Design Article
Teardown: Inside the BlackBerry Z10
Allan Yogasingam
2/6/2013 2:01 AM EST
Qualcomm the big winner
When we took apart the BlackBerry Z10—once the main board was separated from the handset casing and the shielding covering the components was removed—what stood out to us was the number of familiar components we saw. We found a number of components that we’ve seen in numerous handsets released over the course of 2012. A number of the components we found were also used in many of Samsung’s Galaxy products.
Standing out as the big design winner was Qualcomm, with four major socket wins within the Z10. Much like the LTE version of Samsung Galaxy S3 , the BlackBerry Z10 is powered by the MSM8960 baseband/applications processor. The MSM8960 integrates a multi-mode 3G/LTE modem while incorporating two asynchronous CPU cores and the Adreno 225 GPU for the applications side of the processor. For the BlackBerry Z10, the two CPU cores are clocked at 1.5 GHz of processing speed. The MSM8960 is manufactured at the 28nm processing node which makes for a power-efficient processor, a necessity considering the battery requirements of LTE-enabled handsets.
A closer look at the Qualcomm MSM8960 (click on image to enlarge).
Next: Out of the box
When we took apart the BlackBerry Z10—once the main board was separated from the handset casing and the shielding covering the components was removed—what stood out to us was the number of familiar components we saw. We found a number of components that we’ve seen in numerous handsets released over the course of 2012. A number of the components we found were also used in many of Samsung’s Galaxy products.
Standing out as the big design winner was Qualcomm, with four major socket wins within the Z10. Much like the LTE version of Samsung Galaxy S3 , the BlackBerry Z10 is powered by the MSM8960 baseband/applications processor. The MSM8960 integrates a multi-mode 3G/LTE modem while incorporating two asynchronous CPU cores and the Adreno 225 GPU for the applications side of the processor. For the BlackBerry Z10, the two CPU cores are clocked at 1.5 GHz of processing speed. The MSM8960 is manufactured at the 28nm processing node which makes for a power-efficient processor, a necessity considering the battery requirements of LTE-enabled handsets.
A closer look at the Qualcomm MSM8960 (click on image to enlarge).
Other major design wins for Qualcomm include the PM8921 power management IC, found in such devices as the Galaxy S3 LTE and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, and the RTR8600 multi-mode transceiver and GPS, also found in the Galaxy S3 LTE and the fourth generation iPad. Also found in the BlackBerry Z10 is Qualcomm’s WCD9310 audio codec. This relatively new device was also found in the Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE. It should be noted that these design wins underscore Qualcomm’s continued prominence in the smartphone component space and highlights the impressive run the San Diego communications component manufacturer has been on in scoring major design wins in globally-successful smartphones and tablets.
Speaking of Samsung, the Korean giant supplies a few key components for the BlackBerry Z10. Memory for the newest BlackBerry (a 16GB model) prominently featured Samsung components on the main handset PCB. Samsung provided both the system memory, in the form of 2 gigabytes of low-power DDR2 SDRAM, and the usable memory with a multichip memory package labeled KLMAG2GE4A that houses 16 GB of MLC NAND flash and a memory controller.
Another interesting note is that Texas Instruments, a once-prominent partner of RIM/BlackBerry, now finds itself with very few design wins within the BlackBerry Z10. TI’s biggest socket win is the WL1273L – a single-chip radio incorporating 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN, Bluetooth, and FM. Qualcomm has TI out.
Other design winners include TriQuint [ for its TQP6M9017 dual-band WLAN module, RF Micro Devices—which provides the linear power amplifier modules that facilitate multi-mode communications like LTE—and Avago, with two power amplifiers (ACPM-5017 and ACPM-7051). Synaptics’ Clearpad 3203 is the capacitive touchscreen controller for the BlackBerry Z10.
The BlackBerry Z10 is also NFC-ready, as we discovered Inside Secure’s SecuRead IC5C633I4 NFC solution module. This component was also found in the LTE version of the Playbook.
All in all, the BlackBerry Z10 seems to incorporate many of the component selections of the Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE. It’s not certain if these decisions the designers made on what semiconductors, ICs and other modules to use were by design or by accident. But based on the relative success of the Samsung Galaxy S3, it isn’t a bad model to draw from.
It remains to be seen if a name change and a new product philosophy will make an impact in the smartphone market with its established leaders Samsung and Apple. However, it is a positive step forward that BlackBerry now has handsets that can compete at the software and hardware level with the best handsets the industry has to offer.
Allan Yogasingam is a technical research manager at UBM TechInsights, owned by the same company that publishes EE Times, UBM plc.
Click through the following pages for a step-by-step look at the BlackBerry Z10 teardown.
Click through the following pages for a step-by-step look at the BlackBerry Z10 teardown.
Next: Out of the box
|
|
|
|
|
Navigate to related information
VE3ZXT
2/6/2013 9:30 AM EST
It is disappointing to read that the device has low wow factor. I guess that is increasingly true for all manufacturers - the latest iPhone is incremental in terms of its functionality and style.
Sign in to Reply
Jack.L
2/7/2013 12:12 PM EST
Not sure what you do with wow these days. There is something to be said for the wow of balance if you work in the corp world, and the feature set as a whole is pretty good. 3D camera with measurement? ...that would be fun.
I really just want a smartphone that works... easy, intuitive, etc.
Crazy techy with a BB and an Android and a couple iPhones in the family too. Love the apps/screen on the Android and iPhone, but some things about the BB are just way better ... like proper unified message box and push email on several accounts, a light I can program to match contacts, flexible notification profiles (and I do use them) ... including a mode that turns off all but super urgent messages when on the charger between 1 and 7 am, etc.
You get the impression it is designed by people who use it for business/personal in real life ... but unfortunately completely missed the portable computing aspect.
Sign in to Reply
kjdsfkjdshfkdshfvc
2/12/2013 10:01 AM EST
The latest iPhone has zero "wow" factor. BB has a real shot with this.
http://bit.ly/dI3hcF
Sign in to Reply
bnowak
5/6/2013 12:52 PM EDT
Go away, troll.
Sign in to Reply
Daniel Payne
2/6/2013 10:35 AM EST
I smell a lawsuit from Apple because the Z10 has a rectangular shape with rounded corners, a black box, and an icon with a telephone, three of the design patents infringed in the Apple v. Samsung lawsuit.
Sign in to Reply
Jack.L
2/7/2013 11:55 AM EST
While RIM (Blackberry) has been sued by the usual groups of patent trolls, I have to imagine that someone like Apple would be careful going after RIM. In the specific smartphone space, RIM likely has as large a patent portfolio as anyone even likely bigger than Samsung. I am sure a lot of countersuits could result.
Sign in to Reply
seaEE
2/7/2013 9:46 PM EST
Also berries and apples are close enough in the plant kingdom that there may be an infringment or at least some inadvertent cross pollinization going on.
Sign in to Reply
iniewski
2/6/2013 10:36 AM EST
How do you get a wow factor when each smart phone has already 99% of what is needed for vast majority of people??? Revolution happens only once in a while, evolution happens all the time
Sign in to Reply
C VanDorne
2/8/2013 5:00 PM EST
Really? Nobody ever misses the mark, or takes a step back?
In other words, the only constant is change, not evolution.
Sign in to Reply
selinz
2/6/2013 5:18 PM EST
As with the windows phone, the delay in introduction resulted in many loyal users "flying the coupe." This phone would have been very nice 1 year ago.. But better late than never. It'll be interesting to see if they can land some serious government contracts to help keep them alive.
Sign in to Reply
RTewell
2/8/2013 3:29 PM EST
I don't know...I think its brilliant. They are still "in the game" and it isn't the same ole' thing. QNX driven OS - traditional Blackberry features. I am really excited for them!!! Good show!
Sign in to Reply
tangey
2/7/2013 8:57 AM EST
"the BlackBerry Z10 is powered by the MSM8960 baseband/applications processor."
Only in the US/LTE markets. The rest of the world gets Z10s powered by TIs Omap4470, making it a big win for TIs app pro.
Sign in to Reply
hazydave
2/7/2013 1:04 PM EST
And a lose for non-LTE countries.. the Qualcomm chip is a better SOC... faster cores. Yeah, a good win for TI, but they don't seem all that interested in smartphone and tablet anymore.
It's curious that this shares so much with the Galaxy SIII. For anyone else, that would be a step back, debuting your flagship based on a near clone of a platform about to be replaced. But on the other hand, this is the first time a Blackberry phone has been even close to current in ages, so Blackberry fans have reason to cheer. And it's also sharing that core with the Windows Phone flagship, the Nokia Lumia 920. The real contest this year will be between Microsoft and Blackberry for third place.
Sign in to Reply
justatoms
2/7/2013 11:56 AM EST
You really need to spread this article over 14(!) pages?
Sign in to Reply
Knowl_Edge
2/7/2013 12:50 PM EST
Yet, many bought the phone. Disintegrating/Disecting the phone would be another nightmare, wouldn't it?
Blackberry, before even Apple had a chance to get into the market, you were there.
Good going!
Sign in to Reply
randombox
2/9/2013 1:33 PM EST
In the very competitive consumer technology sector, where timing is everything, I hope BB is not shooting themselves in the foot by delaying US roll-out of their new/late offering until March 2013!
Dare I ask; haven't smartphones already become a commodity, like the proverbial microwave ovens and laser pointers?
Sign in to Reply
krh
2/10/2013 7:03 PM EST
I might have missed it, but don't see any Broadcom (BRCM) design wins. Interesting, could take this two ways:
1) Blackberry sees BRCM too much in Apple and Android phones, so where possible Blackberry tries to use "other" suppliers to keep them loyal.
2) BRCM knows its mobile market so doesn't see the gain from a focus on Blackberry, yet.
My vote is #2.
Sign in to Reply
brionski
2/11/2013 11:25 AM EST
I miss my blackberry. I've been using a Droid X and tried an iPhone 5. Because of company security concerns, I have to use additional software on these other phones (Good technology) and it isn't as convenient as BB. I also store password hints and equations in my contact lists. Outlook and BB allow be to store a series of letters and numbers in phone fields. When I transfer these to Droid or iPhone, I loose all the letters and now my PW equations are gone! Had I known this was to happen, I might have placed the equations in the "notes" field, but how was I to know. Now I have way too many entries to fix. If BB is there when my current contract is up, I may well return to them. It just seems to be a better business solution.
Sign in to Reply
kjdsfkjdshfkdshfvc
2/12/2013 10:00 AM EST
It's actually a pretty solid phone.
http://bit.ly/dI3hcF
Sign in to Reply
Tubeman
3/25/2013 1:45 PM EDT
I just bought a Z10. It is not bad and lives up to expectations -- except the Z10 does NOT operate under the Blackberry Internet Service (BIS) in North America (nor I believe in Europe). This is something that Blackberry appears to have kept silent. It means that small business operators such as myself, who have relied on Blackberry's well respected and proven email filtering and control, have been abandoned by Blackberry. In effect, without this differentiation Blackberry has become just another "me too" smartphone maker pushing bells and whistles instead of solid and useful communications functionality that Blackberry users have become highly dependent on. With no apparent substitute for BIS, I might as well join the Android or iPhone crowd where I can at least have more apps and models to choose from -- or get my old Blackberry Torch fired up again.
Sign in to Reply
bboyle
3/30/2013 10:33 AM EDT
As an engineer I can appreciate the clean construction design of the Z10. Comparatively, the Samsung Galaxy N3 is a total disaster - requiring special tools to disassemble it. Also, I love the QNX OS that the Z10 uses - I've been a QNX user/developer for 30 years, and hands-down, it is the best (and most reliable) commercial real-time embedded OS available. Android and Linux? Not hard real-time, which may explain their occasional "glitches" - I have a Nexus One given me by Google several years ago at the Linux Collaboration Summit, and it was my main phone for 2 years. These days I am using a Nokia Lumia 900, which all things considered, is a nice bit of gear. Of course, it is a company-issued phone... :-) When I am ready to purchase a new personal phone, the BB will be high on my list of candidates!
Sign in to Reply