Beceem teamed up with two WiMAX industry companies to announce its latest offerings. Beceem partnered with Quanta Microsystems to develop a WiMAX USB modem using Beceem’s BCSM 350 WiMAX chip.
Beceem worked with Skylink to launch a retail-ready USB reference design platform. The design platform allows for fast development of WiMAX USB modems for the retail or wholesale market. It is a platform for WiMAX USB modems, not actually a modem.
Quanta Microsystems and Beceem’s USB modem will offer 3GHz roaming at a lower price than traditional WiMAX modems. It is made possible by the wide band front-end design involved with the BCSM350′s reference design.
The new USB modem is specifically designed to support all WiMAX deployments in the 2GHz band and enables roaming across service providers, an increasingly important capability given the fast-growing number of WiMAX networks and coverage footprint. Quanta Microsystems’ new USB modem provides 2GHz roaming at a price that is lower than that of traditional WiMAX USB modems, an advantage enabled by the innovative wideband front-end design that is part of the BCSM350’s reference design.
“The BCSM350 offers an ideal combination of high-performance delivered at low-power, and the reference design is enhanced by significant product-level innovations to enable low-cost USB modems that can roam across different WiMAX networks,” said Lars Johnsson, vice president of marketing and business development for Beceem Communications. “We believe the wideband front-end combined with increased uplink performance and reduced power consumption makes the BCSM350 the most suitable 4G-WiMAX chip for mobile applications.”
The agreement between Skylink and Beceem will support WiMAX Forum 1.0 specifications. The Connection Manager allows for continuous development of the platform because of the interoperability of the platform and the Connection Manager. The complete package includes the Connection Manager, Device Authentication and Management Software, all provided by Skylink.
“The first wave of 4G-WiMAX devices was purchased by service providers who sold them to their subscribers, but the open channel devices enabled by the Beceem and M-Skylink’s ‘retail-ready’ platform should drive further expansion of the 4G-WiMAX device ecosystem by providing an easy-to-productize platform that allows device innovation at low cost,” said Johnsson.
Operators are looking for ways to bring innovative devices into their networks. The Connection Manager and Beceem WiMAX chip enables quicker turn around time to get the device to market. The deals allows Beceem to develop both the programming platform and the construction of the USBmodems. It’s a great way to become a great business-to-business chip retailer, growing market share of the chipset market.
The announcements from the WiMAX Forum Congress Asia will come fast and furious over the next two days. Expect big announcements from China Mobile, Greenpacket and other major players in the Asia Pacific region.
