computer science

Qualcomm

Qualcomm is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Qualcomm rather than just read about it. In short: Qualcomm Incorporated () is an American multinational technology corporation headquartered in San Diego, California. The company develops and designs technologies for global communications and computing, including next-generation mobile networks, smart devices, and semiconductors — such as mobile processors and artificial intelligence chips.

Key takeaways

Qualcomm belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Qualcomm to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Qualcomm from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Qualcomm Incorporated () is an American multinational technology corporation headquartered in San Diego, California. The company develops and designs technologies for global communications and computing, including next-generation mobile networks, smart devices, and semiconductors — such as mobile processors and artificial intelligence chips. The company holds essential patents for global mobile communication standards including 5G, 4G, CDMA2000, TD-SCDMA and WCDMA. Founded in 1985 by Irwin Jacobs and six other co-founders, Qualcomm's early research into code-division multiple access (CDMA) wireless technology was financed through revenue from its Omnitracs satellite communications system. CDMA was later adopted as a 2G standard in North America, incorporating Qualcomm patents. This adoption led to licensing disputes over pricing and access to essential patents. Over time, Qualcomm expanded into semiconductor products, operating largely under a fabless manufacturing model. Its Snapdragon line of processors is widely used in smartphones and other smart devices by multiple manufacturers. In recent years, Qualcomm has been expanding into areas including embedded artificial intelligence, automotive applications, the Internet of Things (IoT), augmented reality, and virtual reality, in addition to developing the Dragonwing product line, aimed at industrial and enterprise solutions with a focus on embedded AI, edge computing, and advanced connectivity. In addition to its technological activities, Qualcomm has faced legal and regulatory disputes in several countries, particularly concerning patent licensing and competition practices. The company has been involved in antitrust cases led by authorities in the United States, the European Union, and Asia, as well as litigation with manufacturers such as Apple.

History

Early history Qualcomm was established on July 1, 1985 by seven former Linkabit employees led by Irwin Jacobs. Other co-founders included Andrew Viterbi, Franklin Antonio, Adelia Coffman, Andrew Cohen, Klein Gilhousen, and Harvey White. The company was named Qualcomm for "Quality Communications". It started as a contract research and development center largely for government and defense projects. Qualcomm merged with Omninet in 1988 and raised $3.5 million in funding to produce the Omnitracs satellite communications system for trucking companies. Qualcomm grew from eight employees in 1986 to 620 employees in 1991, due to demand for Omnitracs. By 1989, Qualcomm had $32 million in revenue, 50 percent of which was from an Omnitracs contract with Schneider National. Omnitracs profits helped fund Qualcomm's research and development into code-division multiple access (CDMA) technologies for cell phone networks.

1990–2015 Qualcomm was operating at a loss in the 1990s due to its investment in CDMA research. To obtain funding, the company filed an initial public offering in September 1991, raising $68 million. An additional $486 million was raised in 1995 through the sale of 11.5 million more shares. The second funding round was done to raise money for the mass manufacturing of CDMA-based phones, base-stations, and equipment, after most US-based cellular networks announced they would adopt the CDMA standard. The company had $383 million in annual revenue in 1995 and $814 million by 1996. In 1998, Qualcomm was restructured, leading to a 700-employee layoff. Its base station and cell-phone manufacturing businesses were spun-off in order to focus on its higher-margin patents and chipset businesses. Since the base station division was losing $400M a year (having never sold another base station after making its 10th sale), profits skyrocketed in the following year, and Qualcomm was the fastest growing stock on the market with a 2,621 percent growth over one year. By 2000, Qualcomm had grown to 6,300 employees, $3.2 billion in revenues, and $670 million in profit. 39 percent of its sales were from CDMA technology, followed by licensing (22%), wireless (22%), and other products (17%). Around this time, Qualcomm established offices in Europe, Asia Pacific, and in the Americas. By 2001, 65 percent of Qualcomm's revenues originated from outside the United States with 35 percent coming from South Korea. In 2005, Paul E. Jacobs, son of Qualcomm founder Irwin Jacobs, was appointed as Qualcomm's new CEO. Whereas Irwin Jacobs focused on CDMA patents, Paul Jacobs refocused much of Qualcomm's new research and development on projects related to the Internet of things. In the same year they acquired Flarion Technologies, a developer of wireless broadband Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex Access (OFDMA) technology. Qualcomm announced Steven Mollenkopf would succeed Paul Jacobs as CEO in December 2013. Mollenkopf said he would expand Qualcomm's focus to wireless technology for cars, wearable devices, and other new markets.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Qualcomm

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Qualcomm claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Qualcomm before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Qualcomm ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Qualcomm

In research: Qualcomm appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Qualcomm in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Qualcomm is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1985 establishments in California, 1991 initial public offerings, American companies established in 1985, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Qualcomm outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Qualcomm in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Qualcomm means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Qualcomm out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Qualcomm in simple terms?

Why does Qualcomm matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Qualcomm?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Qualcomm.