Imagination Technologies wants to control your smartphone, Qualcomm says today’s LTE speeds are set to double, and Broadcom is making inroads in a key market for set-top boxes.
Imagination Technologies ready to challenge ARM
The ARM cores found in most smartphone processors will face competition in the years ahead, and not just from Intel’s emerging designs. ARM also faces a challenge from fellow British IP core specialist Imagination Technologies. Imagination makes graphics processing units (GPUs) for leading mobile devices including the iPhone and iPad. Late last year it spent $100 million to buy the operations of CPU maker MIPS, with the goal of creating CPU cores to compete head-on with ARM.
Now Imagination says those CPU cores will launch this year. The 32-bit and 64-bit “Warrior” cores will combine MIPS hardware multi-threading technology and SIMD architecture with Imagination’s security framework. Imagination says that as the industry’s “most efficient RISC architecture,” MIPS is positioned to deliver the “best performance and lowest power consumption in a given silicon area.”
“If Imagination does as great a job with the new MIPS generation as it has done with PowerVR GPUs, then the industry will have another strong player in the CPU IP space,” said J. Scott Gardner, senior analyst at The Linley Group. Gardner notes that the MIPS Aptiv CPU core portfolio was named the ‘Best Processor IP of 2012’ in his firm’s annual analysts’ choice awards. MIPS cores already have strong positions in the data networking and digital home CPU markets; now with Imagination Technologies in the driver’s seat the company appears ready to make inroads in the mobile device market as well.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 to power LTE-A smartphone
While ARM is the top maker of mobile CPU cores, Qualcomm is the leader in combining those cores into the chips that power mobile devices. Now the San Diego company says its Snapdragon 800 processor will enable the world’s first LTE-Advanced smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE-A.
Qualcomm says LTE carrier aggregation will enable data speeds of up to 150 Mbps, twice as fast as current LTE speeds. LTE carrier aggregation allows for simultaneous download on two or more LTE radio channels, even if they are not contiguous.
South Korea, Samsung’s home market and an early adopter of LTE, will be first to get the Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE-A. All three of the country’s mobile operators will get the phone, but Qualcomm says that SK Telecom will be first.
Broadcom advances in STB market
Broadcom has scored a big win in the set-top box (STB) market, landing a contract to supply chipsets for MPEG-4 STBs in the world’s second most populous country. India’s Tata Sky has selected Broadcom’s BCM7301 system-on-chip to power its next generation of set-top boxes.
“We selected Broadcom’s satellite set-top box devices because their best-in-class integration, performance and energy-efficiency enable us to meet the needs of our subscribers while also reducing power and energy requirements in the home,” said Tata Sky CEO Harit Nagpal. “Our goal is to enable our customers to enjoy the growing volume of television content and interactive services available for home entertainment and information.”
Tata Sky currently has an estimated 10 million subscribers to its satellite television service. India is the world’s second largest direct-to-home satellite TV market after the United States.
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