Product category:
Communications ICs (Wireless)
News Release from: Analog Devices | Subject: SoftFone-LCR chipset
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 17 January 2006
Chinese tests validate dual-mode 3G
chipset
Dual-mode 3G TD-SCDMA/GSM operation has been achieved on Analog Devices' SoftFone-LCR chipset.
Dual-mode 3G TD-SCDMA/GSM operation has been achieved on Analog Devices' SoftFone-LCR chipset Recent testing completed on networks from two leading Chinese telecommunications operators demonstrated that Datang Mobile's DTivy A2000 dual-mode handset solution, powered by ADI's SoftFone-LCR chipset, proved successful operating in GSM and 3G TD-SCDMA modes and switching between networks
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 17 Nov 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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These products, offered in single- or dual-mode, provide fast time to market to manufacturers of a wide range of 3G TD-SCDMA products, from voice-centric phones, to high-end camera phones, camcorder phones, music phones, and video phones.
Dual-mode operation is a critical success factor and necessity as 3G networks continue to evolve and deploy.
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Without this capability, cellular handset users may lose coverage when entering areas that have yet to deploy 3G TD-SCDMA technology.
Dual-mode handsets are designed to solve this problem by providing service on either 2/2.5G GSM/GPRS or 3G TD-SCDMA networks.
With dual-mode handsets, users can enjoy high-speed data applications with 3G TD-SCDMA coverage, and be guaranteed GSM cellular coverage in areas where 3G TD-SCDMA coverage is not available.
"With dual-mode operation now proven successful on leading Chinese cellular networks, this is a major milestone for 3G TD-SCDMA technology and for the DTivy-A 2000 Solution and our SoftFone-LCR chipset", said Christian Kermarrec, Vice President, RF and Wireless Systems, Analog Devices: "The ability to operate on either GSM or 3G TD-SCDMA networks will accelerate the deployment and customer acceptance of TD-SCDMA technology".
As the world's only single-vendor supplier of baseband and RF silicon solutions for TD-SCDMA handsets, Analog Devices is uniquely positioned to optimise system partitioning and drive optimally integrated hardware solutions that reduce system power consumption, BOM component count and cost and form-factor PCB area for customers.
In addition, as all the components of the chipset are available through a single supplier rather than having to purchase through multiple companies or a consortium, the supply chain management process is greatly streamlined.
Analog Devices' SoftFone-LCR chipset provides all the critical functions necessary to build a 3G TD-SCDMA handset, including the baseband signal processing and control, analogue-interface functions and radio.
It is based on the popular RAM-based SoftFone architecture also used in Analog Devices' GSM/GPRS, Edge and W-CDMA chipsets.
ADI's SoftFone-LCR dual-mode chipset consists of five chips, including a digital baseband processor based on the company's Blackfin processor, achieving more than 250MHz performance and exceptionally low power consumption through its Dynamic Power Management capability.
The SoftFone-LCR's baseband signal processing, including joint detection and decoding, is performed entirely in software running on the embedded Blackfin processor instead of a hardware implementation as used in other manufacturers' chipsets.
Not possible with any other chipsets, this software-based approach allows terminal developers to quickly and easily adapt to evolutionary changes in the LCR standard.
In addition, the SoftFone-LCR chipset also includes the Othello-W direct-conversion radio transceiver, offering solid performance and flexibility for either LCR time division duplex (TDD) or W-CDMA frequency division duplex (FDD) terminals.
For dual-mode operation, the chipset adds the award-winning Othello-G transceiver, which enables the world's smallest GSM/GPRS radio.
Additionally, the SoftFone-LCR's analogue baseband and power management IC provides a full set of audio features, as well as efficient power management.
The SoftFone-LCR chipset includes interfaces for cameras, colour displays, IR, USB and SD/MMC, allowing handset manufacturers to create several designs with varying levels of feature sets for a wide range of phone models.
The dual-mode TD-SCDMA software is provided by Datang Mobile and includes GSM protocol stack software from Sasken Communication Technologies.
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