Wavesat Inc., a developer of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) broadband wireless access (BWA) modem silicon, has chosen Atmel's SiliconCITY capability to design and manufacture the first WiMAX-compliant IEEE-802.16d chips. Wavesat has been working on this OFDM modem technology since 1997, and this new chip represents its sixth generation of OFDM modem. Some system makers are using Wavesat's development kits to design next-generation BWA systems.

Wavesat hopes to draw upon Atmel's common design infrastructure and qualified IP to help ensure first pass silicon “success.” Since Wavesat's goal is to create a single-chip SoC, Atmel's SiliconCITY seemed to be a logical choice.

Wavesat, a principle member of the WiMAX Forum, has actively participated in all of the development phases of the IEEE 802.16 standards and believes that it will be “the catalyst for commercialization of this standard.” Wavesat will make the fixed wireless business case compelling to operators and accelerate the deployment of this technology.

Wavesat and Atmel will have the DM256 chip available in second quarter 2004. Using development kits now will enable system manufacturers to offer WiMAX-compliant systems as early as third quarter 2004.

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