IP: SpectruCell Takes on Qualcomm, Part I

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
>
> [Note:  This item comes from reader Janos Gereben.  DLH]
>
> At 16:32 -0700 9/25/01, Janos Gereben wrote:
> > From: "Janos Gereben" <janos451 () earthlink net>
> > To: "jg" <janos451 () earthlink net>
> > Subject: SpectruCell Takes on Qualcomm, Part I
> > Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 16:32:46 -0700
> > MIME-Version: 1.0
> >
> >
> >  New platform challenges Qualcomm's CDMA hegemony
> >
> > Janos Gereben - www.the451.com
> >
> > [Without CDMA-related licensing fees, Qualcomm would face a problem,
> > but the company is skeptical about the competition.]
> >
> > It's just a blip on the radar screen now, but one that may signify
> > something important in the works. Advanced Communications Technologies
> > has just demonstrated the feasibility of making mobile-phone calls on
> > an SDR (software-defined radio) platform, using the CDMA (code
> > division multiple access) protocol.
> >
> > That in itself would be less newsworthy than the claim that these test
> > calls were made without the use of any CDMA-specific hardware or
> > Qualcomm chipsets. ACT - a Florida-based company with an Australian
> > research subsidiary of the same name - did not beat around the bush.
> > In making the test announcement, the company said it will offer
> > carriers "significant savings" compared with Qualcomm licensing fees.
> >
> > To make it all even clearer, ACT chairman Roger May referred to
> > Qualcomm's "reputed stranglehold on CDMA" for network providers, and
> > he said a base station technology using software processes
> > "effectively bypasses the majority of Qualcomm's patents on CDMA."
> > Responding to a question from the451 on Tuesday, Qualcomm corporate
> > communications director Patty Z. Goodwin called SDR "an experimental
> > technology. (which) has not been proven to be commercially reliable."
> > She added: "Our patents are specifically defined and can not be
> > avoided. Further than that, (ACT's) claims do not merit comment."
> >
> > Qualcomm describes itself as "the pioneer of CDMA. the technology of
> > choice for next-generation wireless communications." Now, with the
> > Qualcomm handset division sold to Kyocera, and the San Diego company's
> > semiconductor unit spun off, the revenue potential from its numerous
> > patents on CDMA appears essential for Qualcomm.
> >
> > Until the development of SDR - which received FCC approval just last
> > week - there was no other way to provide CDMA-based service than
> > through Qualcomm, May said, network operators were bound to pay
> > "substantial license fees" for the use of their CDMA chipsets.
> > Introduction of ACT's SpectruCell SDR base station technology, he
> > indicated, will radically change the situation.
> >
> > Arguments against that scenario: Qualcomm supplies chips to
> > manufacturers, not operators; manufacturers pay royalties on handsets
> > sold, not on chips used, and manufacturers pay royalties under license
> > agreements regardless of how many QC patents are used. Qualcomm is
> > intent on enforcing the policy that if somebody uses any one patent,
> > that is sufficient to require a license agreement with Qualcomm.
> >
> > SpectruCell, as reported before by the451, is the cellular wireless
> > base station technology developed by ACT in Melbourne. It is capable
> > of processing multiple protocols simultaneously. In the demonstration
> > IS-95 CDMA Physical Layer functionality was used with a single Digital
> > Signal Processor on the SpectruCell SDR prototype, seconds before the
> > same platform was broadcasting equivalent GSM signals. The ability to
> > provide simultaneous multiple protocol functionality (including
> > W-CDMA) is achieved by reconfiguring proprietary software. The
> > combination of open architecture and distributed object based
> > implementation makes the SpectruCell technology especially attractive
> > to carriers as an alternative to the existing relationship with such
> > major telecomm manufacturers as Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola and Lucent.



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