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Byte sized battles
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07/04/2005
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As 3G networks and handsets finally make it to market, semiconductor houses are already preparing to support the next wave of multimedia phone services. Megapixel camera phones with basic multimedia audio/video functionality are becoming the standard in the marketplace with further extensions such video recording, streaming, mobile TV and mobile gaming already found in high end models. We can expect to see at least some of these features filtering through to the mainstream in the future.
Incorporating such rich functionality into a handset is not easy. The tiny form factor and limited battery life restrict the technology used. The first generation of multimedia or high end 3G platforms still use an older system architecture. Basically, the conventional baseband processor is simply enhanced by a coprocessor executing the basic set of required multimedia functions or 3G services. However, such systems tend to be too limited to support new services or enhanced multimedia functions.
To enable advanced features for next generation services, changes from chip level up to the complete system architecture are required. For instance, the ‘old’ single processor centric approach is being replaced by a ‘distributed processing’ concept. Several loosely coupled units controlled by a microprocessor type cpu perform complete functions.
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Author
Manfred Schlett
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