Seeing the future in software-defined radio (SDR) technology, South Korea and China continue to make deals in this field, ensuring that the products are ready when the market develops in a few years. Toward that end, UK-based wireless solutions provider picoChip has revealed a joint development partnership with Korea-based Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) in the area of SDR for WCDMA/HSDPA and WiMAX. As part of this agreement, the two will cooperate on future wireless technologies. A team from ETRI will be based at picoChip's Bath headquarters for a year. Korea is a big supporter of broadband wireless access and 3G, with plans to introduce mobile WiMAX (WiBRO) services next year.

Concurrently, Van Nuys, Calif.-based true software radio developer TechnoConcepts, Inc. has inked a deal with China's largest semiconductor and integrated circuit design conglomerate, China Electronics Corporation (CEC). Consequently, TechnoConcepts' patented RF-to-digital (RF/D) technology will be deployed in 3G mobile cell phones manufactured by CEC’s subsidiaries, namely CEC Wireless (CECW) and/or Great Wall Computer.

Antonio Turgeon, chairman and CEO of TechnoConcepts, stated, "While our technology has been successfully demonstrated for major electronics manufacturers in both China and South Korea, this agreement with CEC marks a significant milestone for TechnoConcepts as it is the first agreement that calls for our technology to be incorporated into a consumer device for large scale distribution." He added, “There is no mistaking that China is the growth engine for telecommunications and 3G technologies. Estimates are that China adds approximately five million mobile-phone users each month."

Meanwhile, the picoChip/ETRI agreement was inked in London by ETRI president Yim Chu-Hwan, and Guillaume d'Eyssautier, president and CEO of picoChip. Yim Chu-Hwan said, "For our SDR project we evaluated all the programmable architectures and selected picoChip on the basis of price performance, flexibility and suitability for next generation wireless technologies. In addition, next-generation wireless requires significantly more processing power than current technologies, and the picoArray architecture delivers where others cannot."

According to Guillaume d’Eyssautier, “ETRI is one of the world’s leading telecom research institutes – an example is the role it had in developing the WiBRO standard. We are very proud to work together in the implementation of advanced wireless systems based on SDR technologies."