Ever dream of using any of the FOMA cellphones in your country while it is available only in Japan? NTT DoCoMo and Renesas Technology Corp. will develop a single-chip LSI for FOMA 3G handsets.

NTT DoCoMo, Inc. announced today that the company will invest in Renesas Technology Corp. to jointly develop a single-chip LSI making FOMA 3G handsets compatible with both W-CDMA and GSM/GPRS networks.

Currently, it is necessary to embed two chips in order to produce a W-CDMA and GSM/GPRS dual mode handset. However, by combining DoCoMo's W-CDMA technology with Renesas Technology's LSI fabrication, multimedia application processor and GSM/GPRS technologies, a single-chip will be developed that enables a lower cost 3G handset to run on both networks.

DoCoMo's investment is a step toward bringing about the widespread global use of 3G FOMA compatible handsets incorporating low-cost chipsets, and which feature an array of power-efficient advanced functions. Enhanced chipsets will also enable the upgrading of basic FOMA handset functions, such as longer standby-time.

DoCoMo will provide a total of about 7 billion yen over three years (fiscal 2004 to 2006) to Renesas Technology.

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