Telecoms giants in 3G collaboration

Qualcomm is licensing core 3G technology from France Telecom to increase the capacity of next-generation networks.

Under the terms of the agreement, France Telecom has granted a worldwide licence to its Turbo Code patents for wireless communications giant Qualcomm to use in its third-generation (3G) chipsets, including those for Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) 2000 and W-CDMA.

The patents cover technology that can increase network noise tolerance and so deliver substantial increases in capacity for interference-limited systems, such as CDMA.

With increases in network capacity and power efficiencies close to the Shannon limit - the theoretical limit predicted by mathematician Claude Shannon - Turbo Codes are a revolutionary form of forward-error correction, Qualcomm claimed.

Francois Jamet, director of intellectual property and licensing for France Telecom, said: "This agreement represents an important step in the development of France Telecom's Turbo Code Licensing Programme and in our efforts to license all manufacturers of 3G-related products."