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Imaging and GPS set silicon trends at Mobile World Congress

There are several key trends coming together at this year’s Mobile World Congress. Imaging has become a much more significant part of the design of handsets, both from the image-sensor and the captureand- processing standpoint, with smaller sensors and high-definition TV in mobile handsets. At the same time, there is a strong push this year to integrating GPS satellite navigation into mobile devices, with several start-ups offering new approaches.

The “sweet spot” for camera modules is moving to 3Mpixels this year and next, says Ken Cormack, technical marketing manager for mobile imaging products at STMicroelectronics. The company launched what it claims is the world’s smallest 2-Mpixel module: less than 6x6x3.8 mm including the image-processor chip. The single-chip camera sensor was designed in Edinburgh, UK and produces digital-video streams at 15 frames/sec at full UXGA resolution and 30 frames/sec at VGA resolution. The small size results from the use of vias through the substrate of the sensor to bond out directly to ball-grid array under the die.

But there is still plenty of life left in the VGA camera modules, particularly in wider applications outside the handset business. Tessera, which supplies wafer-scale lens and packaging IP to the module makers, has bought imagesoftware supplier Fotonation and its design team in Galway, Ireland, to drive more camera modules into toys and robotics. Tessera provides IP for low-cost wafer scale modules, while Fotonation brings software for image correction and smile detection. The same software that removes marks on the picture helps to improve yield of the product by correcting for dust particles trapped during manufacturing, and allows module makers to target $1 for the cost of a VGA module, according to Erik Varakov, vice president of marketing. “This opens up new applications in areas like toys,” he said. “You could have the toy seeing whether the child is smiling or not and reacting differently, or shutting down the voice recognition if the child is looking away.”

At the same time OmniVision is also sampling what it claims to be the smallest VGA module, measuring 4.5
4.5
2.8 mm and using nonlinear optics and chip-scale packaging to reduce the height of the module for both entry-level cell phones and laptops.

Another dimension of imaging design is a move to provision of high-defi nition camcorder functions in cell phones. Chipset vendors are competing to provide these functions through applications processors and complete phone chipsets, with outputs supporting 720p resolutions to provide high-quality pictures to LCD and plasma TV sets in the home.

Texas Instruments launched its OMAP 3440 processor, its fi rst based on the Cortex A8 processor core from ARM, while 3D graphics-chip maker Nvidia launched the AXP2500, and Broadcom its BCM21551, all targeting the same specifi - cation. The TI part only supports MPEG4—rather than the more effi cient H.264—but will start sampling next quarter, says Robert Tolbert, worldwide marketing manager for OMAP processors.

Nvidia’s AXP2500 encodes to H.264 and runs the Windows Mobile rather than the Symbian operating system. The company is planning an aggressive extension to its range, based on the design cycles of the PC business rather than the longer handset cycles. “We think they are poised for rapid growth,” said Glenn Schuster, general manager of Nvidia’s wireless-processor business, “and there will be a new applications processor every year for handsets.” This is the company’s fi rst chip following the acquisition of PortalPlayer in 2007, and it uses a single 750MHz ARM11 processor core with a 3D graphics core. It has added dynamic voltage and frequency scaling to allow phones to provide up to 10 hours of video playback to a TV or 100 hours of MP3 playback.

Broadcom’s 21551 chip supports cameras up to 12 Mpixels with 10-frame/sec JPEG compression as well, for taking multiple still shots. The Cambridge, UK team that Broadcom acquired with Alphamosaic designed this device. But there is also IP for this level of performance. Israeli fi rm Ceva, too, was demonstrating H.264 encode on its Ceva-X DSP core for inclusion in chips, and it already counts companies such as Infi neon as a customer. The same trend is also driving sensors up to resolutions of 8 and 9 Mpixels, says Paul Mullen, managing director of Micron Europe, which, as well as supplying memory, designs the image sensors with a team in Bracknell, UK.

GPS in handsets can also expect substantial growth this year, and companies are fi ghting for position. “Advances in GPS chipset development will signifi cantly facilitate the low-cost integration of GPS technology, and by 2013, we can expect to see more than 900 million GPS-enabled devices in the market,” said Dominique Bonte, principal analyst for Telematics & Navigation at ABI Research.

Cambridge Silicon Radio launched its eGPS solution, which acquires more timing information from the phone to get a wide area fi x on the location, and so gives a quicker time-to-fi rst-fi x of 4 to 6 sec, compared to up to 60 sec even for Assisted GPS. This reduces power consumption by half and will allow the development of more location-based services, says Joep van Beurden, the company’s CEO, as it can handle more indoor locations and maps can be pulled up instantly. CSR is working with Motorola particularly on the technology and will open it out to the wider market next year.

Broadcom is also looking to integrate GPS satellite navigation into its chips following the acquisition of chip maker Global Locate in July last year. “GPS is fascinating and will become quite pervasive in all portable devices, and the cost of GPS is coming down rapidly” said Scott MacGregor, CEO of Broadcom, at the show. MacGregor added that the chips will not be GPS-only but will combine other radio functions with high levels of integration and good co-existence characteristics. “[GPS is] such a sensitive receiver that if we preintegrate some of the other radios we solve a lot of the problems of our customers.”

Swiss start-up NemeriX is also looking to reduce the power consumption of GPS, providing a platform where designers can choose a SiGe or a CMOS RF to go with the CMOS baseband, but maintaining all the software, while NXP Semiconductor, through its acquisition of the Glonav GPS business of Ceva, has launched a 90-nm-single-chip solution and integrated it into its Nexperia 7210 for 3G handsets. Power-management modes reduce power consumption to less than 13mW for 1-sec map updates, and the package measures under 9mm². “NXP believes that location- based services are the next killer application in wireless,” said Dennis Kish, senior vice president of connected entertainment, business unit mobile & personal at NXP Semiconductors.

 

For more information
ABI Research, www.abiresearch.com.	Broadcom, www.broadcom.com.	Ceva, www.ceva-dsp.com.
CSR, www.csr.com.	Micron, www.micron.com.	NemeriX, www.nemerix.com.
Nvidia, www.nvidia.com.	NXP, www.nxp.com.	OmniVision, www.ovt.com.
STMicroelectronics, www.st.com.	Tessera, www.tessera.com.	Texas Instruments, www.ti.com.

 

Author Information

Nick Flaherty is a technology writer who contributes to a number of engineering publications, including Reed Electronics Group’s Electronics Weekly.