Ericsson gives $12 million to University of California

L.M. ERICSSON TELEPHONE has donated $12 million to the University of California (UC) to fund its research into CDMA (code division multiple access) and fourth-generation mobile technology, the Swedish-based company announced Friday.

Specifically, Ericsson will be funding the university's California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Cal-(IT)2) research into CDMA wireless access technology, advanced antenna systems, next generation mobile Internet, power amplifier technology and wireless access networks, the company said in a statement.

Cal-(IT)2, officially launched on Thursday, is being jointly overseen by two UC campuses, UC San Diego and UC Irvine, and is under the direction of Dr. Larry Smarr, a professor of computer science and engineering at UC San Diego, the Cal-(IT)2 said in a separate statement.

Cal-(IT)2 received a four-year $100 million state allocation from the state university and is expecting an additional $200 million in industry, federal, private, and university resources, Cal-(IT)2 said.

The Ericsson funding will be split be between professor and student support, lab and equipment support and research projects. The company will work with Cal-(IT)2 over the next four years on defining "mutually agreed milestones," Ericsson said.

Laura Rohde is a London correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate.