包括ST-Ericsson、瑞薩(Renesas Mobile)、NVidia、Marvell等芯片廠商早在一年前就著手開發(fā)LTE基帶芯片，但到目前為止很少有公司展示實際成果；他們都聲稱已經(jīng)有調(diào)制解調(diào)器芯片，但盡管有，沒人拿到設(shè)計案，在今年的國際消費性電子展(CES)上也看不到任何東西…怎么會這樣？
我們當然可以將之歸咎于目前幾乎不存在的
LTE市場，除了美國(編按：應(yīng)該還有日本跟韓國)，其它區(qū)域的LTE網(wǎng)絡(luò)布建速度緩慢，如果廠商想沖調(diào)制解調(diào)器芯片出貨量，不該鎖定LTE市場；但在3G市場，又是高通(Qualcomm)、聯(lián)發(fā)科(MediaTek)、展訊(Spreadtrum)、博通(Broadcom)、英特爾(Intel)…等大廠的天下。
或者也可以怪三星(Samsung)與蘋果(Apple)；這兩家公司橫掃高階智能手機市場，但三星有自家設(shè)計的LTE基帶芯片，蘋果則采用高通的芯片，其它芯片供貨商的生存空間不大。但真正的原因，其實是基帶芯片的本質(zhì)。
Galaxy S3 E210s主板上的三星LTE/HSPA+基帶芯片（CM221S）
Source：ABI Researchaexesmc
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• 新岸線攜神秘“芯”品亮相CES2013
• 想成為LTE市場王者，得看中國移動臉色行事
• 棄用高通基帶芯片，三星與蘋果之平臺戰(zhàn)啟幕aexesmc
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CEVA CEO Gideon Wertheizer形容，開發(fā)功能性基帶芯片是一項永無休止的任務(wù)。如果是應(yīng)用處理器，芯片供貨商只要看到IC投片了，就知道任務(wù)已經(jīng)完成；但如果是基帶芯片，就算是已經(jīng)投片，在量產(chǎn)之前還需要經(jīng)過無數(shù)次反復測試、修改、認證的過程。
Wertheizer 表示：“我曾聽說一家芯片廠商得派出大概400個工程師去三星，只為了測試手機芯片、接受不同移動通信業(yè)者的認證，以及針對不同頻段應(yīng)用進行調(diào)校，最后才能真正取得一個設(shè)計案?！边阍挘?00個人？真的假的？…這對任何一家公司來說，都是一個漫長而艱困、又注定要消耗大量資源的過程。
根據(jù)筆者在CES期間與產(chǎn)業(yè)人士的交流，有人猜測ST-Ericsson與瑞薩恐怕除了被三星這樣的大廠收購之外，沒有太多生存選項；他們的時間與資源有限，在看到芯片真正進駐量產(chǎn)的手機產(chǎn)品之前，恐怕無法承受無止盡的艱難過程。
面對世界上各種移動通信業(yè)者，基帶通信測試馬虎不得
aexesmc
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本文下一頁：在CES期間還是有許多LTE芯片的
相關(guān)閱讀：
• 新岸線攜神秘“芯”品亮相CES2013
• 想成為LTE市場王者，得看中國移動臉色行事
• 棄用高通基帶芯片，三星與蘋果之平臺戰(zhàn)啟幕aexesmc
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但市場研究機構(gòu)Forward Concepts總裁Will Strauss認為，在2月份即將舉行的Mobile World Congress期間，會有一系列LTE調(diào)制解調(diào)器芯片設(shè)計案發(fā)表。
事實上，在CES期間還是有許多LTE芯片相關(guān)新聞。例如高通發(fā)表其Snapdragon 800系列四核心Krait架構(gòu)處理器(每核心時脈速度達2.3GHz)，內(nèi)含Adreno 330繪圖處理核心、支持4G LTE Cat 4與802.11ac功能，蜂窩通信傳輸速率可達150Mbps、WLAN速率則可達1Gbps。
高通CEO保羅在CES主題演講中推驍龍800系列平臺，含802.11ac，支持UHD音響，現(xiàn)場體驗超棒。
Source：weibo@孫昌旭aexesmc
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相關(guān)閱讀：
• 新岸線攜神秘“芯”品亮相CES2013
• 想成為LTE市場王者，得看中國移動臉色行事
• 棄用高通基帶芯片，三星與蘋果之平臺戰(zhàn)啟幕aexesmc
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ST-Ericsson則在CES發(fā)表了NovaThor L8580調(diào)制解調(diào)器/應(yīng)用處理器，采用28nm FD-SOI制程；該公司表示，這款多模Cat 4 LTE芯片支持10個以上的LTE/HSPA/TD-SCDMA/GSM頻段。
“全球目前能夠做多模多頻段Modem的沒有幾家?！币夥◥哿⑿胖袊鴧^(qū)總裁張代君表示。調(diào)整后意法愛立信的產(chǎn)品Roadmap
aexesmc
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本文下一頁：Tegra 4搭配獨立Icera i500調(diào)制解調(diào)器
相關(guān)閱讀：
• 新岸線攜神秘“芯”品亮相CES2013
• 想成為LTE市場王者，得看中國移動臉色行事
• 棄用高通基帶芯片，三星與蘋果之平臺戰(zhàn)啟幕aexesmc
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至于Nvidia發(fā)表最新應(yīng)用處理器Tegra 4，以及搭配Tegra 4的獨立Icera i500調(diào)制解調(diào)器芯片；后者預計2013下半年量產(chǎn)，是一款以軟件為基礎(chǔ)的調(diào)制解調(diào)器方案，根據(jù)Nvidia資深副總裁Phillip Carmack說法，該調(diào)制解調(diào)器具備“高度自適應(yīng)(highly adaptive)”優(yōu)勢。
舉例來說，Icera具備彈性化的算法，能適應(yīng)不同型態(tài)的網(wǎng)絡(luò)，包括基地臺距離很遠或很擁擠的環(huán)境；Carmack解釋：“這種軟件調(diào)制解調(diào)器會自己進行最佳化，尋求最好的性能表現(xiàn)?！?
CES上黃仁勛在親自講解產(chǎn)品，Tegra 4擁有4顆A15 CPU核心，72枚GPU核心，并且首次搭載4G LTE模塊
aexesmc
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本文下一頁：瑞薩推出MP6530多模調(diào)制解調(diào)器與四核AP
相關(guān)閱讀：
• 新岸線攜神秘“芯”品亮相CES2013
• 想成為LTE市場王者，得看中國移動臉色行事
• 棄用高通基帶芯片，三星與蘋果之平臺戰(zhàn)啟幕aexesmc
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根據(jù)Forward Concepts的Strauss報告，瑞薩推出的MP6530多模FDD/TDD Class 4 LTE/DC-HSPA+/EDGE/GPRS/GSM調(diào)制解調(diào)器與四核心應(yīng)用處理器，是采用ARM的雙核心Cortex-A15與雙核心Cortex-A7 MPCores，號稱具備超低功耗并獲得完整認證，但相關(guān)客戶采用消息可能要到2月份的Mobile World Congress期間才會發(fā)布。
瑞薩的調(diào)制解調(diào)器一度是王者Nokia的最愛，無奈世事無常，巨人跌倒難免會壓到身邊的花花草草
aexesmc
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本文下一頁：Marvell的多模LTE調(diào)制解調(diào)器/AP將進駐最新RIM智能機
相關(guān)閱讀：
• 新岸線攜神秘“芯”品亮相CES2013
• 想成為LTE市場王者，得看中國移動臉色行事
• 棄用高通基帶芯片，三星與蘋果之平臺戰(zhàn)啟幕aexesmc
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Strauss的報告也指出，Marvell的PXA1801雙芯片Cat4多模LTE調(diào)制解調(diào)器/應(yīng)用處理器則配備自家RF與電源管理IC，已經(jīng)可提供樣品并正在進行認證程序：“該款芯片預期將進駐最新的RIM智能手機?！?
Marvell的PXA 920支持TD-SCDMA和GSM/EDGE，是中移動推廣3G時的寵兒
aexesmc
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編譯：Judith Cheng
參考英文原文：Yoshida in Vegas: Chasing elusive LTE design wins，by Junko Yoshida
相關(guān)閱讀：
• 新岸線攜神秘“芯”品亮相CES2013
• 想成為LTE市場王者，得看中國移動臉色行事
• 棄用高通基帶芯片，三星與蘋果之平臺戰(zhàn)啟幕aexesmc
{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.
責編：Quentin
