包括ST-Ericsson、瑞萨(Renesas Mobile)、NVidia、Marvell等芯片厂商早在一年前就着手开发LTE基带芯片，但到目前为止很少有公司展示实际成果；他们都声称已经有调制解调器芯片，但尽管有，没人拿到设计案，在今年的国际消费性电子展(CES)上也看不到任何东西…怎么会这样？
我们当然可以将之归咎于目前几乎不存在的
LTE市场，除了美国(编按：应该还有日本跟韩国)，其它区域的LTE网络布建速度缓慢，如果厂商想冲调制解调器芯片出货量，不该锁定LTE市场；但在3G市场，又是高通(Qualcomm)、联发科(MediaTek)、展讯(Spreadtrum)、博通(Broadcom)、英特尔(Intel)…等大厂的天下。
或者也可以怪三星(Samsung)与苹果(Apple)；这两家公司横扫高阶智能手机市场，但三星有自家设计的LTE基带芯片，苹果则采用高通的芯片，其它芯片供货商的生存空间不大。但真正的原因，其实是基带芯片的本质。
Galaxy S3 E210s主板上的三星LTE/HSPA+基带芯片（CM221S）
Source：ABI ResearchXLDesmc
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
本文下一页：开发基带芯片是一个漫长而艰困、又注定要消耗大量资源的过程
相关阅读：
• 新岸线携神秘“芯”品亮相CES2013
• 想成为LTE市场王者，得看中国移动脸色行事
• 弃用高通基带芯片，三星与苹果之平台战启幕XLDesmc
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CEVA CEO Gideon Wertheizer形容，开发功能性基带芯片是一项永无休止的任务。如果是应用处理器，芯片供货商只要看到IC投片了，就知道任务已经完成；但如果是基带芯片，就算是已经投片，在量产之前还需要经过无数次反复测试、修改、认证的过程。
Wertheizer 表示：“我曾听说一家芯片厂商得派出大概400个工程师去三星，只为了测试手机芯片、接受不同移动通信业者的认证，以及针对不同频段应用进行调校，最后才能真正取得一个设计案。”咩话？400个人？真的假的？…这对任何一家公司来说，都是一个漫长而艰困、又注定要消耗大量资源的过程。
根据笔者在CES期间与产业人士的交流，有人猜测ST-Ericsson与瑞萨恐怕除了被三星这样的大厂收购之外，没有太多生存选项；他们的时间与资源有限，在看到芯片真正进驻量产的手机产品之前，恐怕无法承受无止尽的艰难过程。
面对世界上各种移动通信业者，基带通信测试马虎不得
XLDesmc
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
本文下一页：在CES期间还是有许多LTE芯片的
相关阅读：
• 新岸线携神秘“芯”品亮相CES2013
• 想成为LTE市场王者，得看中国移动脸色行事
• 弃用高通基带芯片，三星与苹果之平台战启幕XLDesmc
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但市场研究机构Forward Concepts总裁Will Strauss认为，在2月份即将举行的Mobile World Congress期间，会有一系列LTE调制解调器芯片设计案发表。
事实上，在CES期间还是有许多LTE芯片相关新闻。例如高通发表其Snapdragon 800系列四核心Krait架构处理器(每核心时脉速度达2.3GHz)，内含Adreno 330绘图处理核心、支持4G LTE Cat 4与802.11ac功能，蜂窝通信传输速率可达150Mbps、WLAN速率则可达1Gbps。
高通CEO保罗在CES主题演讲中推骁龙800系列平台，含802.11ac，支持UHD音响，现场体验超棒。
Source：weibo@孙昌旭XLDesmc
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
本文下一页：ST-Ericsson的调制解调器+应用处理器
相关阅读：
• 新岸线携神秘“芯”品亮相CES2013
• 想成为LTE市场王者，得看中国移动脸色行事
• 弃用高通基带芯片，三星与苹果之平台战启幕XLDesmc
{pagination}
ST-Ericsson则在CES发表了NovaThor L8580调制解调器/应用处理器，采用28nm FD-SOI制程；该公司表示，这款多模Cat 4 LTE芯片支持10个以上的LTE/HSPA/TD-SCDMA/GSM频段。
“全球目前能够做多模多频段Modem的没有几家。”意法爱立信中国区总裁张代君表示。调整后意法爱立信的产品Roadmap
XLDesmc
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
本文下一页：Tegra 4搭配独立Icera i500调制解调器
相关阅读：
• 新岸线携神秘“芯”品亮相CES2013
• 想成为LTE市场王者，得看中国移动脸色行事
• 弃用高通基带芯片，三星与苹果之平台战启幕XLDesmc
{pagination}
至于Nvidia发表最新应用处理器Tegra 4，以及搭配Tegra 4的独立Icera i500调制解调器芯片；后者预计2013下半年量产，是一款以软件为基础的调制解调器方案，根据Nvidia资深副总裁Phillip Carmack说法，该调制解调器具备“高度自适应(highly adaptive)”优势。
举例来说，Icera具备弹性化的算法，能适应不同型态的网络，包括基地台距离很远或很拥挤的环境；Carmack解释：“这种软件调制解调器会自己进行最佳化，寻求最好的性能表现。”
CES上黄仁勋在亲自讲解产品，Tegra 4拥有4颗A15 CPU核心，72枚GPU核心，并且首次搭载4G LTE模块
XLDesmc
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
本文下一页：瑞萨推出MP6530多模调制解调器与四核AP
相关阅读：
• 新岸线携神秘“芯”品亮相CES2013
• 想成为LTE市场王者，得看中国移动脸色行事
• 弃用高通基带芯片，三星与苹果之平台战启幕XLDesmc
{pagination}
根据Forward Concepts的Strauss报告，瑞萨推出的MP6530多模FDD/TDD Class 4 LTE/DC-HSPA+/EDGE/GPRS/GSM调制解调器与四核心应用处理器，是采用ARM的双核心Cortex-A15与双核心Cortex-A7 MPCores，号称具备超低功耗并获得完整认证，但相关客户采用消息可能要到2月份的Mobile World Congress期间才会发布。
瑞萨的调制解调器一度是王者Nokia的最爱，无奈世事无常，巨人跌倒难免会压到身边的花花草草
XLDesmc
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
本文下一页：Marvell的多模LTE调制解调器/AP将进驻最新RIM智能机
相关阅读：
• 新岸线携神秘“芯”品亮相CES2013
• 想成为LTE市场王者，得看中国移动脸色行事
• 弃用高通基带芯片，三星与苹果之平台战启幕XLDesmc
{pagination}
Strauss的报告也指出，Marvell的PXA1801双芯片Cat4多模LTE调制解调器/应用处理器则配备自家RF与电源管理IC，已经可提供样品并正在进行认证程序：“该款芯片预期将进驻最新的RIM智能手机。”
Marvell的PXA 920支持TD-SCDMA和GSM/EDGE，是中移动推广3G时的宠儿
XLDesmc
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
编译：Judith Cheng
参考英文原文：Yoshida in Vegas: Chasing elusive LTE design wins，by Junko Yoshida
相关阅读：
• 新岸线携神秘“芯”品亮相CES2013
• 想成为LTE市场王者，得看中国移动脸色行事
• 弃用高通基带芯片，三星与苹果之平台战启幕XLDesmc
{pagination}
Yoshida in Vegas: Chasing elusive LTE design wins
Junko Yoshida
ST-Ericsson, Renesas Mobile, NVidia, Marvell and others have been developing LTE baseband chips for more than a year with little to show for. What's the hold up?
LAS VEGAS – A number of reputable chip companies, including ST-Ericsson, Renesas Mobile, NVidia, Marvell, have been developing LTE baseband chips for more than a year. So far, there is little to show for it.
All claim they already have their modem chips on the tarmac. But that’s it. No takeoff. Nothing about actual design wins. CES last week was no exception. We heard zilch.
How come?
We can certainly blame the virtually non-existent LTE market for that. Except in the U.S., the roll out of LTE has been slow. If you want volume for your modem chips, you need to play not in LTE but the 3G market dominated by Qualcomm, MediaTek, Spreadtrum, Broadcom, Intel and others.
Additional blame goes to Samsung and Apple. The two companies have pretty much sewn up the high-end smartphone market. Samsung designs its own LTE baseband chips while Apple uses Qualcomm’s chips. Not much room is left for anyone else.
But the real story lies in the very nature of a baseband chip, which we in the media apparently don’t appreciate very much.
Developing a functional baseband chip is a never-ending job, according to CEVA CEO Gideon Wertheizer. When it comes to apps processors, chip suppliers know their job is done. It happens when they see tape out. In contrast, baseband chips, after tape-out, need to be tweaked, tested, modified, certified and/or tweaked again before they can move to mass production.
Wertheizer said, “I’ve heard that you’d need to dispatch something like 400 engineers to Samsung in order to have your chip tested in their handsets, certified by different operators and tweaked to work well on different bands, and finally getting designed in.”
Come on. Four hundred? Really?
LTE chips unveiled
It’s a long, arduous process destined to tie up a lot of resources at any company.
In talking with other industry insiders in Las Vegas last week, some speculated that ST-Ericsson or Renesas Mobile may have little choice but to be acquired by someone like Samsung Their time and resources are limited, thus making it tough for these companies to weather the never-ending process before they see production of handsets containing their chip design.
That said, I should probably curb my pessimism. Will Strauss, president of Forward Concepts, believes that a bunch of LTE modem design wins might be announced next month during the Mobile World Congress.
In fact, there was no shortage of new LTE chip news during CES. Qualcomm announced its Snapdragon 8000, featuring quad-core Krait 400 CPU (which speeds up to 2.3 GHz per core), Adreno 330 GPU and 4G LTE Cat 4 and 802.11ac that offers connectivity with cellular modem boasting data rates up to 150 Mbps and 802.11ac at speeds up to 1 Gbps.
ST-E unveiled at CES its NovaThor L8580 modem/apps processor based on a 28-nm FD-SOI process. The company said the multimode Cat 4 LTE chip supports up to ten LTE/HSPA/TD-SCDMA/GSM bands.
Nvidia, meanwhile, announced its new apps processor, the Tegra 4 SoC, and a separate Icera i500 modem chip that connects to Tegra 4. Icera i500, slated for roll out in the second half of this year, is a software-based modem that is “highly adaptive,” Nvidia’s senior vice president, Phillip Carmack, told EE Times. Its algorithms, for example, are flexible, adapting to very different types of networks, ranging from the Great Plains -- where the nearest cellular tower is miles away -- to a very congested network like CES, he explained. “The soft modem optimizes itself and seeks the best performance.”
When Nvidia acquired it, Icera entered the modem market late compared to competitors, Carmack said. “We’re lucky that we didn’t have to deal with legacy modems.” Every time a new modem standard emerges, most of Nvidia’s competitors kept bolting them on top of existing modems, since “nobody wants to mess with the modems that already work.”
Strauss reported that Renesas Mobile is rolling out MP6530 multimode FDD/TDD Class 4 LTE/DC-HSPA+/EDGE/GPRS/GSM modem with a quad-core apps processor employing ARM's dual Cortex-A15 and dual Cortex-A7 MPCores. Renesas Mobile’s new chip set is “said to have ultra-low power consumption, and is fully certified, but customer announcements will probably not be made before [Mobile World Congress] next month,” according to Strauss.
Meanwhile, Marvell's PXA1801 2-chip Cat4 multimode LTE modem/App Processor that features its own RF and PMIC is sampling and in certification, according to Strauss. “It will be in new RIM Smartphones,” he predicted.
责编：Quentin
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