Comneon Commences High Volume Shipments of its Open License 3G Protocol Stack: Represent the World’s First Openly-Licensable 2G/3G Dual Mode Solution to be Commercially Deployed

Munich – September 11, 2006 – Comneon GmbH, a leading supplier of software for mobile phones, today announced that its dual-mode 3G protocol stack is now shipping in high volumes with one of the industry’s Top-3 handset manufacturers.  This represents the first configurable 2G/3G dual mode protocol stack software solution available on the open market to be launched commercially after completing the full certification process. Comneon’s protocol stacks have already been ported to nine different chip and system platform solutions of some of the most well-known and established brands in mobile communications as well as new market entrants.

Software is the most complex component of a mobile handset. Much of the software complexity derives from the protocol stack which is used to manage the flow of data on a communications channel according to a particular protocol. For example, protocol stacks are used to manage mobility, call handling, as well as base station and radio network communication to the mobile phone including cell reselection and the hand over between 2G and 3G networks.

 

“Selecting the right software provider can spell the difference between a mobile phone’s success on the market, or its failure,” said Michael Thelander, CEO of Signals Research Group. “The dual mode 3G protocol stack is among the most complex software components in the mobile device, taking some four to five years to develop and fully certify in the market.  The fact that Comneon now has a certified 3G protocol stack available for licensing is good news not only for IC vendors seeking a highly portable software solution, but also for handset designers seeking more rapid mobile phone ramp-ups.”

 

Comneon’s commercially launched WEDGE (Wideband CDMA and EDGE) protocol stack solution supports the 3GPP Release 99 and specifications and has undergone full conformance, interoperability and field testing with all the world's leading infrastructure vendors and operators. It has already been integrated onto multiple silicon solutions and mobile phone platforms from a variety of vendors, a move made easier by a unique hardware abstraction layer that encapsulates the functionality that differs from chipset to chipset.

 

“We are pleased to be the first company to bring an openly licensable 3G protocol stack to market in a commercial handset," said Dr. Christian Mucke, Managing Director of Comneon.  “This is an important milestone that solidifies Comneon’s role as the leading wireless software provider for semiconductor and mobile phone manufacturers. We are currently shipping our protocol stack in mass volumes and expect another ramp-up with a leading handset manufacturer in fourth quarter of 2006,” he added.

 

The entire protocol stack family from Comneon includes the 3GPP ‘Release 5’ and ‘Release 6’ products that are already enabled for Dual Transfer Mode (DTM) to allow transparency between 2G and 3G services. Comneon’s 3GPP ‘Release 5’ product supports HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) while the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System) ‘Release 6’ development program will support HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access) and MBMS (Multimedia Broadcast / Multicast Service). The solutions are fully compatible with Comneon’s OEM-grade APOXI® Application Framework and IMS (Internet Multimedia Subsystem) Device Client for mobile terminals.

 

Comneon (www.comneon.com), a 100 percent subsidiary of Infineon Technologies AG (www.infineon.com), is a leading supplier of advanced software solutions for mobile communications. More than 400 skilled software engineers develop and support world-class software for next generation mobile phones at locations in Germany and Austria as well as customer support facilities worldwide. Comneon provides comprehensive solutions for a broad range of demanding mobile products.