TechnoConcepts Launches Software-Programmable Digital-To-RF Transmitter Chip

Van Nuys, CA -- TechnoConcepts Inc. announced the upcoming release of what the company claims is the wireless industry's first fully software-programmable direct-conversion digital-to-RF transmitter chip that can operate continuously over frequencies from 450 MHz to 6 GHz. TechnoConcepts' TC-TX1000 D/RF transmitter chip will support both cellular base stations and handset applications, as well as automotive, emergency response, and other emerging wireless applications. This follows last week's announcement of the Company's TC-RX1000 receiver chip; the two chips will be available as a completely software-programmable frequency agile transceiver chipset.

Because it can operate continuously across a wide range of frequency bands, the TC-TX1000 chip is completely protocol-agnostic. The chip can be programmed for multiple modes, including family radio, emergency, shortwave, all cellular protocols (GSM/CDMA/EDGE/3G), and geospatial positioning systems (GPS). TechnoConcepts validated the chip design using the Agilent Advanced Design System (ADS), an industry-standard circuit level simulation.

Utilizing TechnoConcepts' patented True Software Radio architecture, the TC-TX1000 transmitter receives a digital signal from the digital signal processor (baseband processing section) and directly converts it to an RF signal, ready for transmitting by a power amplifier at the antenna. The True Software Radio technology, with its direct D/RF conversion, eliminates all active and passive electronic components usually associated with a conventional wireless transmitter, including the DAC section and all analog RF filtering and mixing sections.

The Company is integrating its True Software Radio technology into Jazz Semiconductor's 0.18 micron Silicon Germanium (SiGe) process. The TC-TX1000 chip will come in an 88-Pin MLF Package with a compact 10mm x 10mm footprint. The Company expects that chip samples will be available to its strategic partners as early as the fourth quarter of this year and that shipment of full scale production units will start in the first quarter of 2007.

SOURCE: TechnoConcepts Inc.