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Infineon First to Bring Voice-over-WLAN to Low-Cost Mobile Handsets


WEBWIRE

Neubiberg, Germany, San Jose, USA, March 2008 – Infineon Technologies AG (FSE/NYSE: IFX), a leading provider of communication ICs, is the first semiconductor supplier to offer Voice-over-IP functionality for low-cost mobile phones, and enabling operators to offer fixed-mobile convergence by integrating Wi-Fi on its mobile phone platform. The solution helps to significantly reduce the bill-of-materials (BOM) cost for Wi-Fi enabled cell phones by up to 50 percent compared to existing solutions.

At the Spring VON.x Conference and Expo in California, USA, Infineon today announced availability of its reference platform for a low-cost dual-mode GSM/Wi-Fi solution. Together with Atheros Communications, Inc., a leading developer of Wi-Fi solutions for mobile, networking and computing products, Infineon has developed a fully-functional, low-cost, dual-mode GSM/Wi-Fi mobile platform. The complete reference solution will bring Wi-Fi technology to low-cost mobile phones, enabling millions of users worldwide to make high-quality VoIP calls at virtually no cost when connected to wireless local area networks (WLANs).

The XMM™1013 platform delivers VoIP capabilities as well as GSM services for mobile handsets. To date, Wi-Fi technology has been used as a connectivity option for accessing Internet data in high-end smartphones. This new platform adds full VoIP capabilities to cellular handsets at unprecedented price points.

“The market for dual-mode GSM/Wi-Fi handsets is expected to grow from 186 million units in 2008 to 250 units million in 2010,” said Will Strauss, Principal Analyst of Forward Concepts. “Given Infineon’s market success with its popular second generation ULC GSM chip and the strong industry adoption of Atheros’ ROCm™ family of mobile WLAN solutions, I expect this new combination of cellular and WLAN solutions to also be successful.”

“The new reference design expands the possibilities for providing mobile VoIP to millions of users worldwide,” said Sam Endy, Vice President and General Manager of the Mobile Wireless Business Unit for Atheros. “The two companies have jointly engineered a compelling dual-mode GSM/Wi-Fi phone that is user-friendly and extremely cost-effective to manufacture, enabling Wi-Fi to become a mainstream feature in new, mobile handsets.”

“While many people want to make inexpensive VoIP phone calls at home and on-the-go (or while travelling), there is a growing demand for easy-to-use handsets with accessibility to GSM mobile networks as well as Wi-Fi hotspots”, said Weng Kuan Tan, Vice President and General Manager of the Entry Phone Business Unit at Infineon’s Communication Solutions Business Group. “Our field proven and best-selling low-cost solution paired with Atheros’ wireless VoIP system enables attractive price points for new, dual-mode handsets that offer users savings through VoIP calls at any open access point.”



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