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Focusing on baseband and application processors PUBLISHED JUNE 2007 Authors: Linley
Gwennap and Joseph
Byrne What's
New in this Edition
Your Guide to Wireless Handset Processors Despite the lure of a billion-unit market, wireless handsets are one of the most difficult markets for semiconductor vendors to compete in. At the low end, cost pressures are pushing vendors to integrate the cellular baseband with analog functions such as power management and RF transceivers, creating single-chip cell phones. At the high end, vendors must keep up with the newest air interfaces, such as HSDPA and HSUPA, while adding TV-quality video, 3D graphics, and other multimedia functions to their processors. In between, they must find the right balance of cost and multimedia performance to meet the fickle demands of carriers and end users. Some of these processors are also used in PDAs and portable media players. “A Guide to Wireless Handset Processors" goes under the hood to examine this new class of handset processor and the vendors that provide them. This report provides in-depth coverage of Texas Instrument’s LoCosto and eCosto families plus its OMAP3 application processors; Qualcomm’s UMTS processors in the MSM6000 and MSM7000 families; NXP’s Nexperia platforms, focusing on the PNX5220 3G baseband and PNX4008 applications processor; Marvell’s PXA application and baseband processors, including the new PXA300 family; LSI’s (formerly Agere’s) Vision products; Infineon’s ultra-low-cost E-GOLDvoice, plus its S-GOLD products; Freescale’s 2.75G and 3G and i.MX processors; and Broadcom’s updated Cellairity platform, including its new application processor. We also cover baseband products from smaller vendors such as Analog Devices, EMP, Icera, Interdigital, MediaTek, and Spreadtrum as well as application processors such as Raza Microelectronics’ Alchemy, STMicroelectronics' Nomadik, and the SH-Mobile from Renesas. With handset technology evolving so rapidly, it can be difficult to keep up with the terminology. This 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. After an extensive tutorial section, 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. We also provide BDTI Certified benchmark results, based on the BDTI DSP Kernel Benchmarks and the BDTI Video Encoder and Decoder Benchmarks, for the most popular cores used in these processors. These highly regarded, independent benchmarks provide unique insights into the relative performance and efficiency of CPU and DSP cores for baseband and multimedia processing. For each vendor, we examine their market position, market strategy, and roadmap before diving into the key features, performance, and design details of each product. We also look at software development before making recommendations regarding the best products for each type of application. Our unique technology analysis provides the information that handset designers need to quickly zero in on the platforms that meet their requirements. Make Informed Decisions As the leading vendor of technology analysis for networking silicon, The Linley Group has the expertise to deliver a comprehensive look at this burgeoning market. Analysts Linley Gwennap and Joseph Byrne use their extensive experience in the processor market to deliver the technical and strategic information you need to make informed business decisions. Whether you are looking for an innovative solution for your design, a vendor to partner with, or a rising company to invest in, this report will cut your research time and save you money. Get the inside scoop on this major market. Order “A Guide to Wireless Handset Processors" today. This report is written for:
© 2002-2007
The Linley Group |
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Guide to Wireless Handset Processors, Second Edition 
