QuickLogic And Nokia: Confirmed

QuickLogic has been mentioned here a number of times. It was brought to me by Paul McWilliams, the editor of Next Inning, a technology investment newsletter. QuickLogic is a very smart company, and I like it a lot. With smart chips, referred to as CSSP's (Customer Specific Standard Products), QuickLogic helps to speed time to market delivery of new gadgets. It essentially fills the feature gaps, which are left open by long design times of the integrated circuits: processors and SoC's (Systems on Chip).


Yesterday, by courtesy of Brian Coleman, the brain behind the Domino Analytics, I got a confirmation that QuickLogic won a slot in the latest Nokia CS-18 HSPA USB modem, called the Nokia Internet Stick. The CS-18 is built around the Icera soft modem processor and is able to deliver HSPA speeds of up to 21Mbps downstream / 5.76Mbps upstream. Today's feature trend with USB wireless modems is they offer flash memory storage along with their primary function - wireless connectivity. The Icera processor cannot handle SD-card interface on its own, hence the presence of the QuickLogic helper chip.


Nokia is a very important win for QuickLogic. First, it is a major brand, and in a play to catch up with the competition in the USB modem market, it will be pushing sales of the CS-18 hard. And second, the just started relationship with QuickLogic will not end with the CS-18. QuickLogic has many exciting solutions in its portfolio. Some of them, like the display enhancement, are able to empower Nokia with features to fight for the pole position in the exploding smartphone / tablet market.

Comments