Finally announced yesterday, the cellular coverage of the iPhone 5 is amazing, starting with LTE but also including CDMA-1xEV-DO, HSPA+, HSPA, DC-HSDPA, EDGE and GPRS. Nobody but Qualcomm could have provided the single-chip baseband modem and single-chip multi-band RF transceiver. The air interfaces covered allow most U.S. carriers and many international carriers to field the iPhone 5, even over many different LTE bands. But, it's not universal. China Mobile's TD-SCDMA is not supported, so maybe there'll soon be another iPhone 5 version for that huge market.
The A6 application processor is said to have a 2x faster CPU and 2x faster graphics on a "more energy efficient" die that is 27% smaller than the A5. My guess is that the A6 is a quad-core 28nm implementation of ARM's Cortex-A9 processor (likely by Samsung's Austin fab). 8 hours of 3G or LTE talk or browsing time and 10 hours of Wi-Fi browsing time is claimed.
Physically, the iPhone 5 has a longer body and 4-inch Retina display (vs. the 3.5-inch of the 4S), still allowing one-hand operation. The shell structure is all glass and aluminum, precluding implementation of NFC. That's too bad, since Apple recently bought biometric security company AuthenTec which has participated in an Android NFC project...with technology that could have enabled Apple to go up against Google Wallet. And there's no Bluetooth 4.0.
The new, all-digital "Lightning" dock connector is 80% smaller. Of course, Apple could have gone with micro USB like everybody else, but then it wouldn't have control over whose devices could connect to the new iPhone (and iPod) standard…and the resulting licensing fees (OMG, how the money rolls in!). Have your $29 dollars ready for an adapter for all of your old amplified speakers, your car aux port, etc.
The 8MP camera features a BSI sensor, 5-element lens with sapphire lens crystal. The A6 provides the image processing horsepower for dynamic low-light image capture and features a panoramic mode for a 28 MP resulting image. 1080P video with better stabilization and facial recognition is featured. A FaceTime HD camera, also with BSI, provides 720P capability.
Three microphones are provided, top, bottom and back. These provide for voice recognition and noise cancellation. Wideband audio is supported (about 50Hz-4kHz), currently enabled by DT & Orange, with 20 more carriers slated to handle it. The two speakers have 5-magnet transducers, enabling better sound.
With the new iOS 6 operating system, many new features and applications are provided, and at the same subsidized pricing (in the U.S., at least) as the old iPhone 4S, starting at $199 for 16GB. And you can get the iPhone 4S now for $99 and the iPhone 4 for free (Remember, "There's no such thing as a free lunch."). There are other Smartphones with most of the same features, but the iPhone 5 has enough new capabilities and "pizzazz" going for it that millions will begin flying off the shelves when it begins shipping September 21st.
Nvidia/Icera 3G Cellular Chips in ZTE's Grand-X Smartphone
The first instance of the Nvidia/Icera partnership in a Smartphone has emerged in ZTE's Grand-X. The Icera i450 HSDPA baseband is employed with a separate Nvidia 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 apps processor running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). Clearly, the Grand-X is targeted for the teen and first-time Smartphone buyers. Although Icera has demonstrated LTE capabilities in the lab, we don't expect an Icera-based LTE Smartphone to emerge until mid-2013. It's uncertain if it will be integrated on the same die with a Tegra family apps processor, but clearly that's the path that Nvidia is taking.
ZTE appears to be pretty fickle on its chip selections. The company plans to launch its Grand X IN (for "Intel"?) later this month that will employ an Intel apps processor, also running Android 4.0. Presumably, that Smartphone will also employ an Intel/Infineon HSPA+ baseband.
Feedback on 2G/3G Stacks
In my last newsletter, I listed several sources for 3G stacks, necessary when your LTE Smartphone is outside of LTE cell coverage. Since then I have had several updates from readers:
1) InterDigital Communications has licensed its 3G stack to Beceem (now part of Broadcom) and Spreadtrum.
2) Samsung appears to have its own multi-mode LTE/3G/2G PHY and stack in the Korean version of the Galaxy S III.
3) Sasken only has 2G/3G level 2 and above stacks. Their PHY (level 1) was from Comsys, now part of Intel (read: no longer available).
4) Nash Technologies (Nuremberg) has a 3G protocol stack but no PHY. Their 3G PHY is from Azcom Technology (Italy). Both companies are also developing LTE.
5) NTT DoCoMo has a 3G/LTE PHY and stack by Fujitsu, and shipping in quantity.
6) Renesas Mobile has its own multi-mode 2G/3G/LTE PHY and stack based on former Nokia technology, not TTPCom or other source.
Three responders felt that my estimate of $300 million to develop a complete 3G PHY and stack was high, but agreed that $100 million or more (and at least 1.5 years) was reasonable.
Whither LTE Basebands?
The companies currently shipping FDD-LTE baseband chips in cellphones are few:
1) Fujitsu/DoCoMo
2) LG/GCT
3) Qualcomm
4) Samsung
We expect more announcements by others this quarter with volume shipments beginning in Q1/13.
CSR Defends its Cambridge Identity
CSR's executive management took umbrage to my recent article on the company's sale of assets to Samsung.
Management said, "They only sold the combo business; the rest stays with CSR." "More specifically, uunder the heading ‘CSR No Longer a Cambridge Operation?’ you make the point that under the terms of the deal 310 CSR engineers move to Samsung. To conclude that that takes us out of Cambridge is not quite accurate however. Let me explain. CSR currently has around 700 employees in Cambridge out of a total of around 2400. Of the 310 transferees, around 160 are based in Cambridge. I do expect that around half of those will be ‘backfilled’ as we double up in our areas of focus like Voice and Music, Imaging, Indoors location Automotive and Bluetooth Smart. So –round numbers- the new CSR will have around 600 Cambridge based employees, out of around 2200. Hardly a large change. Please note that we will also remain headquartered in Cambridge and listed at LSE."
But, here's an observation from a colleague of mine, an engineer who lives in Cambridge: "The view on the street is that CSR without the wireless is not CSR, not Cambridge and not Radio." Perception is reality!
The Race to be the 1st VoLTE Network
SK Telecom and LG Uplus in Korea and MetroPCS in the U.S. all announced within a day of each other that theirs was the first Voice over LTE network in the world.
So who really was the first? And does it matter? Well, MetroPCS (the #5 U.S. cellular carrier) claims to have hit the switch the day before the Koreans, but I'll have to stand on the International Date Line to see if that's meaningful. But, VoLTE is the real deal! Until now, virtually all cellular voice calls have been over circuit-switched networks of the old POTS (plain old telephone system) heritage, although GSM and other voice coding (vocoder) standards have replaced the land-line PCM coding. By converting to packet-based voice over the packet-centric LTE network carriers can better use of their radio spectrum and ultimately reusing 3G spectrum for the new network. And it can allow better voice quality and will be better than older vocoders at suppressing background noise. Presently there are only three VoLTE-capable handsets shipping: Android LG Connect (for MetroPCS), Samsung Galaxy S III (SKT) and LG Optimus LTE2 (KT).
Of course, HSPA+ can employ HD Voice codecs, too (like iPhone 5's new wideband audio), and that should prove popular in Europe where LTE has spotty coverage.
It should be noted that LTE is not the first packet-based cellular technology. Motorola-developed iDEN, still employed by RIM in South America and now being phased out by Sprint/Nextel, is packet-based; however it employs Frame Relay packets, not VoIP like LTE. iDEN proved to be the best "push-to-talk" solution on the planet.
Shameless Plug
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We believe that there is no other cellular terminal and chip market study available that has the breadth or depth of coverage of this one. Shipped as PDF only (with enterprise-wide license), discounts are available to those who purchased our other studies of "core" or "peripheral" chip markets. Check the website to get an idea of the full extent of this valuable study and all of the components and companies covered: www.fwdconcepts.com/cellchip12
As always, I encourage your feedback.
Will Strauss
President & Principal Analyst
Forward Concepts
