufacturer DSP Communications Inc. today plans to introduce two new products for current and future Code Division Multiple Access handsets.
Immediately available is DSPC’s new CDMA Manufacturers Development Kit for wireless handsets, which will enable handset manufacturers to reduce development cycles, said the company.
The kit provides a complete one-stop shop, including the chipset, system software and reference design development for CDMA handsets.
“Our customers increasingly require form-fitted solutions designed for their unique product features and functions, not a one-size-fits-all solution,” said Paul Washkewicz, general manager of DSPC’s CDMA business unit.
“The chipset business is changing,” said Arnon Kohavi, senior vice president of strategic relations at DSPC. “In the past, it was enough to sell the [application specific integrated circuit] chip to the phone makers.
“Now manufacturers are doing less and less development work, and they are asking the chip suppliers not just for the ASIC but for help with designing the phone,” he said.
In addition to decreasing life cycles, the manufacturer’s kit also allows handset manufacturers to focus on phone form factor, which is an important element in customer purchasing decisions, said Kohavi.
Unlike its primary competitor, Qualcomm Inc., DSPC does not manufacture handsets, which allows it to help its customers design handsets because it is not competing with them, said Kohavi.
The company also is introducing its first chip and system software for cdma2000, the third-generation standard to which existing CDMA operators are expected to migrate.
The D6011, DSPC’s sixth-generation digital baseband processor, is designed for use in IXRTT phase I cdma2000 networks, said the company.
The chip supports data rates of up to 153 kilobits per second for up link and down link, said DSPC. The company plans to conduct field trials of the chip early next year.
Commercial production is expected to take place following the trials, DSPC said.
The company plans to provide cdma2000 phase II chips, which will be backward compatible with cdma2000 phase 1, Interim Standard-95A and IS-95B, said the company.
DSPC last year announced plans to develop wideband-CDMA chipsets for third-generation handsets.
