Wavesat deploys Odyssey 4G chipset in Willcom’s XGP wireless broadband service in Japan

TOKYO, JAPAN & SAN MATEO, USA: Wavesat Inc., a leading supplier of 4G broadband wireless semiconductor solutions, today announced that its “Odyssey” chipset is the first -– and currently the only -- to be widely deployed in Willcom’s new “XGP” broadband wireless network, which entered commercial service this month in Japan.

The Odyssey chipset is featured in Willcom’s GX001N XGP PC Cards manufactured by a leading manufacturer of wireless terminals and consumer devices in Japan.

Willcom’s data-only (Internet, video and more) XGP service, based on a 4G “OFDMA” standard, is available to the general public and enterprise users. Wavesat has worked closely with Willcom and solution partners in Japan since early 2008 to meet this network’s advanced requirements for the Japanese marketplace, including a very high 256 QAM modulation scheme which enables 20 Mb/s downlink and uplink connections –- even on high speed trains.

Wavesat was able to meet these stringent requirements based on the unique, highly programmable, multi-mode architecture incorporated in its Odyssey chipset, offering software reconfiguration to support multiple broadband wireless technologies including XGP, WiMAX Wave2, and the company’s recently introduced LTE chipsets.

The Odyssey’s 4G multi-core architecture incorporates multiple ultra low power DSPs, offering flexibility, high performance and low power consumption, without any tradeoff.

The SoC manufactured using advanced Embedded DRAM technology requires no external memory, thus saving customers valuable real estate, cost and power consumption for very small form-factor portable and mobile applications such as wireless PC Data Cards, mobile handsets and other consumer electronic devices.

“XGP represents one of the most leading edge OFDM networks in deployment today. Launching this innovative service in Japan has been a very exciting time for Willcom,” said Yoshioki Chika, Executive Vice President of Willcom. “Working with our valuable partners, such as Wavesat, over the past several months has enabled us to achieve this success and we look forward to more advanced projects in the future.”

“We were the first to offer a truly multi-mode 4G broadband chipset and we are proud to be the first to follow up with true mass deployment of the solution in Willcom’s XGP network,” said Raj Singh, President and CEO of Wavesat. “This deployment represents a significant milestone for the company and is a measure of the power and flexibility of a true multi-protocol architecture.”