Microwave Engineering Europe - September 2008 - (Page 31)

MOBILE PLATFORMS 31 Timeline First generation (analogue) phones were single-standard equipment dedicated to the local standard — AMPS, ETACS, NMT450, amongst others — and had limited capacity that was later enhanced by the use of complex modulation schemes, and little or no data capability. Because of this simplicity, software requirements were minimal. When the early second generation systems appeared in the early to mid 1990s they were still dedicated to a single, geographically-deﬁned — but now digital – standard, whether this was GSM, — (TDMA), IS95 (cdmaOne) or the Japanese PDC. Figure 1(a) shows the block diagram of a typical GSM 2G phone of 1999. The evolution towards today’s 3G phones began ﬁrst with increasing the level of the hardware integration within the 2G terminal. The addition ﬁrst of multiple frequency bands and then data (GPRS) standards within a handset required more functionality, but size and cost constraints forced the integration of several chips along functional lines to reduce component count and complexity. Once the basic challenges of the digital standards had been solved, manufacturers began the second stage of evolution — differentiation. Colour screens and cameras are notable examples of this, as drivers of the 2G explosive growth seen in the early part of the decade. 3G ﬁnally arrived with even more complexity on the modem side, and with ever increasing consumer expectation (often driven by overarching hype) for more and more functionality within the handset. This tension between engineering solution and consumer expectation is a tremendously difﬁcult balancing act with rewards for those companies who can manage it successfully and huge pitfalls and potential disasters for those that fail to do so (witness the rapid decline of Siemens Mobile phones). Figure 1(b) shows how the architecture has changed to accommodate these new requirements. Platform beneﬁts The platform concept embraces a much more comprehensive approach than a simple reference design. Because basic phone functions are now broadly comparable across all the brands, it is the appearance and added value in terms of extra features that make the real difference to the consumer. The modem design — RF, baseband and DSP — is now fairly mature, as regards the 3G speciﬁcation at least, and is developing at only a moderate linear rate, but the growth in the multimedia aspects of a platform is effectively exponential, and the most rapid advances take place in the software. The handset OEMs have begun to focus their engineering resources on appearance, applications and additional features rather than on phone operation. These trends have meant that system platform development has also shifted its resource requirement towards software rather than hardware, and semiconductor vendors have begun to take over this supply role: IDMs such as Renesas have been able to exploit their existing expertise in Microwave Engineering ● September 2008 ● www.mwee.com 030-031-032-033_MWEE.indd 31 3/09/08 15:18:20 http://www.dowkey.com http://www.dowkey.com http://www.mwee.com

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Microwave Engineering Europe - September 2008 News Contents Comment Cover Feature: Uncovering Test and Measurement’s Role in Advancing LTE and Mobile WiMAX WiMax: WiMax and LTE Need to Address Issues of Backhaul, Cost and Efficiency for Successful Deployment WiMax: Manufacturing Communications Technology Products in India Test and Measurement Mobile Platforms Evolve to Meet Future Demands Products Calendar

Microwave Engineering Europe - September 2008

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