Silicon Laboratories Inc.'s Si4905 AeroFone single-chip cell phone integrates all the functions necessary for a GSM/GPRS phone, including the analog and digital basebands, power management, battery interface, charging circuitry, and RF transceiver in a single, monolithic IC. "In a cell phone today, you typically have about 250 components," notes James Kimery, director of marketing for Silicon Laboratories' Wireless Division. "This reduces that number down to around 50."
By packing all that into one CMOS chip, Silicon Labs' engineers enable developers to more effectively manage power consumption. They also provide handset manufacturers with a thoroughly-tested product, thereby saving considerable cost in manufacturing test, ultimately laying a foundation for higher yields.
"Just because of the sheer number of components this integrates, design complexity is dramatically reduced," Kimery says. "So you get a big time-to-market advantage."
Silicon Laboratories says cell phone designers need only a power amplifier, front-end switch, SAW filters and non-volatile memory to develop a complete GSM/GPRS handset.
"With the Si4905, there are fewer components to qualify, fewer circuits to design and fewer circuits to test," Kimery says. "Here, everything is integrated." For more information, go to http://rbi.ims.ca/4917-629.
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