VLSI and Wavecom announce GTI-2000;Fully integrated baseband, RF and Software delivers industry leading GSM Phone System Solution

Business Wire, March 10, 1995

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 10, 1995--VLSI Technology Inc. and Wavecom announced Friday the introduction of the GTI-2000 -- a fully integrated GSM system PCB including baseband, RF and software delivers industry leading (Global System for Mobile Communications) GSM phone system solution.

Baseband silicon was designed and manufactured by VLSI with the RF module and software being developed by Wavecom. Announced at CeBit in Germany, the GTI-2000 system provides new entrants to the handset and systems market a rapid, low risk admission point to the rapidly growing wireless communications market. The GTI-2000 will be available by mid-year 1995.

The GTI-2000 hardware architecture is based on the TwoC chipset announced by VLSI Technology last month. The VP22002 kernel processor implements all the baseband functionality with an embedded ARM controller, integrated equalizer, radio interface, channel coder and decoder. The RF component of GTI-2000 developed by Wavecom implements all the RF parts such as the antenna filter, receiver, transmitter and synthesizer.

The software module from Wavecom incorporates all software protocols and man-machine interface (MMI) related software on the embedded ARM controller. The VP22020 GSM Vocoder accomplishes all the speech coding functions with a dedicated DSP microcontroller core and integrated analog front-end.

"With established players struggling to keep pace with handset demand, a substantial second wave of companies are also keen to get into the market quickly," said Thierry Laurent, vice president, VLSI's Wireless Product Division. "Our package provides a proven solution, with type-approved silicon tested with Wavecom software and RF modules on our in-house GSM test facilities."

The GTI-2000 is built around a small form factor of 120mm x 46mm x 8mm for the PCB, a total handset volume of 120cm cubed and a weight of less than 180g. Depending on the DTX and power control, GTI-2000 based telephones can achieve a talk time of 2.2 to 3.6 hours, and a standby time of 48 hours. The standby time will increase to approximately 67 hours once the 3v solution is released in 1996.

"Using this solution, the customer can concentrate on differentiating their product through the man-machine interface, secure in the knowledge that the core system solution is highly competitive on talk time, performance and cost," said Anastasie Akibode, regional marketing manager, VLSI Technology. "In addition to demand from traditional telecommunications OEMs, we are seeing new markets open such as automotive manufacturers where embedded GSM solutions are becoming increasingly important."

To maintain their leading edge position in the market into the future, the two companies are committed to an aggressive development road-map, as Andre Jolivet, technical director of Wavecom explained. "Even as the first solution is brought to market, Wavecom is working on an integrated RF component that will be one of the most integrated RF IC solutions on the market."

Additionally, VLSI and Wavecom are working on several new technologies that will further address the growing GSM and DCS1800 markets.

VLSI Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:VLSI) designs and manufactures application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and application-specific standard products (ASSPs) based on its library of functional system blocks (FSB). Targeting its offerings toward the computing, communications and entertainment marketplaces, the company offers its customers advanced system-level integration capabilities. The company is based in San Jose with 1994 revenues of $587 million, and has approximately 2,700 employees worldwide.

Wavecom S.A., provides RF system designs, products and systems for radio communication markets. Having a strong industry background, Wavecom was established in June 1993 and is continuously involved in advanced radio communication projects. The company employs 35 people. -0-