Infineon Sets Yet Another New Trend: Lowest-Cost Mobile Phone Platform for Internet-Based Telephony
March 17 2008 - 10:00AM
Business Wire
For three years now, Infineon (NYSE:IFX) (FWB:IFX) has been
marketing low-cost mobile phone chips that have given new swathes
of customers around the globe the chance to use phones for the
first time. These innovative chips pack all the key functions onto
a tiny piece of silicon. More than 50 million units had been sold
by the end of last year, allowing users to make phone calls within
GSM mobile networks. The problem was that call charges varied
considerably depending on the country and provider. Today,
Internet-based telephony (Voice over IP) is much cheaper. Up to
now, however, the sophisticated technology needed for this
application was only available on expensive high-end phones known
as smart phones. In collaboration with Atheros, the American
wireless and wireline broadband technology specialist, Infineon has
therefore developed a chip platform that for the first time gives
users the best of both worlds. The low-cost chip from Infineon
takes care of all telephony functions in the GSM network, while the
Atheros chip kicks in when data packets are used via a wireless LAN
(hotspot or WiFi) for voice or data traffic over the Internet.
Better still, the whole package is available at an attractive flat
rate. "The combination of our GSM chip and the wireless LAN chip
from Atheros gives even more people the chance to enjoy low-cost
communication," says Dominik Bilo, Senior Vice President Sales and
Group Marketing at Infineon's Communication Solutions Division.
"For the foreseeable future, broadband landline networks will not
deliver full coverage in emerging countries such as India, China
and parts of South America. By comparison, a wireless LAN and a
couple of hotspots or a wireless IP cell for a small village can be
set up relatively quickly and inexpensively. Billions of people can
then plug into the world of unlimited communication." Independent
market researchers see significant growth opportunities for the
combination of GSM and VoIP technology in mobile phones. Some 186
million units are slated to be sold this year alone, and forecasts
put the figure for 2010 at 250 million units. Infineon's
contribution to the new GSM/VoIP phones is its X-GOLD�101 single
chip, which packs the core functions of a mobile phone � voice
processing, radio frequency management, power management, memory
and so one � into a footprint of just 8�mm2. Atheros adds its 10
mm2 ROCm� (radio-on-chip for mobile) chip. This chip too is
optimized to deliver maximum functionality while minimizing power
consumption. Compared to conventional solutions, Atheros halves the
number of components needed for innovative wireless VoIP
communication. Infineon will be taking the wraps off its new mobile
communication platform at the VON.x trade show in San Jose (March
17-20, 2008). Initial products will be available to customers as
early as the second quarter of this year. For more information
about Internet-based telephony, please refer to our guidebook "The
7 Voice over IP Myths" at www.infineon.com/presse/VoIP This news
release and a picture are available online at
www.infineon.com/press/ About Infineon Infineon Technologies AG,
Neubiberg, Germany, offers semiconductor and system solutions
addressing three central challenges to modern society: energy
efficiency, communications, and security. In the 2007 fiscal year
(ending September), the company reported sales of Euro 7.7 billion
(including Qimonda sales of Euro 3.6 billion) with approximately
43,000 employees worldwide (including approximately 13,500 Qimonda
employees). With a global presence, Infineon operates through its
subsidiaries in the U.S. from Milpitas, CA, in the Asia-Pacific
region from Singapore, and in Japan from Tokyo. Infineon is listed
on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and on the New York Stock Exchange
(ticker symbol: IFX). Further information is available at
www.infineon.com.
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