MOUNTAIN
VIEW, CA—April 25, 2006—According
to “A Guide to Wireless Handset Processors,” a
new report from The Linley Group, the next-generation of
feature phones and smartphones will deliver advanced functionality
using highly integrated, complex chips that include application
processors and baseband functions, often on the same device,
as well as multimedia engines and other handset interfaces.
These advanced processors will enable newer phones to play
3D games, deliver high-quality video, and execute popular
business applications—without compromising handset
cost or battery life.
"The
growth in this market is being driven by demand for applications
requiring video decoding and 3D, support for higher-resolution
displays, and camera sensors. A year ago, handset processors
weren’t offering integrated analog baseband or multimedia
acceleration to support these functions,” said Linley
Gwennap, Principal Analyst, The Linley Group. “Today,
those functions are standard in the processors currently
sampling that will appear in handsets shipping in 2007. We
also expect to see emphasis on integration of Bluetooth and
other connectivity functions that remain rare in current
processors.”
“A
Guide to Wireless Handset Processors” covers application
processors and baseband processors for feature phones,
multimedia phones, smartphones, and 3G phones. Some of
these processors
are also used in PDAs, media players, and other handheld
applications. The report details the size of the handset-processor
market and breaks down the market and technology trends
that will play out over the next few years. For each
vendor, it
examines their market position, market strategy, and
roadmap before diving into the key features, performance,
and design
details of each product. It also looks at software development
before providing recommendations regarding the best products
for each type of application.
The report provides in-depth coverage of Texas Instrument’s
OMAP2 and new OMAP3 processors; Qualcomm’s multimedia
chips in the MSM6000 and MSM7000 families; Philip’s
Nexperia platforms, focusing on the PNX5220 3G baseband and
PNX4008 applications processor; Intel’s PXA application
and baseband processors, including the new Hermon chip; Freescale’s
2.75G and 3G baseband processors and i.MX application processors;
and Broadcom’s new Cellairity platform. It also covers
multimedia-enabled baseband processors from Agere and Infineon
as well as application processors such as AMD’s Au1200,
STMicroelectronics’ Nomadik, and the SH-mobile from
Renesas.
With
handset technology evolving so rapidly, it can be difficult
to keep up with the terminology. The
report sorts out the
different air interfaces and their data rates, explains
how video and 3D performance is measured, discusses
the
various
codecs for voice, audio, and video, and describes
the interfaces used to tie together all of the
platform
components. It
also delivers meaningful comparisons and conclusions
on the products
and vendors covered, provides a forward-looking view
of the market and long-term market directions.
Availability
The
report is available now directly from The Linley Group.
For further details, visit our web
site.
About
The Linley Group
The
Linley Group is the leading provider of independent technology
analysis on networking, communications, and consumer-electronics
semiconductors. The company covers
emerging areas such as wireless handset processors,
access processors, network processors, communications
processors, Gigabit
Ethernet, switch fabrics, high-speed interconnects,
security and content
processors, high-speed embedded processors,
and
more. The company provides in-depth technology
reports
and interactive
seminars as well as strategic consulting services
tailored to the individual client. To get free
access to The
Linley Group's analysis of recent news and
events in this market
segment, subscribe to our newsletters.
