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picoChip R&D Facilities for 3G and WiMAX in China

9th September, 2004

Europe : picoChip announced the opening of an office in Shenzhen, China. With the new office, picoChip intends to offer more localised support, develop new business and strengthen the company's existing relationships in the region.

The facility includes a fully equipped development lab that will be used to support local engineering activities, including systems development for regional standards and research projects.

The new office was officially opened during the UK-China ICT Week (6-10 September 2004). UK-China ICT Week provides the highest level technical and policy dialogue between UK and China for information and communication technologies (ICT). picoChip is one of the three British sponsors and was formally introduced by UK government to Chinese government and industry communities as one of the most advanced UK-based technologies for 3G, WiMAX and 'Beyond 3G' wireless communications.

picoChip has been working in China, in partnership with Millennium Meshwork Data Systems Co., Ltd. (MMDS) since early 2003. The picoChip China development centre in Shenzhen was jointly established with MMDS.

picoChip technology has already been selected for development activities within China, with Chinese OEMs and key research institutes using picoChip for projects, including WiMAX, TD-SCDMA and advanced wireless applications. All Chinese picoChip customers can now obtain enhanced technical support via the local development centre in Shenzhen.

Stephen Timms MP, United Kingdom Minister of State for Energy, e-Commerce and Postal Services, who is also responsible for the Communications and Information Industries, said, "China is the largest global market in wireless communications with 269million current users, growing by over 5million per month. The UK has many companies that are world leaders in wireless technology, many of whom are already demonstrating great success here. By sponsoring UK-China ICT Week and inaugurating this development centre, picoChip are demonstrating their commitment to the country - evidence of the importance of the Chinese market."

Peter Claydon, co-Founder and CEO at picoChip, commented, "To meet the demand for China's dynamic growth in wireless technology requires local support. This new office in Shenzhen will not only help us to serve our existing partners better, but should also help us to strengthen and intensify our penetration of the fast-growing market in this region. Even as a small company, we are growing fast and it is significant that for our first external development site we selected China."

The picoChip centre will not only provide for the implementation of new technology but will cater for R&D too. It will facilitate customers in rapidly developing technology for both international and domestic standards. And it will support engineering universities and institutes in China with research of advanced wireless communications and support research and industry communities in their Chinese National R&D Projects (such as 863 and 973) in the field of advanced wireless technologies.

Stephen Timms MP, added, "Chinese telecom equipment manufacturers can enhance their products' competitiveness in international markets by adopting next generation UK technologies like those from picoChip."

The need for flexible wireless solutions is critical in China. While entering the 3G era three standards (WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, and CDMA2000) are being promoted by the Chinese government. picoChip provides additional flexibility, performance and boosts competitiveness for its customers and provides one of most advanced UK technologies for 3G wireless communications.

Joseph Luo, Chairman, MMDS, concludes, "Chinese OEMs are very enthusiastic towards picoChip technologies because of its flexibility in adapting to different standards. This is down to two key features; the fact that it is completely programmable, avoiding long ASIC design and manufacturing cycles, and the picoArray's(TM) simple approach to handling system designs in a single environment. In addition, Chinese operators are constantly on the hunt for solutions with better performance and lower cost from new and advanced technologies like those from picoChip. "

The picoChip design solution combines a high-performance processor optimised for wireless, with a rich programming environment (using standard ANSI C) and comprehensive system libraries. The company's newest processor is the PC102 delivering 200GIPS and 40GMACs. Reference designs for WCDMA, HSDPA and 802.16 ("WiMAX") are currently available. These provide a speedy, cost-effective, low risk route to market for fully compliant wireless infrastructure. The system is also perfectly suited to any other advanced wireless technology, including 4G research and Software Defined Radio.

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