Texas Instruments Inc. here and six-year-old Microtune Inc. in the Dallas suburb of Plano are teaming up for the first time to jointly develop and offer chip set solutions for baseband communications applications using data over cable service interface specification (known as "DOCSIS"). Under the new partnership, TI and Microtune said they will provide a cable modem baseband and radio-frequency chip set complete with DOCSIS-based software that has been certified in multiple cable modem products. In addition, the two companies said they will collaborate on silicon product roadmaps and cable modem reference designs--or engineering mockups--for potential customers. "Cable modem suppliers want a highly optimized and field-hardened solution for their cable product platforms," said Brett Butler, general manager of TI's cable broadband communications product offering. "Simply put, the TI and Microtune relationship provides that," he stated. "Our relationship is extremely complementary and clearly addresses operators' needs with an industry-leading solution."