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Addressing the need to cut cost, real estate, and time-to-market for 4G multi-mode smartphones, Sandbridge Technologies unveiled its SB3500 flexible baseband processor. The SB3500 facilitates 4G implementation in handsets entirely in software, resulting in cost and real estate reductions in the 15 to 20% range. The baseband processor operates any radio protocol for a multi-mode, multi-function mobile platform including LTE, HSPA, 3G, WiMAX, Wi-Fi, DVB-H, GPS and all multimedia formats.
The first generation of this reprogrammable baseband chip, the 3011, was introduced a couple of years ago, but met with less than stellar market acceptance. What the experience did give the company was reaching the point where both operators and handset OEMs understood that the technology did meet performance characteristics, could achieve real-time at commercial power levels, and could pass the muster of testing. The marketplace, however, asked for a 4G capable version and now Sandbridge SB3500 chip is ready.
To address 4G, some of the challenges to overcome included the fact that bit rates go up dramatically, from 2 or 3 Mbps over cellular, now to 50-100 Mbps, driving error corrections into a whole new range of performance requirements. This and other challenges drove architectural changes and enhancements to the instruction set.
The SB3500 provides third-party application developers with a common platform based entirely on the C programming language, expediting the development and rapid distribution of new features and functions.
The software-based design of the SB3500 alters the landscape of the mobile industry by accelerating the cost efficient development and distribution of faster, more flexible ultra-mobile-devices with the capacity for virtually unlimited communications protocols and multimedia applications. For consumers it means that high value Smartphones can be made available at mass market pricing.
The chip is currently available.
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