Product category:
Communications ICs (Wireless)
News Release from: Analog Devices | Subject: SoftFone-W chipset
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 09 February 2006
Chipset enables wideband featurephones
Analog Devices will demonstrate its first W-CDMA/Edge (W-Edge) chipset at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona.
Analog Devices will demonstrate its first W-CDMA/Edge (W-Edge) chipset at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona Based on the company's Blackfin processor and advanced analogue, mixed-signal, and RF technologies that are also used in the chipset that recently completed operator trials in China for the TD-SCDMA 3G standard, the highly-integrated SoftFone-W chipset builds on ADI's legacy as a leading technology supplier to the cellular handset industry
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 17 Nov 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Multimode chipset brings W-CDMA onboard
The SoftFone-W chipset is a complete handset solution - from baseband through radio - featuring full support for the W-CDMA/UMTS standard.
Fastest DSP for less than ten bucks
Analog Devices is sampling two new low-cost ADSP-219x models - the ADSP-2195 and ADSP-2196 - expanding the ADSP-21xx family of code compatible digital signal processors.
"This is a major milestone for the 3G handset market", said Christian Kermarrec, Vice President, RF and Wireless Systems, Analog Devices.
"Until now, handset manufacturers had an extremely limited choice of W-CDMA chipset suppliers or had to develop custom chips on their own".
"As a result, the selection of 3G handsets to date has been limited".
Further reading
14bit A/D conversion at 105Msample/s
Analog Devices is claiming another industry breakthrough with the first 14bit ADC to run at 105Msample/s.
Chip provides a digital view of temperature
The AD7314 is a complete temperature monitoring system in an 8-lead micro-SOIC package.
DSP needs no ASICs to run software basestations
Analog Devices has unveiled a new DSP equipped with Layer 1 software that together are claimed to reduce system costs of 3G infrastructure equipment by up to 50%.
"Our chipset opens up the market significantly, enabling manufacturers to quickly develop 3G handsets for the mainstream featurephone segment".
Third-generation (3G) cellular handsets represent one of the fastest growing segments of the 800-million unit cellular handset market, with over 40 million 3G handsets shipped in 2005, and estimates of 100 million units for 2006 as the technology becomes more widely adopted and deployed.
These new handsets offer high-speed data capabilities, which enable expanded multimedia features, such as streaming video, music downloads, and web browsing.
The SoftFone-W chipset comprises the AD6902 (Monza) digital baseband processor, AD6856 Stratos-W analogue baseband/audio/power-management IC, and the AD6541/AD6547 Othello-W radio.
The chipset supports the features generally included in mid- to high-end featurephones, such as: MPEG4 and H.263 video encoding/decoding at QVGA screen resolution; 3Mpixel camera interface; 128-voice MIDI ringtones; and high-quality music playback using MP3, AAC+, or WMA algorithms, all without requiring an external coprocessor.
The AD6902 also includes programmable serial ports and a flexible audio subsystem, allowing handset designers to easily support additional features such as FM radio, mobile TV, VoWiFi (voice over Wi-Fi) and other applications.
The W-CDMA 3G standard is used in Japan, Europe, and North America, and is under consideration in China, where the TD-SCDMA standard was recently approved as a national standard for third-generation wireless service.
The SoftFone-W chipset supports 3GPP Release 99, with 384Kbit/s uplink and downlink speeds, and fallback to Edge (enhanced datarates for GSM evolution) in areas where 3G service is not available.
Edge operation is critical to 3G operators, since data-oriented applications such as multimedia and Web browsing can continue to run acceptably at Edge speeds.
Analog Devices has been shipping Edge chipsets based on the same underlying technology used in the SoftFone-W chipset for over two years.
The protocol stack and applications software for the SoftFone-W chipset is supplied by TTPCom of Cambridge, UK.
Analog Devices expects to sample the SoftFone-W chipset to customers in the second quarter of 2006.
• Analog Devices: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Electronicstalk email newsletter
• Electronicstalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
