Software-defined radio modem powers multi-mode mobile phone

Samsung, NXP Semiconductors and T3G Technologies have teamed up on a mobile phone that can reconfigure itself to handle TD-SCDMA/HSDPA/GSM/GPRS/EDGE standards and also achieve data transfer rates 20 times faster than GPRS.

Samsung's SGH-T578H is the first to integrate NXP's Embedded Vector Processor (EVP) technology that implements a software-defined radio (SDR) modem.

The phone is based on the T3G Technologies' T3G7210 system design which uses the world's first 2.8 Mbps HSDPA modem IC, the TD60291. The SGH-T578H was first demoed at the PT/Wireless Exposition in Beijing on October 23rd.

NXP's Adelante VD32040 embedded vector processor enables the modem to achieve the 2.8 Mbps peak data rates and fully supports the 3GPP TDD-LCR Standard Release 5. The T3G7210 system solution also supports quad-band EDGE and dual-band TD-SCDMA with integrated multimedia accelerators to allow for the development of high-end feature phones without the need for additional external co-processors.

In addition to enabling the support of multi-mode and multi-standard platforms, NXP's EVP software definability also "future-proofs" the phone to some extent, allowing it to deal with possible changes in standards or operator requirements. It also gives mobile phone makers the option to offer more commercialized handsets with a broad scope of 3G multimedia applications.

China is the focal point of the SGH-T578H's deployment because in large part because of the upcoming 2008 Olympics in Beijing. TD-SCDMA network deployments have been completed in 10 major cities across China where there are more than 70 million potential subscribers.

This network is planned to be upgraded to support Release 5 (HSDPA) of the TD-SCDMA standard during 2008. The infrastructure improvements and the Samsung phone will support high-speed streaming of multimedia coverage of the Olympics.

Future uses of NXP's EVP technology could include modems that support not just multiple cellular standards but multi-technology devices that support cellular, Wi-Fi, WiMAX and Bluetooth with fewer modems and antennas.

More information is available at Embedded vector processor is one way to tune software-defined radios.