NetStumbler

Qualcomm Cell Phone Ban To Take Effect

Eliza Villarino — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 06:45:02 +0000

Qualcomm continues to lose the war over patents with Broadcom. U.S. President George W. Bush has announced he will not overturn a June ruling by the International Trade Commission banning the importation of cell phones housing chips infringing Broadcom patents. Qualcomm, however, is determined not to give up the fight. Aside from preparing an appeal to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, the firm has teamed up with its clients and operators to devise new software that would sidestep the patent. “We will pursue all legal and technical options available to us to minimize the impact of the ITC order on consumers, our customers and the entire wireless industry,” said Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs.

Broadcom is obviously happy with Bush’s decision. “This decision strengthens the intellectual property rights of all U.S. companies, not just Broadcom,” remarked David A. Dull, Broadcom’s senior vice president and general counsel. “And (it) sends a clear message to all those who would seek to escape the consequences of their patent infringement. In upholding the ITC remedy, the administration is also encouraging a market-based solution to patent issues that is in the best interests of American consumers, U.S. companies and global patent protection.”
Via [news.com.com]

EVDO Rev. B Promises More Than 9Mbps Down

Kristin Abraham — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 11:44:00 +0000

Qualcomm has announced that EVDO Revision A is already old hat and Revision B is on its way. Revision B will incorporate new hardware and software updates and offer backward compatibility with older models. Company tests have version B running at an average data rate of 9.3Mbps download speed compared to the previous model’s 800kbps. Qualcomm points out that this huge difference in speed could have significant implications for VoIP applications.
Via [arstechnica.com]

Qualcomm Reveals New EV-DO Chipset For VoIP Handsets

Eliza Villarino — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 13:26:00 +0000

Qualcomm Inc. has developed a modem chipset for its CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev. B, which it claims can deliver average downlink data rates of 9.3 Mbps via the 5 MHz spectrum. The company expects the Qualcomm Mobile Station Modem MSM7850 chipset to enable mobile TV, music streaming and VoIP calls. The device, which is due for sale later this year, is backward compatible with older EV-DO versions. Qualcomm announced it will release software upgrades for earlier Cell Site Modem CSM6800 to support Rev. B within the week. Qualcomm also unrolled single chip Rev. A systems including the QSC6085, which it is providing to WiFi provider China Unicom and phone maker Sanyo. India’s Tata Teleservices and China’s Huawei Mobile and ZTE are also QSC family clients.
Via [informationweek.com]

Qualcomm, Under Legal Attack, Defends Business As Wireless Innovator

Eliza Villarino — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 05:58:00 +0000

Qualcomm expects its legal costs to double this year to $200 million amid a slew of lawsuits from firms accusing it of charging unjust fees for the use of its patented technologies. The company owns 1,900 patents in the U.S. for code division multiple access (CDMA), a wireless standard that is crucial for cell phones and cellular networks. Last year, licensing fees generated a third of Qualcomm’s $7.53 billion revenue and three-fourths of its pretax profits worth $3.16 billion.

Qualcomm is now insisting it should get the same royalties for wideband CDMA or WCDMA, a protocol used to enable faster Internet downloads by GSM-based carriers like Cingular Wireless and T-Mobile. But equipment makers stressed that such position would disregard inputs from Nokia, LM Ericsson and Motorola. Although it proved victorious in an antitrust complaint by Broadcom, Qualcomm continues to face challenges from Nokia and others. The Finland-based handset maker cited a 2005 study stating that Qualcomm only has rights over 38 percent of the standard’s 732 “essential” patents. In response, the company released “white papers” that disproved Nokia’s report, touted its contributions to WCDMA, and defended its business model.
Via [canadianbusiness.com]

Qualcomm’s WiFi Joins With Airgo To Battle Intel’s WiMAX

Eliza Villarino — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 14:17:00 +0000

Qualcomm is buying Airgo Networks and announced plans to market the latter’s so-called “802.11n Draft 2.0-compliant” chipset. The said silicon is due to make an appearance at CES 2007 in Las Vegas. Some analysts believe it will not be an easy road for Qualcomm. At the moment, some 370 technical issues beset Draft 2.0 and IEEE members are not expected to vote on the specifications until March 2007. In addition, the company is facing stiff competition from Intel, which is aggressively marketing its own WiMax equipment.
Via [betanews.com]

Does Qualcomm Really Have 802.11n Draft 2.0?

Eliza Villarino — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 10:11:00 +0000

Qualcomm’s announcement of the “availability” of a chip complying with Draft 2.0 of 802.11n standard due to its acquisition of Airgo, has raised eyebrows. Conforming to a draft of the standard is not logical. In addition, the IEEE 802.11n group needs to resolve 370 issues that came out of its November meeting and a vote on Draft 2.0 is unlikely before March 2007.

Qualcomm vice-president Enrico Salvatori agreed that such silicon is not available but the company is planning for sample shipments in the second half of next year. The purchase of Airgo is designed to boost Qualcomm’s fixed-mobile convergence plans. The company looks to incorporate Draft 2.0 Wi-Fi into its Mobile Station Modem and Snapdragon chipsets.
Via [techworld.com]

Qualcomm CEO: Wireless Broadband Faces Threats

Eliza Villarino — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 10:11:00 +0000

Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs believes offshoring of manufacturing capabilities and eroding intellectual property rights pose as threats to the wireless broadband network development. Jacobs made the statement at the fall meeting of the National Association of Manufacturers, the biggest industrial trade organization in the US. He noted the continuing degeneration of young engineering talent in the country and called for improvements in patent protection laws as well as legislation that will extend educational aid to engineering programs. Jacobs also disclosed that the Federal Communications Commission has yet to decide on Qualcomm’s MediaFLO petition to hasten the launching of broadband mobile video service.
Via [wirelessweek.com]

WiMax Vendors Warned Of Qualcomm Licensing Costs

Sherry Jones — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 16:01:00 +0000

According to analysts from ABI Research’s Mobile Broadband Research Service, WiMax vendors should start factoring royalties payable to Qualcomm into their pricing plans. Qualcomm, patent-holder for Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technology, already has payment agreements in place with Soma Networks, and is expected to “vigorously” enforce royalty payments with other companies.
Via [vnunet.com]

Qualcomm Signs First Patent Deal For WiMAX Product

RenderMan — Mon, 08 May 2006 16:38:00 +0000

In what will probobly become a big speedbump for WiMax, Qualcomm quietly announced a licensing deal for technology necessary for WiMax that it owns the patent on. This appears to mean that any vendor making a WiMax product will have to pay a licensing fee to Qualcomm, who have a history of defending a licensing thier technology patents.
Via [networkworld.com]

WiMAX Relying On Government, Says Wireless Pioneer

Wayne Slavin — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 10:15:00 +0000

The success of WiMAX wireless broadband will be decided by government determination to provide broadband access for all, according to the co-founder of Qualcomm, Dr Andrew Viterbi.
Via [electronicsweekly.com]

Qualcomm Completes Acquisition Of WiMAX Competitor

Wayne Slavin — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 10:08:00 +0000

Cellular technology giant Qualcomm said Thursday it has completed its acquisition of Flarion Technologies, which has developed a wireless broadband technology that competes with WiMAX.
Via [commsdesign.com]

Qualcomm Finally Commits To Wi-Fi Standards

Wayne Slavin — Thu, 15 Dec 2005 11:24:00 +0000

The vendor has joined the Wi-Fi Alliance, saying it wants to make sure its 3G products are compatible with what the group is doing. Qualcomm is one of largest providers of cellular chipsets.
Via [informationweek.com]

Qualcomm Co-Founder Skeptical Of Broadband Wireless Potential

Wayne Slavin — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 14:20:00 +0000

The technology is likely to be too expensive to become as popular as existing mobile phones, said Qualcomm’s Andrew Viterbi.
Via [informationweek.com]

Why Qualcomm Has Its Wallet Out

Wayne Slavin — Tue, 06 Sep 2005 16:09:00 +0000

The Elata and Flarion acquisitions reflect the outfit’s need to keep abreast of tech’s latest trends. Expect more of the same.
Via [businessweek.com]

Qualcomm Bolsters TGn Sync Group’s 802.11n Proposal

Wayne Slavin — Wed, 19 Jan 2005 18:05:00 +0000

Qualcomm is joining TGn Sync, one of the cross-industry groups developing specifications for the IEEE 802.11n standard proposal for WLANs operating at data rates of up to 100Mbit/s.
Via [commsdesign.com]