PowerPC wins out over superior rival chip because IBM was willing to support Nex-G's development efforts Singapore’s Nex-G Systems is designing a WiMax base station based on an IBM processor, even though it’s not the best chip for the job. But that doesn’t worry Ronnie Persad, the company’s chief executive officer.Nex-G is developing a reference design for a high-end WiMax base station that uses IBM’s PowerPC 970 chip for the baseband processor. Nex-G began work on the design after shelving plans to use a PowerQUICC chip from Freescale Semiconductor that Persad admits is better suited to the application.The reference design is expected to be completed next year, he said. Nex-G opted for IBM’s PowerPC chip after being approached by IBM and one of its distributors, Nu Horizons Electronics. IBM wanted a WiMax reference design based on the PowerPC and was willing to support Nex-G’s development efforts, Persad said.Unlike Freescale’s PowerQUICC chip, which packs the processor and chip set inside a single package, IBM’s PowerPC processor requires an external chip set. That means Nex-G’s WiMax base station will need three chips instead of one, which means the design will be slightly larger and consume more power, Persad said. It also means Nex-G will have to design a new motherboard.But Persad is betting IBM’s support and industry connections will more than make up for the technical trade-offs associated with using the PowerPC processor. “IBM opens doors to us that we couldn’t open ourselves,” Persad said, speaking at the CommunicAsia exhibition. Nex-G has no intention of manufacturing WiMax base stations itself. Instead, the company will license its reference design to equipment makers through Nu Horizons.“We want to keep our focus on pure R&D, that’s what we do best,” Persad said. Technology Industry