UMTS Chipset and Reference Design For Small, Sleek 3G Mobile Devices

Manufacturers of UMTS handsets and wireless PDAs will soon enjoy significant design advantages thanks to a new highly integrated four-chip dual-mode TCS4105 UMTS chipset and reference design from Texas Instruments Inc. The newest addition to TI's TCS family of terminal chipset solutions, the TCS4105 chipset, will build on TI's GSM/GPRS leadership to deliver converged voice and multimedia in 3G mobile devices with reduced bill-of-materials (BOM) cost, extended standby times and support for both WCDMA and GSM/GPRS functionality.

To best support the coming wave of new 3G wireless services, the TCS4105 UMTS chipset can be coupled with one of TI´s OMAPTM application processors, such as the new OMAP1610 processor, to support rich 3G multimedia applications like vivid imaging and video, videoconferencing, interactive 3D games and entertainment, location-based services, high-end stereo music, polyphonic audio and many others. TI´s OMAP1610 processor also supports advanced mobile operating systems such as Microsoft´s Windows CE, PalmOS, Symbian OS and Linux®. In addition, the OMAP1610 processor provides Java hardware acceleration, improved graphics performance, integrated security features and enhanced peripherals. Like all of TI´s chipset solutions and OMAP processors, the TCS4105 and OMAP1610 are supported by the OMAP Developer Network of leading wireless software application developers.

"The new wireless market is driven by the convergence of voice services combined with more personalized and content-rich applications," said Rick Kornfeld, vice president, general manager of TI's wireless chipset business. "By utilizing its systems expertise in wireless chipsets and applications processors, TI has designed the TCS4105 chipset and reference design to address these market trends and achieve advancements in overall device requirements such as power consumption, application performance, integration and cost reduction."

Dual-Mode Chipset

The TBB4105 digital baseband processor in the TCS4105 chipset supports WCDMA up to 384kbps, as well as Class12 GSM/GPRS. This device also features TI´s high-performance, power-efficient digital signal processor (DSP), the TMS320C55xTM, and an ARM926 processor. The TCS4105 chipset´s analog baseband processor, the TWL3024, integrates the analog and power management functions of the complete chipset and applications processor into one device, reducing board-space requirements, chip count and development cost. The TWL3024 also features TI´s innovative power management system, which reduces power consumption considerably by partitioning the system and, when possible, placing portions of the handset into low-power standby mode. With this power management system, the battery life of a 3G mobile device that features a TCS4105 and OMAP1610 processor will be extended significantly, increasing standby times by 2X over existing solutions without sacrificing high performance applications.

A two-chip radio frequency (RF) transceiver subsystem enables the dual-mode GSM/GPRS and WCDMA capabilities of the TCS4105 chipset. Both the GSM/GPRS transceiver, the TRF6151, and the WCDMA transceiver, the TRF6301, feature advanced direct conversion (DC) technology and integrate several external devices such as VCOs, LNAs, PLL loop filters, and synthesizers.

This advanced level of overall system integration will reduce a manufacturer's parts count by approximately 30 percent over early generation 3G handsets. Designed to be compliant with the 3GPP Release 99 specification for UMTS, the chipset's programmability will ensure a high degree of flexibility so that a TCS4105-based platform is quickly adaptable to evolving 3GPP requirements.

Scalable for All Market Segments

TI provides flexible and scalable solutions for traditional wireless communications devices as well as high-performance multimedia products. The TCS4105 chipset will include TI´s rich set of fully-tested and validated embedded wireless software that incorporates a complete UMTS protocol stack along with production and test tools. The TCS4105 chipset also has been optimized to complement TI´s OMAP family of application processors, such as the new OMAP1610 processor, providing the power-efficient processing performance for advanced multimedia features and functionality. A TCS4105-based handset with the OMAP1610 application processor will have ample processing performance for 3G applications like videoconferencing, stereo music, multimedia messaging services (MMS), vivid color screens, still camera, and many other compelling services while still delivering industry-leading power consumption.

Complete Reference Design

The TCS4105 UMTS chipset reference design is manufacturing quality and will be fully validated and will include a complete bill of materials, feature-rich communications and multimedia software suite and board design and layout. The dual-mode UMTS design will seamlessly integrate the TCS4105 chipset with a high-performance OMAP applications processor, thereby supporting the leading mobile operating systems and enabling multimedia applications such as videoconferencing, streaming audio and video, and MMS. In addition, the TCS4105 reference design will leverage the rapidly growing OMAP Developer Network, thus ensuring a steady stream of innovative wireless applications. In support of its reference designs, TI provides best-in-class worldwide customer support to assist all the way to full-scale production, dramatically reducing time-to-market for handset manufacturers.

Availability

TCS4105 UMTS development chipsets have been available since the second quarter of 2002. Availability of TCS4105 commercial samples is expected in the third quarter of 2003 and full-scale production of chipset and software is planned for first half of 2004, with reference design to follow.