Barcelona, Spain — Broadcom and Skyworks Solutions are gearing up for a battle with Texas Instruments, Analog Devices, and other wireless chipset developers with the launch of EDGE solutions for mobile phone designs.

Broadcom started the day by announcing an integrated baseband/RF device that is developed in a 65-nm process. The chip, called the BCM21331, integrates an EDGE RF CMOS transceiver, all of the analog and digital baseband functions, and multimedia support. The chip also includes 3.2-Mpixel camera support; video streaming and capture at 30 frames per second (fps) using an H.264 hardware accelerator; audio support for speakerphones and stereo headsets; a USB 2.0 interface for connectivity; and the company's single antenna interference cancellation (SAIC) signal processing, which is designed to improve reception and voice quality.

To complement the BCM21331 EDGE processor, Broadcom also offers the BCM59001 power management unit and a set of Bluetooth solutions including the BCM2045 Bluetooth, BCM2048 Bluetooth + FM, or BCM4325 Bluetooth + Wi-Fi(R) + FM single-chip devices. Additionally, Broadcom provides its CellAirity software suite, which includes pre-ported applications supporting an EDGE-class multimedia handset.

WEDGE Transceiver
While Broadcom pushed for an integrated baseband/RF device, Skyworks stayed true to its RF background with the release of the SKY74210 RF CMOS transceiver for combined EDGE/W-CDMA (WEDGE) phones. Housed in a 7 x 7-mm land grid array (LGA) package and part of the company's Helios family, the SKY74210 WEDGE device includes a direct-conversion transmit chain, which is developed using a polar-loop transmitter approach. The chip also includes drivers that allow designers to implement separate GPRS and W-CDMA power amplifiers. A six-wire interface is also included for linking up with baseband devices.

Availability of the BCM21331: Sampling to key customers
Product Brief for the BCM21331: http://www.broadcom.com/products/Cellular/2G-Baseband-Processors/BCM21331

Availability of the SKY74210: Sampling in the fourth quarter of 2007
Additional info on Helios Transceivers: http://www.skyworksinc.com/rfsbu_polar_loop.asp

Broadcom, (949) 926-5000, www.broadcom.com
Skyworks Solutions, (949) 231-3000www,skyworksinc.com