Contributors: Bob Wheeler, Jag Bolaria, Joseph Byrne In This Issue
Our new report A Guide to Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Connectivity Chips is now available. Learn about the newest connectivity chips for handsets, combining Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, as well as standalone Wi-Fi chips for mobile applications. Order your copy today! At the ARM Developers Conference today, ARM unveiled its next-generation "Falcon" CPU, officially called Cortex-A9. Although the A9 is technically ARM's top of the line, it's more likely to be used in lower-cost designs than its predecessor, Cortex-A8. That's because the A8 was ARM's first "hard" core: optimized to achieve up to 1GHz, but only in a specific IC process. Like other ARM cores, the A9 is synthesizable, so it can be used in any IC process. The synthesizable design can easily be configured to change the cache sizes or add a floating-point unit or NEON multimedia accelerator. According to ARM, the A9 targets 500MHz in a typical 65nm LP process, about the same clock speed as the synthesizable version of the A8. The new design, however, has several features to improve performance per cycle. It uses a shorter, flexible pipeline to reduce pipeline delays and misprediction penalties. The A9 can reorder instructions to avoid stalls, whereas the A8 is a strictly in-order machine. ARM says that these new features do not appreciably increase die area or power consumption, although it did not disclose comparative data for its new CPU. For high-end applications, the A9 supports configurations with up to four cache-coherent CPUs connected through a single high-speed to a unified level-two (L2) cache. ARM quotes this configuration at a clock speed of 1GHz in a 65nm GP process. The CPU complex connects to the rest of the SoC through one or two 64-bit AMBA buses. The multicore configuration could be used in set-top boxes, media gateways, and other wired consumer devices. Cortex-A9 is now available for design starts, and ARM expects the first A9-based products to sample in mid-2008. That would be just 18 months after the first A8-based processor, the OMAP3 from Texas Instruments. At 550MHz, the OMAP3 falls well short of the 1GHz claimed for the A8, and the actual speed delivered by the A9 remains to be seen. But the new design is a clear step forward for ARM, and the A9's multiprocessor capabilities should open new high-end markets. —Linley Complete coverage of the Cortex-A8 CPU and TI's OMAP3 processors appears in our recent report A Guide to Wireless Handset Processors.
Earlier this week, Broadcom announced that sampling of a new mobile multimedia processor, the BCM2727, using its third-generation VideoCore technology. Enhancements over the prior generation include a 3D accelerator supporting OpenGL ES 2.0 and rendering 32 million triangles per second, an image-processing pipeline capable of sustained processing of 15 frames per second of 12 megapixel images, and 720p HD video encoding (H.264) and HDTV playback. A combination of two vector processors derived from earlier VideoCore processors and hard-wired engines handle these functions. Power dissipation for the 3D engine is about 130mW; for the HDTV encoder it is about 450mW including the stacked SDRAM in the BCM2727. Broadcom expects to qualify the chip for production in 1Q08, and for it to be used in media players and handsets. Owing to the long design cycle for handsets, the first of these are expected to appear in 2010. Media players could appear as early as the end of 2008. Handsets, even in 2010, seem unlikely to take advantage of the full capabilities of the BCM2727. Even if attached to an HDTV monitor, they lack the gigabytes of storage needed for HD video programs. Few handsets have the lens system, much less the imager, to take 12MP photos or HD video. The new chip is better suited to next-generation media players and hybrid devices with high-end video features. The chip also demonstrates that Broadcom has the capability to supply the multimedia needs of handsets now and well into the future. —Joe Complete coverage of Broadcom's handset and multimedia processors appears in our recent report A Guide to Wireless Handset Processors. Last month, Analog Devices (ADI) announced plans to sell its money-losing cellular baseband business to Taiwan's MediaTek for about $350 million in cash. MediaTek will acquire ADI's SoftFone baseband processors and RF transceivers. ADI will continue to offer its mobile-TV products (from its Integrant acquisition) as well as analog components for mobile phones. Despite overall market growth, SoftFone revenue declined in 2005 and 2006, reaching $239 million. This decline left ADI with only 2.9% of the baseband market, according to The Linley Group data. MediaTek, in contrast, surged to 5.3% of the overall baseband market in 2006, due mainly to sales of GSM processors into China and other low-cost markets. The company is unlikely to be interested in ADI's GSM products, which have been losing share to MediaTek's existing chips. But ADI is one of only two companies with a proven, integrated baseband chip for TD-SCDMA, China's 3G cellular standard. This technology will help MediaTek expand its market share in China. ADI also has a UMTS (3G) processor, which MediaTek can use to move its product line upscale, enabling it to compete in Europe and other 3G regions. In the deal, MediaTek acquires significant design wins at LG, the fifth-largest handset vendor, including some versions of LG's hot "Chocolate" phone. MediaTek is a rapidly growing and highly profitable company that can invest some of those profits in expanding its handset business. No longer just a GSM vendor, the company now has the technology to compete in the 3G market, both in China and around the world. Including the SoftFone revenue, MediaTek is likely to surpass both Infineon/Agere and Freescale in 2007 to become the third-largest vendor of cellular baseband processors. —Linley Coverage of the ADI and MediaTek processors appears in our recent report A Guide to Wireless Handset Processors.
The Linley Group is pleased to announce imminent availability of A Guide to Mobile TV Chips. Mobile TV is a complex market, with multiple standards addressing the needs of various regions. Japan uses a mode of ISDB-T, 1Seg, for its mobile standard. Qualcomm has succeeded in getting its MediaFlo standard accepted in the U.S. and is pushing for its use in other countries. Several deployments using the T-DMB standard, derived from DAB radio, have taken place around the world. The technology's notable success has been in South Korea, where it rapidly overtook the S-DMB standard. China will deploy a native technology, most likely CMMB, for its national standard. Italy is the site of the first commercial DVB-H networks, and the DVB-H standard is likely to be used across Europe and in several Asian countries. The proliferation of standards has enabled a large number of mobile-TV chip suppliers. DiBcom is the dominant DVB-H supplier, and its parts are the de facto benchmark for receiver performance. Challenging DiBcom are startup Siano Mobile Systems, which touts the low power and multi-standard support of its design, and Newport Media, one of the first companies to offer high-performance, single-chip receivers. Newport is also the first company to offer a single-chip 1Seg receiver and is likely to be the first company besides Qualcomm to offer a MediaFlo part. In 2008, Broadcom and Infineon expect to ship single-chip DVB-H receivers, challenging DiBcom's leadership. Single-chip integration is also shaking up the T-DMB market. Both Analog Devices and GCT Semiconductor offer integrated T-DMB receivers. LG Electronics has built MPEG decoders into its T-DMB demodulator to reduce system cost. Each standard and regional market can support multiple suppliers, but we expect the vast herd of suppliers will be thinned. A Guide to Mobile TV Chips provides a detailed comparison of dozens of mobile-TV ICs, helping OEMs, investors, and competitors identify the most likely winners and losers. It also provides detailed forecasts for mobile-TV chips by region, standard, and application. Order by October 15 and take $300 off the list price. For greater savings, order this report with either A Guide to Wireless Handset Processors or A Guide to Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Connectivity Chips and take $1,000 off the combined list price. For more information on this report, visit our web site. To receive Linley on CE via e-mail, you must register on our web site
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