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Data Analysis - STAReports , Key Metrics Reports and Database Extract Reports
          Trends in Cell Phone Processing Architecture

Introduction

The evolution of the processing architecture in cell phones began in 1983 with the launch of the Motorola DynaTAC 8000x. At a height of nearly 20cm (excluding antenna), a weight of 670 grams, a talk time of one hour, and a purchase price of almost $4,000, the novel concept of mobile telephone communications was limited to a few, wealthy individuals for only brief periods of time unless one was in close proximity to an electrical outlet. The processing requirements for the mobile communications and the functionality of storing and recalling a limited amount of phone numbers found in the DynaTAC were satisfied by a single-processor architecture combined with a discrete transmitter, receiver, and power-management integrated circuit (IC).

Moving ahead almost 20 years to 2002, over 80% of the cell phones analyzed by TechInsights still incorporated the single-chip baseband processor architecture along with the discrete transmitters, receivers, and power management ICs reminiscent of the architecture utilized in the DynaTAC while providing the same basic functionality of mobile communications and storing and retrieving phone numbers. Some of the more advanced basebands in 2002 provided enough processing power headroom for cell phone designers to incorporate additional features, such as text messaging, syncing with a personal computer, and basic gaming. Between 2002 and 2005, an increasing percentage of the mobile phones launched into the market integrated digital cameras and made use of full-featured operating systems, which allowed the user to install third-party applications. The additional processing requirements related to these features began to put a strain on the processing capability of cellular basebands designed primarily for voice-only mobile communications. As a result, 80% of the phones analyzed by TechInsights that had a camera or utilized a full-featured operating system in 2005 relied on an architecture with a cellular baseband and an additional processor.

The growth of the cell phone market combined with the increasing use of additional processors to power additional integrated features created new opportunities for companies such as ATI, Intel (now Marvell), MtekVision, Nvidia, Samsung, and Texas Instruments. Recent trends, however, indicate the resurgence of a single-chip processor architecture in cell phones due to advances in multi-core processor design and reductions in die size related to process technology improvements. In just the last two years of teardown analyses on cell phones with a camera or a full-featured operating system, the proportion of devices analyzed by TechInsights incorporating a single-chip processing architecture has grown from 20% in 2005 to 40% in 2007.

Report Description

This report, based on over 340 TechInsights cell phone teardowns, will show how the trends in cell-phone processing architectures have evolved over the last five years. The report will answer such critical questions as:

1.    What features of the cell phone have driven the use of the various processing architectures?

2.    How does the processing architecture of the cell phone impact memory and IC component counts?

3.    How are architectures in ultra low-end, voice-only cell phones evolving?

4.    Which chipset manufacturer has the most die-area efficient processing architecture to support the various air interfaces and camera resolutions?

How has the transition to the latest generation of air interfaces affected processing architectures and the related die area of the components?

Content

Table of Contents

Tables

Figures

1. Executive Summary

2. TechInsights IC BOM Segmentation Model

3. Cell Phone Processing Architecture Combinations

4. Impact of Operating Systems on Architectures

5. Architecture Trends in GSM RTOS Phones

6. Architecture Trends in GPRS and EDGE RTOS Phones

7. Architecture Trends in GPRS and EDGE FFOS Phones

8. Architecture Trends in W-CDMA and HSDPA RTOS Phones

9. Architecture Trends in W-CDMA and HSDPA FFOS Phones

10. Architecture Trends in CDMA2000 1X and CDMA2000 1xEV- DO RTOS Phones

11. Architecture Trends in CDMA2000 1X and CDMA2000 1xEV- DO FFOS Phones

12. Concluding Remarks and Predictions

13. 2007-2008 Die Area Best-in-Class Processing Architecture Implementations

Tables

1: Cell Phone Archetypes by Processing Architecture

2: Cell Phone Archetypes by Processing Architecture

          —Continued

Figures

1: Percentage of Phones Analyzed with an Application Processor by OS

2: Average MB of Phone Memory for Architectures with and without an Application Processor

3: Average Phone IC Component Count for Architectures with and without an Application Processor

4: Average Die Area for Components in GSM RTOS Phones by Chipset Designer

5: Percentage of GPRS RTOS Phones Analyzed by Processing Architecture

6: Percentage of EDGE RTOS Phones Analyzed by Processing Architecture

7: Average Die Area by Processing Architecture and Component for GPRS and EDGE RTOS Camera Phones

8: Percentage of GPRS and EDGE FFOS Phones      Analyzed by Processing Architecture

9: Average Die Area by Processing Architecture and Processor for GPRS and EDGE FFOS Phones

10. Percentage of W-CDMA and HSDPA RTOS Phones Analyzed by Processing Architecture

11: Average Die Area by Processing Architecture and Component for W-CDMA and HSDPA RTOS Phones

12: Percentage of W-CDMA and HSDPA FFOS Phones Analyzed by Processing Architecture

13: Average Die Area by Processing Architecture and Component for W-CDMA and HSDPA FFOS Phones

14: Percentage of CDMA2000 1X and 1xEV-DO RTOS Phones Analyzed by Processing Architecture

15: Average Die Area by Processing Architecture and Component for CDMA2000 1X and 1xEV-DO RTOS Phones

16: Die Area by Processing Architecture and Component for CDMA2000 1X and 1xEV-DO FFOS Phones

Value

View us as a wide-angle lens on the personal electronics landscape. We don't replace your expertise and insight, but rather amplify your capabilities and knowledge. Quantitative and qualitative information resources let you answer business-critical questions:

  • What enabling electronics technologies are being developed and how will they affect end-products?
  • How are my competitors designing with new technologies?
  • How does my company compare in competitive benchmarking?
  • What technology opportunities are implied from trends in product implementation?

How will the product features that users want affect our design and technology decisions?

Price

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