Tear Down: Panasonic EB-MX6 tri-band handset

The Panasonic EB-MX6 is a tri-band GSM phone with music, Web browsing, and text messaging capability. It includes a 1.3-Mpixel camera, speakerphone, and a digital music player. It runs on the GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz frequencies.

The EB-MX6 has a 2.2-in. color TFT screen with a QVGA resolution (320 by 240 pixels). It's enhanced to about 16 million colors. The integrated camera offers backlight compensation to increase image quality. A macro-mode lets users focus on close objects, while the 4X digital zoom captures farther detail.

Other features include a button near the hinge that opens the handset, 40-polyphonic ring tones, and an infrared port for transmitting data wirelessly. High-speed GPRS enables an easy connection to the Internet. The EB-MX6 makes interesting use of color LEDs—when a message is received, the indicator flashes in different colors and patterns depending on the "emoticons" in the message.

A long–life 1660mAh battery makes the handset suitable for business use. The battery is purported to last for up to 740 hrs. in stand-by mode, with up to 12 hrs. of talk time. The platform measures 1.81 by 3.78 by 1.02 in. and weighs 4.6 oz.

There are 12 identified major components in the Panasonic EB-MX6 (see the table). One of the interesting components is the Infineon PMB6270 SMARTi SD GSM/GPRS single-chip RF IC transceiver.

While the PMB6270 can operate from a dual- to a quad-band range, due to the intended market for the EB-MX6, it only operates in three of the bands. This device is the first of the SMARTi family that designed in Infineon's C11 0.13-micron CMOS technology.

A previous generation PMB5699 (found in the NEC FOMA N900iS handset) has a die size that measures 4.3 by 3.3 mm (see the figure). Technology has come a long way since this device was introduced as the first single-chip UMTS/W-CDMA RF transceiver. While it may not be completely fair to compare the battery life of the Panasonic EB-MC6 and NEC FOMA N900iS as they have differing functionalities and operating modes, drawing some correlation between the 740 hours stand-by mode/12 hours talk-time for the Panasonic and 390 hours stand-by mode/2 hours talk-time for the NEC has some relevance. This could also be attributed to the decrease in supply voltage from 2.7 to 3.0 V for the PMB5699 to 1.5 to 2.0 V for the PMB6270.

The key components of the Panasonic EB-MX6 handset come from Infineon.

The Panasonic EB-MX6 takes advantage of the size and power benefits from the combination design offered with Infineon’s E-GOLDlite (PMB8875) baseband IC and E-POWERlite (PMB6812) power- and battery-management IC.

About the author
Gregory A. Quirk is a technology analyst for Semiconductor Insights. He can be reached at gregoryq@semiconductor.com.

This article is excerpted from Semiconductor Insights' Handset Design Win (HDW) subscription service.