Abstract

So far, ADI, T3G, Spreadtrum, and Commit have all launched TD-SCDMA chips in the Chinese market. ADI's TD-SCDMA solutions have already reached a higher level of maturity, and have been adopted by several TD-SCDMA equipment makers. ADI's TD-SCDMA solution is basically an upgraded version of the company's 2.5G platform that uses DSP for Layer 1, making it relatively easy to implement further upgrading. Furthermore, ADI has been collaborating with Datang, which is able to provide them with protocol stack technology.

Commit's main source of IC design technology is its leading shareholder TI. The ASIC model that Commit has adopted has the advantage of being low-cost, but it also makes for reduced flexibility. At the same time, the fact that TD-SCDMA technology is still at the development stage has affected the speed of product rollout. TI's expertise lies mainly in IC hardware design; it has had little experience with TD-SCDMA protocol stack development. Commit has therefore had to spend a great deal of time and money overcoming problems relating to protocol stock design, which in turn has had a negative impact on interoperability with TD-SCDMA COE.

Given Commit's current technology and product development capabilities, the company will need to work closely with mobile phone vendors that possess strong technical capabilities if it is to succeed in developing the TD-SCDMA chipset solution market.

Appendix

List of Companies