T3G Technology, a market leading TD-SCDMA terminal total solution provider, today announced the breakthrough in making the whole system level TDD-LCR L1/L2/L3 first call on their Modem IC, a landmark achievement in TD-SCDMA industrialization.

Mr. Daijun Zhang is the CTO of the new T3G joint venture among Datang Mobile, Philips Semiconductors and Samsung Electronics.Mr. Daijun Zhang graduated from CATT in 1997 with a Master Degree majored in Microwave and Electromagnetic.He started his career at CATT/Beijing Xinwei Telecom Co. Ltd. and was responsible for SCDMA fixed terminal and handset product development. In 1999, he successful achieved the first version SCDMA WLL handset phone design as Project Leader.From 1999 to 2002 he was transferred to CATT/TDD Dept, now Datang Mobilecom Co. Ltd, leading the TD-SCDMA field trial test terminal project as Project Leader. In April of 2001, his team succeeded in realizing the TD-SCDMA terminal side first call worldwide. Afterwards, he was appointed as the General Manager of UE Department with the aim to develop TD-SCDMA terminal commercial product.Since March 2002 he is the Chief Technical Officer of the R &D Cooperation Center of Datang and Philips in Beijing, China.
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Q&A on Line:

1．The R&D development status of T3G

Q: At present more than one TD-SCDMA chip manufacturers have made successful phone calls, what's the differentia of the chip developed by T3G?
A: T3G made the successful network level phone call with the Modem chip for TD-SCDMA handset especial (including L1/L2/L3). This is the latest achievement of TD-SCDMA handset commercialization. This achievement verified the correctness of Modem chip, protocol software and reference design of developed by T3G.

Q: T3G made a successful phone call on the telecommunication exhibition. Could you give an introduction to that? Was the phone call demonstration made through wireless interface?
A: The exhibition stand of T3G was set up within the stand of TD industry alliance. We made the phone call with Node B and RNC from Datang Mobile and CN. The demonstration was made through TD-SCDMA wireless air interface.

Q: Could you introduce the difference of network level phone call made by T3G and physical layer phone call made by other companies? Does it mean a further step toward commercialization?
A: The network level phone call of T3G means the complete call process made by handset hardware based on Modem chip with L1/L2/L3/MMI function by connecting with network equipments such as Node B, RNC and CN. Now MOC, MTC and MMC have succeeded. The physical layer phone call means the L1 voice loop back. If those companies want to make next network level phone call, they need to have L1C interface and L2/L3 integration tests first. The network level phone call made by T3G on modem chip declared a historical breakthrough of TD-SCDMA handset commercialization process. Currently it is the latest achievement of TD-SCDMA handset industry.

Q: When will Samsung Demo handset be delivered? What’s the basic function of the handset?
A: Samsung TD-SCDMA Demo handset based on T3G modem chip and terminal solution has been demonstrated on the telecommunication exhibition. You may contact related agency of Samsung Beijing branch for detailed information.

Q: It is said that it only took a few days for T3G to make the successful phone call after it received the chip. Is it due to the excellent QA, good development basis of other product or just good luck?
A: Thank you very much for your attention to the development process of T3G. The former R&D accumulation of T3G is the most important factor. Almost 50% of the R&D engineers have TD-SCDMA terminal development experiences for more than five years. These few days are the fruits of brainstorming for nearly three years by 130 TD-SCDMA terminal development team members of T3G. It is also crystal of the international cooperation of three parent companies, cherishing long-term technical accumulation and collective intelligence. The achievement also shows that our QA and luck are quite good, as the old saying says, the diligent will be rewarded.

Q: What’s the plan for the following several tape-outs?
A: T3G will have tape-out according to practical requirements. It will be determined by the result of further functional test and field test. The function tests based on current chip have all satisfied the design index requirements. We plan to launch commercial chips later next year.

Q: T3G has made the successful phone call. When will you deliver the real commercial chip? What are the obstacles on the way?
A: T3G expects to launch the commercial chip after June 2005 and provides batch quantity in 2006. We are testing the chip and verifying the correctness of protocol stack through field test and interconnect and intercommunication test. We know the industrialization of TD-SCDMA is a long-distance running and the following commercialization process is even harder.

Q: The chip developed by T3G has finished the test. Why will you provide batch quantity of commercial products in 2006?
A: The batch quantity of commercialization can only be approved after large scale outfield test and interconnect and intercommunication test. The proper network test environment will be available by later 2005.

Q: How many handset companies will use the chip developed by T3G?
A: As everyone knows, Samsung is cooperating closely with T3G. It has assigned over 20 professional handset engineers. At the same time we will also choose some handset manufacturers with strong background to cooperate.

Q: Is the commercial chip delivered next year bigger in size? Does the chip have the problem of power-hungry?
A: The size of T3G chip is not big at all. It will satisfy the requirement of handset. The size is 12mm x 12mm. What’s more important, the chip supports the data transmission rate of 384kbps. According to current test result, it doesn’t have the problem of power-hungry. The power consumption meets the design requirement well.

Q: How about the dual-mode solution of T3G?
A: The dual-mode solution of T3G means the TD-SCDMA/GSM/GPRS dual-mode triple- frequency solution.

Q: Will T3G provide multi-mode handset of TD-SCDMA, WCDMA and cdma2000?
A: T3G is doing the survey of multi-mode handset plan of TD-SCDMA and WCDMA, and plans to provide solution in 2007.

Q: How much experience does T3G have in reference design?
A: T3G has many excellent engineers with SCDMA, GSM and CDMA commercial handset development experiences. Many of them have oversea working experiences and developing experiences in international leading handset companies. Meanwhile parent company Philips provides strong support in reference design and Samsung in commercial handset. T3G is the only chip company to provide TD-SCDMA handset reference design board in last week’s telecommunication exhibition.

Q: T3G conducted modem IC design on mature plan. Can this plan degrade technical risks? What’s your future plan for higher integration and cost degradation?
A: By adopting the mature and safe plan, T3G made breakthroughs very fast. This plan will support the first generation commercialization of TD terminals. As to cost degradation, we have begun considering of second generation of chip design. This will be the emphases for us in 2005.

Q: Which handset operation system does T3G use?
A: Currently we use RTK operation system of PHILIPS. It can support the development of high-tier, mid-tier and low-tier handsets. Its real-time function is very good.

Q: What advantages does RTK OS have compared with other commercial OS?
A: RTK is a real-time OS developed by PHILIPS based on its chipset. It has a successful application in 2G, 2.5G and 3G business.

Q: The handset of PHILIPS has the advantage of low power consumption. Can T3G succeed this advantage?
A: Yes. T3G borrows a lot of advanced ideas from PHILIPS in handset design such as power saving and makes optimization for TD characteristics. The commercial handset of T3G will provide excellent power saving function.

Q: Can you talk something about IC design of T3G?
A: T3G is a Fabless IC design company. What we have learned are: strict design of chip’s inner structure and outer interfaces, considering the real mobile environment of handset; high quality of ASIC design and implementation; sufficient simulation, test and verification; and professional back-end design. All these factors contribute to the success of this chip. Meanwhile, the accumulation of KNOW-HOW of TD-SCDMA terminal system, the technical guidance from seasoned chip design experts, and excellent R&D team are all very important.

Q: What’s the progress of T3G development platform?
A: Our development platform includes chip, protocol stack and reference design. Now we have finished the relevant design. Customers such as terminal manufacturers and design companies can use our development platform to conduct commercial terminals design very quickly.

Q: Will T3G sell commercial protocol stack?
A: The products of T3G include TD-SCDMA commercial terminal chipset, protocol stack and terminal reference design. We have flexible business cooperation modes. You may contact the marketing department of T3G for details

Q: What are the working emphases of T3G in 2005?
A: What TD-SCDMA needs to solve urgently are:
·Improve current design and provide stable commercialized terminal solution;
·Support our customers to launch commercial TD-SCDMA terminals soon;
·Continue to optimize BOM and start the research for next generation TD-SCDMA chip with stronger competitiveness.

Q: What is BOM?
A: BOM is the abbreviation of Bill of Material. It means the quantity and cost price of terminal elements. The cost of core elements in T3G’s BOM is equivalent to that of WCDMA. It can satisfy the commercialization requirements.

Q: What do you think of the competitive relationship between T3G and other chip manufacturers?
A: In the telecommunication exhibition, TD-SCDMA industry alliance exhibited itself as a whole. What we need now is cooperation and developing together, which is the main theme of TD-SCDMA. What we need urgently is the effective cooperation within industry alliance instead of competition. If there exist a competition, then it should be the race with time, or the competition with WCDMA and cdma2000.

Q: Among Spreadtrum, Commit, CQIT and T3G, which company has the highest integration level? Comparing with the other three companies, what are the advantages of T3G?
A: These four companies have respective characteristics. Integration level is not the only evaluation merit. What T3G’s professional handsets customers continuously consult and admonish are: Is your complete solution stable and safe? Is the function powerful? Is the performance prominent? Is the power consumption low? They are the real handset design and manufacture experts therefore we respect their specialty requirements. We believe the integral advantage of T3G’s chip design and terminal solution has powerful competitiveness. The main characteristics are:
·Fast time to market;
·Support TD-SCDMA/GSM/GPRS double-mode or TD-SCDMA single mode;
·Mature and stable terminal total solution;
·Support high speed data transmission of 384kbps;
·Low power consumption and power saving.

Q: What is the development status of T3G’s competitors?
A: All these five TD-SCDMA chip manufacturers have achieved great success. We need to learn from each other and grow up together. The situation that so many mobile communication handset chip manufacturers were set up has never appeared in WCDMA or cdma2000 in China. It is the opportunity of TD-SCDMA that brings the environment of many chip suppliers.

Q: Commit and Spreadtrum are also members of industry alliance. Do you have a chance to cooperate?
A: Sure. Actually we have already begun relevant work in TDIA, for example, the development of terminal TTCN conformance test cases, the research of TD terminal multi-media service application, IOT test, etc. With the join of chip manufacturers such as T3G, Commit, Spreadtrum, CQIT and ST, TD terminal industrial chain will become more solid and the chip development will be more vigorous.

Q: Does T3G have cooperation with domestic terminal manufacturers?
A: We are cooperating closely with domestic terminal manufacturers and are helping them to launch TD commercial terminals in the next year.

Q: What are the advantages of T3G?
A: First of all, T3G has the full support from its parent companies. The constitute of parent companies is complementary, including the terminal core techniques of Datang, the chip design of PHILIPS, and the handset design of Samsung. We also have an excellent R&D team focusing on TD-SCDMA. What’s more, T3G specializes on TD terminal’s commercialization solution. Now the advantage of both R&D and product of T3G has appeared.

Q: What’s the positioning of T3G, high tier or low tier?
A: The terminal reference design provided by T3G can satisfy the design requirement of high-tier, mid-tier and low-tier handsets.

Q: What’s the prospect of T3G?
A: As a joint venture, T3G has passed the hard period of start-up. Financing situation becomes better, too. With the great opportunity of TD-SCDMA development, we believe T3G will have a brighter future.

Q: What do you think will be the main problems for T3G in the future, technology, management or others?
A: Up to now T3G has successfully walked over the first Start-up period, accumulated and obtained valuable experiences, and educated many talents. Our next aim is to grow up. What you care is what we are trying to improve continuously.

Q: Could you introduce the organization of T3G?
A: T3G adopts the transparent and flat matrix management mode. Every employee has the sense of active participating. You may go to our website www.t3gt.com to have a look. We believe all employees have potential value and huge recompense.

Q: It is said that T3G has a powerful PM team?
A: T3G has experienced project mangers, responsible project management staff and invigorative R&D team.

Q: It is said that you have a good promotion mode to make employees confident?
A: Our employees are confident to TD-SCDMA project. This is the power source to them. I’m grateful to them.

Q: When will T3G be familiar by fellow traders of the industry?
A: Thanks for your encouragement. The development opportunity of TD-SCSMA industry brings extensive stage for us. T3G has to continue to develop. We believe that with the success of TD-SCDMA industry, T3G will be a successful enterprise remembered by everyone.

2．The Discussion about TD-SCDMA Industry

Q: When do you think TD-SCDMA will have its own market?
A: TD-SCDMA market is closely related to the issuing of 3G licenses. There should be a market for TD-SCDMA by the second half of 2005.

Q: Will TD-SCDMA have the same result as SCDMA?
A: Based on the hard development of SCDMA and its final commercialization experience, we believe that TD-SCDMA will have a brighter future, and will be more successful than SCDMA, since the standardization and advantages of its technology, the scale of TD-SCDMA industry alliance, international cooperation, and its 3G oriented applications have attained for TD-SCDMA a more solid foundation and a larger stage than SCDMA. The great contribution and influence made by both SCDMA and TD-SCDMA will be historical to the future of China’s mobile communications industry..

Q: Are you confident in TD-SCDMA’s entry into European market? How do we operate the business in oversea countries?
A: We all know that Europe has a free frequency band for TD-SCDMA, which is definitely an advantage for its entry into European market. Apart from Europe, TD-SCDMA also aims at North and South America, and South East Asia.

Q: Which gigantic chipset manufacturers do you think should join the TD-SCDMA family?
A: By now, we already have some top chipset companies like PHILIPS, TI, ST, MAXIM in TD-SCDMA camp, and of course we would like to see more companies coming in with attraction from TD-SCDMA’s great market opportunity, not only on base band chipsets, but also RF chips. Only their participation will finally boost TD-SCDMA to a greater success.

Q: How can we gain support from operators?
A: Technically, the advantages of TD-SCDMA are already clearly understood by the operators, but in terms of actual profit, their fully support and commitment like manufacturers are definitely needed.

Q: Operators tend to select the less risky and matured technology. Among the 3 standards, TD-SCDMA is behind in technology maturity aspect. Currently the future of WCDMA is not optimistic either. Even it gets a 3G license; the time for the commercialization of TDD-LCR is hard to estimate. What’s your opinion about this problem?
A: TD has been facing the above mentioned challenges from the very beginning. Though there are numerous unknown adverse factors and difficulties, everyone should have no regret left behind as long as he/she has tried his/her best to do what is supposed to do. The commercialization of TD-SCDMA is surely a long process. What we need is not only determination, but also firm strength and full commitment.

Q: Based on current status of TD-SCDMA, what’s your view about the position of China in the standardization and industry of 4G?
A: With TD-SCDMA, China has made great breakthrough in mobile communication technical standards, and also incubated a group of top specialists. Beside, the breakthrough of the whole industry is approaching. No doubt China will play a more important role in 4G standardization, R&D and industrialization.

Q: Now the international market is paying attention to a technology called “Ultra-WideBand”. It is said that the transmission speed can reach 1G. Will TD-SCDMA be dropped behind when it is commercialized?
A: The mission of T3G is to focus on the terminal industrialization process of TD-SCDMA. TD-SCDMA technology is advancing too and it will support higher speed data transmission (such as HSDPA, HSUPA) soon. The supersession of industry will not be so frequent like new technology development. The period of mobile communication industry is about 10~15 years. TD-SCDMA will not be dropped behind as long as it is implemented commercially next year.

Q: When will the government announce the network entering test standards for TD-SCDMA terminals?
A: The standard can trace and refer to the related progress of CCSA. It is expected to be ready by the second half of next year.

Q: The chip of T3G should have no problems. Do you think the system developed by Datang and Zhongxin is also ok?
A: Now we have finished the voice communication test with Datang’s network and will begin the interconnect and intercommunication test with other network manufacturers such as Zhongxin, Huawei/Siemens and Putian.

Q: What China lacks now is not the chip design capability, but the mature protocol stack and complete conformance test. CCSA and Datang started late in TD-SCDMA conformance test standards. What’s your opinion to this problem?
A: I agree with you that commercial protocol stack is very important. T3G is conducting the R&D of commercial software too. CCSA and Datang accelerated the push and substantial work in TD-SCDMA terminal conformance test standards and have achieved good result. Like you all, I wish TD-SCDMA to develop even faster in every aspect.

Q: What are the research hot points of TD-SCDMA in terminal and protocol stack?
A: There are problems like power consumption, characteristic services and applications for terminals, and double-mode shift, high speed data transmission, high effective conformance and coverage test for protocol stack.

Q: Which way do you prefer: develop protocol stack domestically or contract to Indian companies? I think domestic companies have problems in after service system. Sasken and Hughes Software from India are both companies to sell protocol stack and contract service.
A: We prefer to develop protocol stack domestically. T3G has a protocol stack development team of over 50 people, more than half of whom have over five years of relevant experiences. At the same time, T3G have experienced software experts from PHILIPS to give us technical guidance. We believe T3G can provide commercial protocol stack software. Foreign companies have their characteristics while we have our advantages too.

Q: You mentioned the commercialization of protocol stack software. How do you work toward this aim? What’s the current status? Is there any problem?
A: The commercialization of terminals and protocol stack is a long process. It needs clear software system architecture and high quality programming. What’s most important is the sufficient verification test, including unit test, module test, and integration test and so on. T3G has an excellent test team to prepare and test carefully in system integration test, system test, IOT and Pre-FTA test. We wish to reach the commercialization degree by the end of next year.

Q: The tester of Welltek in the telecommunication exhibition needs improvement. When will commercial TD-SCDMA terminal integration tester be available?
A: The production tester of Welltek will satisfy the requirements from handset manufacturers. As to handset integration tester, the industry alliance is negotiating with relevant companies and will have a result soon. T3G will support relevant companies to conduct the development of terminal integration tester.

Q: What do you estimate the development and commercialization cost amount for a TD-SCDMA terminal base band chip product (domestic)?
A: The development cost of TD-SCDMA chip is very huge. And of course, its marketing return is huge too.

Q: TD-SCDMA adopts the uplink synchronized code and disturbing code to identify UE. The yards of these two codes are very limited. Will this problem degrade the security of TD-SCDMA?
A: These two codes are not used for secure purpose. The true security is obtained by the cryptographic algorithm of network and terminal.

Q: Many domestic handsets have the problems of slow reaction and low efficiency of software and hardware. Is there any good method to solve this problem?
A: By seeing the outstanding achievement and great technical progress of domestic handset manufacturers in 2G and 2.5G, we have a good reason to believe that they will continue to play an important role in the development of TD-SCDMA commercial handsets. With the support of domestic TD terminal chipset and solution, these manufacturers will have a better opportunity to advance their R&D capability.

Q: Generally the field test for a handset is over 6 months in other country. Can TD-SCDMA handset reach the time line for commercialization? How to guarantee the product quality?
A: With commercial chipset and stable reference design, domestic handset manufacturers also need 6 months to launch a commercial handset, which is available for mass production.

Conclusion:

Zhang Daijun: Finally I will thank you for your attention to TD-SCDMA and T3G. Like other TD-SCDMA R&D company, T3G is conducting a glorious and arduous mission. Our aim is “Make the commercialization of TD-SCDMA terminals successful”. TD-SCDMA industry has brought uncommon opportunity for many related industries. We wish all fellow traders of the industry to devote to the final success of the commercialization of TD-SCDMA and obtain business return. If you have other concern, please go to the website of T3G (http://www.t3gt.com). Thank you.

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