3G "Ready To Go" Wireless Platform

US : picoChip Designs announced its first customer shipment of the company's components and "basestation on a CD" software reference design to Willtek Communications, a supplier of test equipment for wireless manufacturers and networks. Following extensive in-house testing, Willtek selected the PC101 picoArray device as an enabling technology in its next generation 3G test equipment. This announcement marks the first disclosed design win for picoChip's devices in a volume production product.

Dr Rodger Sykes, President and CEO of picoChip, commented, "We are extremely pleased we are able to announce Willtek as a customer. We have a number of companies using our technology under NDA but are delighted that our relationship with Willtek has progressed so fast. A successful evaluation tied to a design win is a very important milestone for picoChip. Test is a very critical component to any emerging technology, and 3G is no exception with its extreme complexity."

Cyrille Damany, CEO of Willtek Communications added, "The flexibility of the PC101 architecture allowed our research team to swiftly and smoothly incorporate its features into our systems within a very aggressive time-frame. We evaluated many alternatives; although people claim to have a complete solution, only picoChip could really demonstrate it. It was the completeness of picoChip's solution that was the winning factor. Willtek truly believes that picoChip is destined to become an industry leader."

The "basestation on a CD" is a "ready to go" wireless platform that includes tested algorithms and source code for WCDMA FDD and HSDPA, and provides a speedy, cost- competitive and low risk route to generate a fully compliant "carrier class" 3G basestation. In addition, it provides an ideal platform for organisations wishing to test out new and/or proprietary features.

Damany concluded, "By leveraging the core competences of picoChip's technology, Willtek will be able to implement major additions to its product line for 3G wireless test, measurement and analysis equipment. The power, flexibility and time savings provided by the ``basestation on a CD' are unmatched and will provide Willtek with a competitive advantage."

The picoChip design platform combines a high-performance processor optimised for wireless, with a rich programming environment (using standard ANSI C) and comprehensive system libraries. These allow applications to be easily and efficiently developed, simulated, compiled, verified and tested in a single environment for WDCMA FDD and HSDPA designs. The picoArray processor is the fastest embedded processor on the market, delivering 300 Giga- operations per second and 30 Giga multiply-accumulates per second - approximately ten times the performance of any other device.