Contributors: Bob Wheeler, Jag Bolaria, Joseph Byrne In This Issue A Guide to SOHO Gateway Processors is now available for immediate delivery. Get the latest information on the products and vendors powering the rapidly evolving residential and SOHO gateway market. For more information, visit our web site. Last week, Freescale unveiled the i.MX27 applications processor. Although this device is aimed mainly at handheld multimedia players, the new design also gives a preview into Freescale’s next-generation handset architecture, which is likely to sample in 1H07. Although it is based on the i.MX21 and uses an ARM9 CPU, the i.MX27 is likely to broadly displace the ARM11-based i.MX31 except in applications, such as PDAs, that require the fastest possible CPU speed. Using 90nm technology, the i.MX27 runs its ARM9 CPU at a respectable 400MHz. More important, it adds a complete video block that offloads the CPU from all MPEG4 and H.263/H.264 video encoding and decoding. This video engine operates at up to VGA or D1 (SDTV) resolution. The i.MX27 also includes a new crypto engine for decoding DRM-protected video; an ATA interface for internal hard drives; and, for quickly downloading content, both a high-speed USB port and a 10/100 Ethernet port. The chip is currently sampling, with volume production scheduled for 1Q07. With this feature set, the i.MX27 is well suited for portable media players. Other Freescale processors perform decryption and video decoding in software on their high-speed ARM CPUs, accomplishing the same results but burning more power. Unless Freescale can displace Broadcom and Samsung from the iPod, however, the i.MX27 will appear only in second-tier devices. We expect Freescale to integrate the new video and crypto engines into its next-generation MXC processors, making them much more competitive in multimedia handsets. —Linley Additional
coverage of i.MX and MXC appears in our report A Guide to Wireless
Handset Processors. Earlier this month, Renesas announced its SH7354 processor, also known as SH-Mobile L3V, for high-end handsets. In addition to a 216MHz SH CPU, the chip contains a powerful video processor capable of 30fps encode and decode at full VGA resolution. This capability allows the chip to perform the video decoding required by mobile digital television. An external tuner is required for the appropriate broadcast standard (DMB, ISDB-T, DVB-H, etc). The L3V is due to sample in August. The L3V is a lower-cost version of the SH-Mobile 3AS, which entered production late last year. The L3V has the same features as the 3AS except for its 3D graphics engine and large on-chip memory. The L3V also has fewer serial ports, a single LCD controller, and no USB port. These changes allow for a smaller package and a lower price. Renesas announced a 10K list price of 2,500 yen (about $21), but the company says the price can be as low as $14 in larger quantities. Due to the similarities with the 3AS, we expect the L3V to be qualified for production by early 2007. The SH-Mobile processors have been popular in Japanese and Korean handsets, making Renesas the only successful handset-processor vendor not using the ARM architecture. More recently, the company has come under pressure from ARM-based processors from TI and others. Renesas hopes to fight back by emphasizing the high-end video capabilities of its processors and tying itself to the digital-TV trend. By bringing high-end video to a new low price point, the L3V will strengthen Renesas against this onslaught. —Linley Complete coverage of the SH-Mobile L3V appears in our report A Guide to Wireless Handset Processors. Texas Instruments announced that it has formed a joint development effort, called Adcore-Tech, with NEC and Panasonic for the development of 3G handsets. These handset vendors are already using TI processors (including a semicustom baseband chip) for their 3G FOMA phones in Japan. This agreement solidifies the relationship between TI and these two significant customers and allows them to deploy 3G handsets worldwide, particularly as the market moves to HSDPA and beyond. —Linley VDSL chip supplier Ikanos Communications announced on July 31 its acquisition of start-up Doradus Technologies. Doradus offers a VSB/QAM demodulator intellectual-property core for cable and digital terrestrial TV. Ikanos’s stated intent is to use the acquisition to strengthen its silicon for delivery of the triple-play of services (voice, video, and data). How Doradus’s technology fits in is unclear, but it hints at a broader strategy by Ikanos to deliver more than broadband transceivers. —Joe Additional
coverage of Ikanos can be found in our report A
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