Contributors: Bob Wheeler, Jag Bolaria, Joseph Byrne, Michael Stanford In This Issue Mobile World Congress (formerly 3GSM) and ISSCC provided opportunities for chip companies to unveil their latest cellular baseband processors. NXP announced its first single-die 3G baseband, the PNX6712. Compared with the company’s PNX5221, a multichip module, the PNX6712 improves 3G capabilities to include support for HSDPA/HSUPA at 7.2/2.0Mbps and adds support for H.264 and VC-1 to enable QVGA decoding at 30fps. Other multimedia features include integrated audio amplifiers, security processing for DRM, and a whopping four microphone inputs. As with several other NXP baseband processors, separate DSPs exist for audio and GSM/EDGE functions, and NXP provides a variety of audio codecs and sound-quality-enhancement firmware. NXP also announced its first significant 3G design win, for the older PNX5222 at Samsung. While the integrated PNX6712 offers a solid feature set and upgrade path from its predecessors, it will be hard-pressed to compete more broadly against 3G processors from Qualcomm and Broadcom that are already used by Samsung and other Tier One vendors. Competing for basic music phones, Infineon announced the single-chip X-Gold 113 and X-Gold 213 handset processors, which integrate RF transceivers. Supporting only GSM/GPRS protocols, the former sits just above Infineon’s ultra-low-cost X-Gold 10x (formerly E-Gold Voice) models in the company’s product line. The 213 adds support for EDGE as well as camera sensors, positioning it for midrange phones. The two new chips are Infineon’s first baseband processors to integrate ARM11 CPUs and FM radios. The CPU performs multimedia processing, for which Infineon provides supporting software. Infineon also announced that it had shipped 50 million single-chip designs between inception of mass production in 2Q06 and the end of the year. By focusing on reducing cost in the low end of the market, Infineon has established a stronghold from which to rebuild its baseband business. Ericsson Mobile Platforms (EMP), a leading 3G baseband supplier, announced a new HSPA design, the U380. Despite EMP’s publicized adoption of STMicroelectronics as a second source, the U380 was created in partnership with TI. The U380 combines a TI OMAP 3430 application processor, featuring a Cortex-A8 CPU and extensive multimedia capabilities, with EMP’s proven 3G modem. This combination improves both the level of integration and the multimedia capabilities of EMP’s platforms, making them more competitive. At ISSCC, TI presented a different semicustom 3G processor, possibly built for its top customer, Nokia. This chip integrates an ARM11 CPU with the customer’s 3G modem. The thrust of the ISSCC presentation was TI’s impressive power-management skills. Going well beyond basic clock gating, power islands, and even adaptive voltage- and clock-scaling, the 45nm processor employs schemes to adjust the body bias of the chip to maximize performance while controlling leakage current. TI claims that by employing these techniques and migrating to 45nm, it achieved a 55% improvement in clock rate, cut power consumption by about two-thirds, and halved die area compared with an equivalent 65nm design. When TI will deliver these benefits in its standard products remains unclear. Also at ISSCC, Renesas presented its third-generation baseband processor. The SH-Mobile G3 includes an ARM11 application processor, an SH4AL-DSP for multimedia processing, a 3D-graphics accelerator, an MPEG4 video engine, a DSP audio engine, and a GPS processor. The cellular baseband contains an ARM9 CPU, an HSDPA engine, and a GSM/EDGE engine. Developed with NTT DoCoMo and leading Japanese handset OEMs, the G3 chip is well suited for FOMA phones, but it is too complex to compete outside the Japanese market. MWC also saw the first substantive LTE demonstrations. NXP demonstrated a multistandard modem based on a new DSP core, and Qualcomm announced multistandard chip sets. Cellular operators are rallying around LTE as their preferred 4G technology, and the industry appears intent on initiating deployments as early as 2H09. —Joe Additional baseband coverage appears in our report A Guide to Wireless Handset Processors.
In the face of ongoing integration efforts, chip startup Audience is attempting what seems impossible: getting OEMs to add a chip to their handsets. At MWC, the company announced its A1010 voice processor, designed to make phones sound better. Based on technology originally developed at CalTech to mimic human hearing, the chip can identify multiple audio “objects” within an audio “scene” and filter them out, even if their sound varies or their position changes relative to the microphone. In a demonstration of the A1010, I found the results remarkable. Whereas existing handset processors can filter out sources of constant background noise (e.g., wind or the drone of a fan) and some other noise using automatic gain control (which works only while the person speaks), the A1010 can utterly silence loud background music and other variable noises. Integration of the chip in a handset is relatively straightforward, because it sits between the microphones/speakers and the handset processor. Other than initialization code for the A1010, no firmware changes are needed on the handset processor. The processor itself is tiny, about 10mm2, and it requires few external components; total footprint is less than 50mm2. One added cost, however, is a second microphone. Audience began sampling the A1010 in 3Q07. We estimate that the chip will sell for about $3. The company is pursuing multiple markets, such as automotive and PC applications, as well as the crucial handset market. Regarding the latter, we expect the processor to be used only in premium handsets—much as standalone graphics and applications processors are. The A1010’s ease of integration is a key advantage, enabling a short cycle between design and qualification—effectively maximizing the window of opportunity before baseband processors integrate similar noise-suppression technology. —Joe Earlier this month, Shanghai-based Maxscend Technologies announced a GB20600 demodulator, the MXD1320. Like Maxscend’s previous chip, a T-DMB demodulator, a key attribute of the MXD1320 is its low power dissipation. Unfortunately, GB20600 is not especially power-efficient, so “low power” is 170mW—more than 10x that of Maxscend’s T-DMB part. We therefore expect a separate handheld digital-TV standard to emerge in China. Newport Media used MWC to demonstrate its NMI700 receiver. As the first single-chip design to support Qualcomm’s MediaFlo standard. This design reduces cost compared with other MediaFlo chip sets. This cost reduction could boost adoption of MediaFlo. Mobile-TV pioneer DiBcom demonstrated its DVB-H/DVB-SH receiver. The supports diversity reception for improved performance. DVB-SH is a hybrid satellite-terrestrial standard for mobile TV, enabling operators to rapidly provide widespread coverage. Pilots using the standard are to occur in 2008. —Joe Additional coverage appears in our report A Guide to Mobile TV Chips. To receive Linley on CE via e-mail, you must register on our web site
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