picoChip has established a new development center in Beijing to complement the company's existing development site in Bath, England.
picoChip also has an engineering facility in Shenzhen and sales office in Shanghai as part of its commitment to the Chinese market.
This expansion builds on the base provided by picoChip's established relationships and local operations. These include a highly-productive partnership with WSPN-BUPT (Wireless Signal Processing & Network Lab, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications), focused on developing wireless systems based on TD-SCDMA and commercial WiMAX systems optimised for the Chinese market.
A similar collaboration with the Institute of Computing Technology (ICT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), a world leader in network software and protocol stacks, has already produced software technology which is in use by picoChip's customers worldwide to provide mobile value-added services.
"This is a significant step for us: as our business grows worldwide, we are growing our development strength," said Guillaume d'Eyssautier, president and CEO at picoChip. "It is no coincidence that China was the site of our first external development operation; this expansion takes us a step further in our commitment to Chinese technology and to the Chinese market – the world's most significant for wireless. This is especially timely with the approaching launch of TD-SCDMA services."
picoChip has been working in China since early 2003, when it established a partnership in the form of a joint development centre with Millennium Meshwork Data Systems. In September 2004 it opened its first China-based office in Shenzhen, not only enhancing its sales and support efforts, but also incorporating a development lab as the site of local engineering activities, including systems development for regional standards and research projects.
Yingbo Jiang, General Manager of at picoChip's Beijing design center, commented: "From the outset, picoChip's philosophy has been to involve itself intimately, not just with the Chinese market, but also with the Chinese technical and scientific communities. This development centre will be responsible both for work on global standards such as WiMAX, but also developments for local technologies such as TD-SCDMA."
Steve Lu, picoChip's VP sales, Asia, added: "Taking an active role in the development of technology here has already paid dividends, as our people continue to demonstrate expertise and innovation to rival any region of the world in the fields of advanced wireless applications."
picoChip provides software-defined radio solutions to address the key challenges of cost, development time and flexibility for the next generation of wireless systems. The company is the leading supplier of multi-core DSPs, delivering a world-beating price/performance combination.
