Replies to post #98784 on InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[captainslog]

While IDCC has issued an 8K about the MUOS contract, they haven't issued a press release. Why is that? Could it be that the final combined team of MUOS and WIN-T may not include IDCC? The suppliers will have to re-compete. Might be that I'm not paying attention yet again.

Commercial Infrastructure
MUOS is not the only program that will use 3G technologies. WIN-T will use this technology to connect to commercial and military networks across the globe.

Until the merger of the competing WIN-T teams in 2004, the two teams led by General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin had adopted similar approaches to 3G from the outset. Lockheed Martin advocated a CDMA 2000 approach, selecting Qualcomm as its team partner in this area. General Dynamics opted for a UMTS-type approach, according to Bill Weiss, vice president of future force networks. From the perspective of the user, there was no difference between the technologies, he noted.

Weiss outlined why 3G lends itself to WIN-T requirements. “There is a requirement in WIN-T for the warfighter to have a single device [the Personal Communications Device] both in garrison with commercial infrastructure and while deployed with WIN-T infrastructure. That almost dictates that we use cellular technology.

“This is an area where we are able to leverage commercial investment and provide the warfighter with features and services they are accustomed to getting on their cell phone at home. In essence, the telephone is able to use commercial as well as the WIN-T infrastructure. That is what is driving us toward a cellular implementation of WIN-T,” Weiss said.

Although there is a consensus that 3G is the way to go, the details of how that is to be delivered in programmatic terms is now being decided. Selection of team members for the converged solution has required suppliers to re-compete.

The new team must be in place before the beginning of the detailed design phase scheduled for October. “We will likely run a competition and choose the technology on a best-value basis,” Weiss said. “The competition would probably not involve a field test, although we are planning to demonstrate cellular technologies as part of the current WIN-T program.”