Broadcom on Monday announced a chip integrating 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and FM radio into a single silicon die, a move designed to expand the range of features available in mid-range mobile-phone handsets.
The introduction of the BCM4329 was motivated in part by the increased popularity of Wi-Fi in mid-range "feature phones," Broadcom said. It added that this growth is due in turn to the integration of cameras, browsers, and audio capabilities into more handsets, which is driving a need for transferring data and media between handsets and other electronics such as TVs, PCs, printers, remote speakers, and car stereos.
The chip is one of the first to offer the 802.11n Wi-Fi standard in a package suitable for mobile devices. It promises wireless throughput of up to 50Mbps, allowing large files to be transferred quickly, Broadcom said.
Broadcom's chip uses single-stream 802.11n, because the space, battery power and processing power restrictions in mobile devices would not support the multiple-antenna implementation used in larger 802.11n devices, according to the company. Even so, Broadcom said the single-stream design delivers faster and more reliable wireless connections than current 802.11g products.
The chip uses space-time block coding (STBC), a feature designed to improve connection robustness. It also has dual-band 802.11n capabilities, meaning handset owners can use the less-crowded 5GHz spectrum for applications that require faster guaranteed bandwidth.
In addition, the chip's FM transmit and receive capabilities are intended to allow music to be streamed directly from media players or mobile phones to car stereos or home stereo systems.
The chip's Bluetooth implementation includes algorithms intended to improve the co-existence of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and also uses a shared antenna system to minimize interference between the two technologies.
Integrating all the technologies on to a single die takes up less space and power than discrete chip implementations, Broadcom said.
The company's previous combination chips include the BCM4325, integrating Bluetooth, FM radio, and an earlier generation of Wi-Fi, and the BCM2049 Bluetooth/FM chip.
The chip is currently shipping in small quantities to some customers and will be manufactured in production quantities next year, Broadcom said.
Matthew Broersma of ZDNet UK reported from London.
Chipmaker Broadcom announced on Wednesday it is once again suing Qualcomm, claiming the company's sales and licensing practices amount to patent misuse.
The complaint was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in San Diego. According to Broadcom's claims, Qualcomm receives royalties twice for its patents by controlling the post-sale use of its already-"exhausted" wireless communications patents. Qualcomm's control over its patents constitutes misuse, Broadcom claims, and has brought harm to the industry and consumers.
The lawsuit continues a series of battles over wireless communications patents between Qualcomm and Broadcom. Most recently, a federal appeals court on Sept. 24 affirmed an earlier ruling in federal court that Qualcomm was infringing upon two of Broadcom's cell phone patents. The appeals court did, however, find that Qualcomm was not infringing upon one other patent in question.
In 2007, the U.S. International Trade Commission banned the import of new models of 3G wireless handsets with Qualcomm chipsets because they infringed upon a Broadcom patent. Broadcom's disputes with Qualcomm over wireless communications technology began in 2005.
Chipmaker Broadcom is adding Wi-Fi positioning technology from Skyhook Wireless to its semiconductors to help provide more accurate location-based services.
Broadcom plans to use GPS (Global Positioning System) and Wi-Fi to help provide accurate location-based information for mobile devices, the company said. Location-based services are becoming hot, especially since the launch of Apple's iPhone 3G, which comes with GPS. The location applications that use GPS have been among the most popular applications downloaded from the Apple App Store.
But GPS has its limitations. Skyhook's Wi-Fi location technology can use known Wi-Fi hot spots to augment GPS. The service works very well in densely populated areas where there are a lot of Wi-Fi radios transmitting signals. And it's great for locating places indoors or in cities with a lot of tall buildings, all places where satellite-based GPS technology has difficulty getting a location fix.
Now Broadcom, which makes many of the GPS, Wi-Fi, and other types of chips that go into many mobile phones will add Skyhook's Wi-Fi positioning to its chips. And this should help improve accuracy for location-based services in the future.
Chipmaker Broadcom has won the latest battle in a long patent war with Qualcomm.
On Wednesday a federal appeals court affirmed that Qualcomm is infringing on two cell phone patents. It also upheld an injunction against Qualcomm selling products with technology that infringes the two patents.
But it wasn't a total loss for Qualcomm. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that Qualcomm was not infringing on one of the three patents in question. This patent relates to video compression technology.
That said, the court affirmed the judgment of infringement on two other patents. One patent has to do with walkie-talkie technology and the other one involves cell phones that switch between multiple wireless networks.
The permanent injunction contains a sunset provision that allows Qualcomm to sell its products and pay royalties to Broadcom through January 2009. But Qualcomm has developed technology that circumvents the disputed patents, which means newer QChat phones, which use the walkie-talkie technology, aren't affected.
In August a federal judge ruled that Qualcomm was in contempt of an injunction that bans the use of patented wireless technology owned by Broadcom. Qualcomm appealed the decision.
In May 2007, a jury found that Qualcomm had violated patents held by Broadcom that help cell phones process video and walkie-talkie conversations. And the judge in the case ordered Qualcomm to stop using the technology and to pay Broadcom royalties on existing infringing QChat products.
Qualcomm and Broadcom have been battling each other in court since 2005. In the past couple of years, the smaller Broadcom has aggressively defended its patents and won several victories. Last year, it won a major victory when the U.S. International Trade Commission ordered a ban on the import of all new models of 3G wireless handsets with Qualcomm chipsets that infringe Broadcom patents.
The legal drama between wireless chipmakers Qualcomm and Broadcom continues this week.
On Thursday, the companies said a federal judge has ruled that Qualcomm is in contempt of an injunction that bans the use of patented wireless technology owned by Broadcom.
U.S. District Judge James Selna ruled that Qualcomm violated an injunction issued last year that banned Qualcomm from using technology in its chips that violates Broadcom's patents on wireless technology. The judge also ruled that Qualcomm has not been paying royalties to Broadcom for the use of its technology in Qualcomm-based cell phones with QChat walkie-talkie feature.
Qualcomm said in a statement that it will appeal the decision. It didn't disclose how much the damages will mount to.
In May 2007, a jury found that Qualcomm had violated patents held by Broadcom that help cell phones process video and walkie-talkie conversations. Selna ordered Qualcomm to stop using the technology and to pay Broadcom royalties on existing infringing QChat products.
Qualcomm has since developed technology that circumvents the disputed patents. This means that newer QChat phones aren't affected.
Qualcomm and Broadcom have been battling each other in court since 2005. In the past couple of years, the smaller Broadcom has aggressively defended its patents and won several victories. Last year, it won a major victory when the U.S. International Trade Commission ordered a ban on the import of all new models of 3G wireless handsets with Qualcomm chipsets that infringe Broadcom patents.
Chipmaker Broadcom has won the latest battle in a patent dispute with SiRF Technology Holdings, a developer of location-based technologies.
On Friday, Broadcom announced that the U.S. International Trade Commission, or ITC, has denied SiRF's request to review an Initial Determination that found no violation by Broadcom's subsidiary Global Locate of Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930.
The legal battle between SiRF and Global Locate began before Broadcom bought Global Locate in July 2007. SiRF initially took Global Locate to federal court over patent infringement and then Broadcom counter-sued. Those suits were stayed pending the ITC ruling.
In June an ITC administrative law judge ruled that two of SiRF's GPS patents were not infringed by Global Locate, giving Broadcom its first major victory in the case.
Broadcom's claims against SiRF are also before the ITC. The chipmaker has filed six claims of patent infringement. An initial determination in the case, which went to trial in April 2008, was issued last week. The ITC judge ruled that SiRF infringed on six of Broadcom's patents, which improve GPS processing and sensitivity. The ITC still must make a final determination on the matter, which is expected by December.
The GPS market is getting hot as more mobile devices, such as cell phones, use it to provide location-based services. Buddy-tracking technologies and services have been launched. Apple's new iPhone 3G is the most high-profile example of a phone with embedded GPS, but other cell phones that are used on CDMA networks such as Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel have been required to have embedded GPS chips for E911 service for the past few years.
Some camera manufacturers are also starting to embed GPS chips to allow people to geotag photos on the go.
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