Broadcom has unveiled its smallest ever 4G LTE-Advanced smartphone wireless modem.
The race is on to amongst chip suppliers to take the initiative for the generation of super mobiles which will come after this year's LTE smartphones. The next generation will be based on the LTE-Advanced standard offering data rates up to 3Gbit/s.
Broadcom hopes to challenge the dominance of Qualcomm with this tiny multi-mode, multi-band chip which will support the next LTE-A standard as well as current protocols LTE FDD and TD, HSPA+, TD-SCDMA and EDGE/GSM.
Ready for LTE-A
The BCM21892 chip is a third of the size of its previous modem, and includes new power saving features.
"Broadcom's 4G LTE modem will also help carriers drive new 4G LTE features, such as LTE-A carrier aggregation, into commercial networks," said Robert A. Rango, general manager of Broadcom's Mobile and Wireless Group.
Compliant with all 3GPP specifications, the new modem also supports LTE Category 4 speeds of 150Mbit/s, operates in any 3GPP network and performs hand-offs between the various 4G LTE, 3G and 2G interface technologies.
Voice over LTE
It also supports what is known as Voice over LTE (VoLTE) which allows for high-definition voice calls over a mobile broadband connection, this is important in the transition from legacy networks.
"VoLTE service consumes approximately 40%less power than a comparable WCDMA voice call," said Broadcom.
According to Peter Cooney, ABI Research, "4G LTE coverage is clearly seen as a competitive differentiator by carriers to meet consumer demand for better performance, and as network rollouts accelerate worldwide."
Broadcom and Qualcomm will showcase 4G LTE-A chips at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona, February 25-28.
Source:
http://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2013/02/13/55555/broadcom-takes-on-qualcomm-with-tiny-lte-a-modem.htm
