Qualcomm are major technology player in the wireless industry, having been responsible for the creation and development of CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) technology commonly used in 3G mobile networks worldwide. Today is it mainly a technology research and development organisation, and is the world's largest fabless chip supplier (i.e. it designs and markets the chips but subcontracts their manufacture). A signficant part of its revenues come from patents used in both CDMA and W-CDMA mobile networks.

In the 1990's Qualcomm manufactured its own cellular base stations and mobile phones. These businesses were sold to Ericsson and Kyocera respectively at the turn of the century.

Qualcomm has developed a range of chipsets used in mobile networks and handsets including very fast lookup GPS location. Their Gobi chipset uniquely supports both CDMA, GSM and UMTS technologies in a single device.

In May 2008, Qualcomm made a strategic investment in ip.access, the Cambridge UK based picocell and femtocell vendor. The terms of the investment were not disclosed.

The company announced their intention to enter the femtocell market with a femtocell chipset to compete with picoChip and Percello, stating in February 2009 that this program had been added to their roadmap. The schedule indicated that early sampling of devices would start in Q2 2010, suggesting that commercial products may be feasible towards the end of 2010 or shortly thereafter.

The chipsets, named Femtocell Station Modem (FSM), supporting both UMTS/HSPA and CDMA/EV-DO technologies, will include baseband functions, network listen and integrated RF capabilities for all major wireless bands. The chipsets also will feature innovative techniques addressing the issue of interference between femtocells and the macro network.

According to Qualcomm's Italian website, the lead project engineer for their femtocell development program is Sanjiv Nanda, a Senior Director with Corporate Research and Development. Sanjiv has 48 granted patents to his name (which seems quite a lot to me, even for someone at Qualcomm).

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