2013年度世界移动通讯大会(Mobile World Congress，MWC)在西班牙巴塞罗纳开幕(2月25~28日)，今年几乎每一家手机芯片业者都争相推出支持两种“必备”功能－－四核心以及LTE调制解调器──的最新的智能手机IC。
当然，并非所有的四核心都是同等级的，LTE调制解调器也一样，有不同的特性；而各家厂商的调制解调器芯片仍在电信营运商的不同认证阶段中，这也是芯片业者在宣布取得设计案之前必须跨越的门槛。
市场研究公司的调查报告显示，2012年，FDD-LTE手机调制解调器的出货量为4700万，高通狂澜其中86％的份额。即使风头正胜的三星，也只有9％的份额，对他们来说还有很长的路要走。
Source：Forward ConceptsjE7esmc
Forward Concepts表示高通的统治地位在2013年还无法动摇。
一个相对小有名气的公司——GCT半导体赢得了3％的份额，这全靠他们获得了LG手机的采用。而瑞萨移动，NVIDIA Icera公司则分别获得了约1％的份额。瑞萨LTE调制解调器的主要销路是富士通手机，Forward Concepts表示。
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
本文下一页：Nvidia品牌智能机，基于Tegra 4i
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除了高通(Qualcomm)在1月份的美国国际消费性电子展(CES)期间公布其Snapdragon 600与800的技术细节，博通(Broadcom)则是于2月中旬发表该公司号称尺寸最小的4G-LTE Advanced调制解调器芯片；而 Nvidia 与 Marvell 也在近日陆续发表新产品讯息，以争取市场关注。
Nvidia 发表了Tegra 4系列产品的最新成员Tegra 4i，标榜在单芯片上整合了LTE处理器与应用处理器；市场研究机构Forward Concepts总裁Will Strauss对该产品的评论是“致命一击(stunner)”，因为有众多先进的功能整合其中。
Nvidia 终于展示了自己的手机，其实不仅仅是手机，还有一颗自己的芯Tegra 4i。
Source：the vergejE7esmc
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
本文下一页：就是冲着高通来的
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Tegra 4i 搭载四颗与ARM共同开发的Cortex A9 (2.3GHz)处理器核心，并配备第五颗“节省电池寿命”核心；该系列芯片并内含60GHz绘图处理(GPU)核心，以及针对整合而最佳化的i500 LTE调制解调器。Nvidia资深副总裁Phillip Carmack在该公司官网的部落格上写道：“Tegra 4i将为主流智能手机市场带来超级电话功能，而且打遍天下无敌手。”
Carmack当然不只有说这些，其实Nvidia的 Tegra 4i就是冲着高通这家竞争对手而来；该公司另一位发言人即表示，Tegra 4i：“速度显然比较快，而且芯片尺寸只有其最接近竞争产品──高通Snapdragon 800──的一半。”如果真是如此，该产品可说是树立了一个新标竿。
Tegra 4i 芯片架构
Source：NvidiajE7esmc
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
本文下一页：Marvell不甘落后推出五模LTE Modem
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• 中移动TD-LTE这块大切糕，哪些厂商有本事分享？jE7esmc
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在此同时，Marvell也发表了该公司采用ARM Cortex A7的LTE版本四核心多模平台；与Nvidia的Tegra 4i相较，该应用处理器显然是要在多模支持功能上取胜──Marvell特别强调该公司所开发的LTE调制解调器解决方案是“业界最先进”，支持经现场实证的 五种模式蜂巢式调制解调器，包括LTE TDD / FDD、HSPA+、TD-HSPA+与EDGE。
Marvell前一版LTE调制解调器芯片通过了艰难的认证程序，因此该公司也宣布取得了全球多家OEM客户的设计案，包括中兴(ZTE)。Marvell共同创办人Weili Dai接受EETimes美国版编辑访问时表示，预期采用该公司LTE调制解调器/应用处理器单芯片的终端产品将在今年上市。
Nvidia 的i500 LTE调制解调器当然也不落人后；该公司的Carmack在部落格写道：“i410已经通过认证，可应用在AT&T的多模LTE网络，这也是对其软件 调制解调器架构能力的证明；而那也成为我们第二代LTE调制解调器i500的理想基础，搭载了超过五倍的运算能力。”他表示，i500专为“支持全球多模LTE发展”以及各种高阶主流装置应用而设计。
Tegra 4虽然没有集成LTE调制解调器，但与i500的搭配也很强大
Source：NvidiajE7esmc
本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载
本文下一页：唯一拥有软件升级功能的LTE调制解调器
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• 中移动TD-LTE这块大切糕，哪些厂商有本事分享？jE7esmc
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Forward Concepts的Strauss对Nvidia的调制解调器芯片印象深刻，主要是因为该公司在收购Icera之后，只花了20个月的时间就推出整合应用处理 器与先进调制解调器的单芯片产品；他还表示：“当然，Icera是自2005年以来就供应调制解调器芯片，而且拥有积极的新创公司文化以及先进无线技术人才；在此同时，Nvidia的口袋深、企业文化也同样积极。”
Nvidia的i500多模调制解调器芯片采用28纳米制程，搭配65奈米、具备多样性天线接收技术(RX diversity)的射频收发器(支持FDD/TDD LTE、HSPA+、EDGE以及TD-SCDMA)。不过值得注意的是，i500采用的是LTE Cat 3规格(00 Mbps DL)，并非最新的Cat 4。
根据Nvidia说法，其可透过软件升级与载波聚合(carrier aggregation)支持LTE Cat 4(150 Mbps DL)；对此Strauss的观察是：“也许这是唯一拥有软件升级功能的LTE调制解调器(透过无线、无耗损)；因此该产品真的是软件无线电。”
Marvell 则表示，该公司的LTE解决方案将在2013 MWC期间，应用于中兴现场展示的的第一款双无线电、双待机LTE智能手机；该公司的LTE平台可支持TD-SCDMA以及双无线电、双待机LTE语音 通讯解决方案，也可支持电路交换回退(Circuit Switched Fallback，CSFB)语音解决方案。
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：LTE, quad-core apps processor wars begin，by Junko Yoshida
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• 中移动TD-LTE这块大切糕，哪些厂商有本事分享？jE7esmc
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LTE, quad-core apps processor wars begin
Junko Yoshida
In the buildup to Mobile World Congress, Nvidia and Marvell rushed to announce smartphone ICs with the mobile industry’s two new must-have features. NEW YORK--As the Mobile World Congress raises its curtain next week in Barcelona, practically every mobile chip company is rushing to announce new smartphone ICs with the mobile industry’s two new “must-have" features--quad-core and LTE modem.
Of course, not all quad-cores are equal. LTE modems, too, come in different flavors. Every modem chip is at a different stage in operators’ certification processes, a hurdle that every chip vendor needs to clear before claiming a design win.
Aside from Qualcomm, which detailed its Snapdragon 600 and 800 during the International Consumer Electronics Show, and Broadcom, which discussed last week what the company claims to be smallest 4G-LTE Advanced modem chip, both Nvidia and Marvell are competing for the market’s attention this week.
Nvidia unveiled Tuesday (Feb. 19) Tegra 4i, a new member of the Tegra 4 family. It’s an application processor integrated with LTE processor on the same die.
Will Strauss, president of Forward Concepts, called it a “stunner,” due to a number of advanced features integrated in it. The 4i is based on four Cortex-A9 (2.3-GHz) CPUs jointly developed with ARM, featuring a fifth “battery saver” core. It also comes with 60 GPU cores and a version of the i500 LTE modem optimized for integration.
Nvidia's senior vice president, Phillip Carmack, wrote in his blog on Nvidia’s website, “Tegra 4i will bring super phone capabilities to the mainstream smartphone market, and there will be nothing on the market like it.”
Carmack probably isn’t just saying that. With Tegra 4i, Nvida is firmly setting its sights on Qualcomm. Nvidia’s spokesman claims that Tegra 4i “is significantly faster yet half the size of its nearest competitor, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800.” If true, that sets a new benchmark.
Source: Nvidia
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Meanwhile, Marvell rolled out Wednesday an LTE version of the company’s quad-core ARM Cortex-A7-based world-mode platform. Compared to Nvidia’s Tegra 4i (a quad-core CPU based on ARM’s most efficient core—the R4 Cortex-A9 CPU—plus a fifth battery saver core), Marvell’s apps processor appears decidedly modest. However, Marvell is emphasizing its own LTE modem, calling it “the industry’s most advanced modem solution” that features support for field-proven five-mode cellular modems, including LTE TDD and FDD, HSPA+, TD-HSPA+ and EDGE.
LTE modem differences?
Marvell, which went through an arduous certification process with its previous LTE modem chip, is now claiming that the company is winning some LTE design-wins with global OEMs, including ZTE. Weili Dai, Marvell’s co-founder, told EE Times that the company expects products based on Marvell’s single-chip LTE/apps processor platform to go on sale this year.
That said, Nvidia’s LTE modem, i500, appears definitely keeping up with its competitors’ solutions.
In his blog, Nvidia’s Carmack wrote: “The i410 is now certified for use on AT&T’s LTE multi-mode network and is a testament to the capabilities of the soft modem architecture. It’s been an ideal foundation for the i500, our second-generation LTE modem, which has more than five times the computational capacity of its predecessor.” Nvidia’s i500 has been designed for “global LTE multi-mode deployment” designed to serve high-end and mainstream devices globally, wrote Carmack.
Strauss is impressed with Nvidia’s modem chip, largely because it took Nvidia only 20 months after it acquired Icera to deliver a combined application processor/advance modem product. He added, “Of course, Icera had been offering modems since 2005 and had an aggressive startup culture and advanced wireless design talent. Meanwhile, Nvidia had deeper pockets and an equally aggressive culture.”
Nvidia’s i500 multimode modem based on a 28nm process is paired with its own 65nm RF transceiver (multi-band FDD & TDD LTE/HSPA+/EDGE and TD-SCDMA) with RX diversity.
It’s important to note, however, that Nvidia’s i500 modem is introduced with LTE Cat 3 capability (100 Mbps DL), not Cat 4. But Nvidia claims that it is software upgradeable to LTE Cat 4 with carrier aggregation (150 Mbps DL). Strauss observed, “It is perhaps the only LTE modem capable of software upgradeability (over the air, no less); so it really is a software-defined radio.”
According to Marvell, at MWC 2013, Marvell’s LTE solution will be used in ZTE’s first dual radio dual standby LTE smartphone demonstration. Marvell’s LTE platform will support both TD-SCDMA and dual-radio dual standby LTE voice solution, in addition to a Circuit Switched Fallback (CSFB) voice solution.
责编：Quentin
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