March 17, 2010 — 4G chipmaker Sequans today announced that its first LTE chip, the SQN3010, will soon be sampling with key customers.

March 17, 2010 — 4G chipmaker Sequans today announced that its first LTE chip, the SQN3010, will soon be sampling with key customers. The chip has been in development for many months and will be delivered first to China Mobile, the leading proponent of TD-LTE technology, who selected Sequans to provide TD-LTE chips and USB dongles for the world’s first TD-LTE demonstration network that China Mobile will deploy at World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, which begins in May.

The SQN3010 is a baseband SOC, designed to comply with the 3GPP R8 standard, supporting UE category 3 throughput of 100 Mbps in a 20 MHz channel, and LTE band classes 38 and 40. The SQN3010 is integrated with RF provided by Sequans’ partners.
“Our new LTE chip will enable the first TD-LTE network deployments and we are very proud to deliver it,” said Georges Karam, Sequans CEO. “TD-LTE technology is very much in demand, not only by China Mobile, but by other TD-LTE operators in Europe, Asia and North America.”

Sequans is working with its partners, including Motorola and Alcatel-Lucent, to deliver TD-LTE USB dongles to China Mobile for LTE band class 40 (2.3-2.4 GHz) supporting 20 MHz channels. The dongles will be given to visitors at the World Expo 2010 so they can experience firsthand the speed and power of LTE. China Mobile intends to deploy TD-LTE service all across China.

In addition to enabling China Mobile, Sequans is collaborating with Alcatel-Lucent to bring TD-LTE solutions to TD-LTE operators in Asia and Europe who are planning to offer services at 2.6 GHz. Sequans is therefore delivering a second version of its TD-LTE USB dongle for LTE band class 38 (2.5-2.6 GHz), as announced by the two companies last month.

“Sequans is taking the early lead in the development of LTE silicon,” said Stéphane Téral, principal analyst, Infonetics Research. “Sequans’ presence in the LTE market, following their long and successful track record in WiMAX, which shares many common attributes with TD-LTE, significantly strengthens the LTE ecosystem that with China Mobile’s momentum is shaping up to be the next big wave.”