Combo chips, what else can not be integrated?

A race trying to integrate various RF functions on a single chip is becoming increasingly fierce due to the launch of MTK's latest wireless connectivity 4-in-1 single-chip MT6620. According to sources from MTK, the MT6620 integrates 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0+HS, GPS and FM transceivers in a single chip, which is extremely advantageous in terms of package size and low power consumption and will be available for smartphones and tablets. And portable devices provide the best wireless connectivity solutions. Previously, TI also released the WL1283, a single-chip solution integrating four kinds of wireless technologies such as Bluetooth/Wi-Fi/FM/GPS, and became the preferred composite chip for the BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet PC.

"It is certainly not only that Broadcom can do the work of integration, but customers want us to provide a more offensive and imaginative combination chip." This is after Broadcom Greater China General Manager Liang Yi was interviewed by this magazine. The attitude of the time. If TI WL1283 has more customization, then it seems that MTK, which also has wolf characteristics, is heading toward the general market.

"Everything but not cut and paste"

Often, highly integrated solutions often result in the inability of each feature to be fully utilized. The so-called “face-to-face” approach is often limited to word-level advertising. Therefore, how to avoid blindly and blindly pursuing rapid-to-market products, and then using the "cut and paste" IP module, hurriedly put together a variety of functions without redesigning its basic architecture. As a result, the chip area was too large. Big, poor efficiency and performance are issues that every manufacturer must consider.

"The key factors in choosing a combo chip will be cost, area, performance and development time." Michael Hurlston, senior vice president of Broadcom's home and wireless network business unit, told reporters, "We believe that we are integrating all these wireless circuits on a single chip. It's very good to do this. It needs to control the long-term difficulties of radio communication such as RF interference and crosstalk.

If multiple functions are used together at the same time, but there is no performance compromise, this is very worthy of attention. MTK said that MT6620 supports a wide range of advanced wireless connectivity standards, including 2.4GHz and 5GHz dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct and Wi-Fi HotSpot, Bluetooth 4.0+HS dual-mode operation, GPS/Galilei/SBAS/QZSS And patented AlwaysLocate technology, as well as FM radio transceiver. In terms of technology certification, MT6620 Wi-Fi has passed 802.11n certification, including WPS2.0 and WAPI, while Bluetooth controller and BlueAngle host software have passed 4.0+HS certification.

In February of this year, Broadcom also introduced a composite system-on-chip (SoC) BCM4330 that integrates 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth, and FM wireless technologies on a single die; it was subsequently launched at the Computex Computer Show in Taiwan last month. Another composite chip, the BCM43142, is used in PCs, laptops, and netbooks. As for Broadcom's delay in the introduction of similar 4 in 1 Combo Chips, Hurlston explained that the needs of customers are diversified. In some cases, GPS and other wireless technologies do not need to be integrated, leaving customers with design flexibility. It will be even bigger. "In my opinion, our BCM4330 plus discrete GPS solution is much better than some competitors' so-called four-in-one chips."

At the same time, Broadcom’s old rival, Atheros acquired by Qualcomm, also brought Combo Chips WCN3660 with dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and FM capabilities to the Qualcomm 28nm Snapdragon processor. The chip is based on the dual-band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) single-stream 802.11n protocol and requires no access points. It can also use the P2P wireless connection to support up to 14 client mobile hotspots based on the Wi-Fi Direct standard. In addition, the WCN3660 also supports the emerging Wi-Fi Display standard, which can transfer video directly from a smartphone or tablet to a Wi-Fi enabled monitor or TV.

Four major trends in wireless connectivity Although Broadcom does not currently have 4 in 1 chips, Hurlston has not ruled out the possibility of continuing to integrate GPS functionality in the future. At the same time, he also described the four major trends in the wireless communications industry this year and next year: Near Field Communication (NFC), indoor location services, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), and Wi-Fi Direct.

Broadcom spent $47.5 million in 2010 to acquire Innovision Research & Technology PLC, a wireless connectivity solution provider that can integrate NFC with other wireless technologies. Hurlston said this may be the first time Broadcom has purchased a public company. He predicts that NFC will become popular at the end of this year through 2012, because "mobile banking is what wireless operators want to promote." Of the handsets shipped in 2012, about 10-15% will have NFC capabilities.

Wi-Fi Direct technology allows devices to connect directly to each other anywhere - even without Wi-Fi networks, hotspot areas, or Internet connections. Mobile phones, cameras, printers, PCs, keyboards, and headsets with Wi-Fi Direct capabilities will be able to connect to each other to easily and quickly transfer content and share applications. Therefore, the popularity of the standard is not surprising. In-Stat predicts that shipments of Wi-Fi Direct-enabled devices will reach 173 million units this year. By 2014, every Wi-Fi enabled PC, consumer electronics device and mobile phone will support Wi-Fi Direct.

In addition, the Doppler effect often causes the satellite frequency to drift, and the GPS receiver's clock/crystal oscillator is not perfect, which causes the traditional GPS service to suffer from harsh reception conditions and lengthy initial positioning time (TTFF) for a long time. . Under such a background, simple GPS technology can no longer meet its needs. Hurlston believes that the combination of GPS+GLONASS, GPS+ quasi-zenith satellite systems, and GPS and Wi-Fi and base station positioning technologies is a general trend.

"We will see these technologies being adopted and promoted this year, but I don't think that the integrated communication technologies in the short term will be the baseband of mobile phones." Hurlston said, "Because Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and other connection technologies have evolved faster than mobile phones. Baseband is much faster. For Broadcom or any chip vendor, integrating baseband and other wireless technologies on a single die is not economical."

What else can't be integrated?

Since 2008, the Nintendo Wii and Apple iPhone have come out of the market to warm the gesture recognition technology market. Hitachi and other companies exhibited at the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) a chip-driven gesture recognition interface from vendors such as Canasta. In addition, the hot Microsoft Kinect gesture recognition device announced software development tools in June, creating new milestones in this area of ​​technology.

Qualcomm has acquired some assets of GestureTek, a gesture recognition technology developer. The company plans to add the acquired gesture recognition technology to the “current and next-generation Snapdragon processor” to provide smart phones, tablet devices and other devices. Consumer electronics applications.

GestureTek's software entered the mobile phone application for the first time in 2007 when it was cooperating with Japanese communication company DoCoMo; its technology was also adopted by handsets including HTC, Motorola, Nokia, NEC, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, and LG. In addition, there are Panasonic, Microsoft (Xbox 360), Sanyo, Sony, Intel and IBM and other vendors, and get GestureTek technology license applied to other products.

Last year, GestureTek demonstrated the company's software technology in Android and Symbian, and its technology also supports Linux, Nucleus, Windows Mobile and other operating systems and Qualcomm's feature phone platform Brew. Qualcomm said that gesture recognition technology will be integrated into the company’s existing and future Snapdragon processors, allowing OEMs to produce smart phones, tablet devices, or home entertainment devices that have an intuitive gesture recognition user interface.