The designs are to include Ericsson baseband processors for HSPA (high-speed packet access) and LTE (long-term evolution) networks. They will also include TI application processors, including models from its
ARM11-based
OMAP 2 family, and its ARM
Cortex A8-based OMAP 3 lines.
Microsoft notably selected TI's
OMAP2420 applications processor as the first ARM11-based processor to be included in its Windows CE 6 beta release. A BSP (board support package) for the OMAP2420 processor is now integrated into the Windows CE 6 Platform Builder toolkit, according to the companies.
According to TI, the OMAP 2 architecture first brought cellphones features such as high-quality digital TV, DVD-quality video, digital cameras up to 6 megapixels, analog and digital broadcast reception, high-speed wireless connectivity, and greater-than-VGA resolution color LCDs. It also supports the company's SmartReflex power and performance management technology.
The new OMAP 3 architecture, introduced in February 2007, is claimed to perform as much as 300 percent faster than its ARM11-based predecessors. An integrated imaging accelerator on the OMAP3430 -- first of the line to be sampled -- can encode and decode video at DVD resolutions.
OMAP processor roadmap
(Click to enlarge)TI says the OMAP3430 processor embeds Imagination Technologies' PowerVR SGX graphics core, making it "the first applications processor to support OpenGL ES 2.0 and OpenVG." The OMAP3430 can reportedly be connected to either a DVD-quality camcorder or a 12 megapixel still camera, with minimal shot-to-shot delay.
TI OMAP3430 diagram, shown connected to a TI baseband processor
(Click to enlarge)
The joint EMP/TI designs will support "open" OSes, including Windows Mobile, Linux, and Symbian, the companies said. To ensure compliance with operator requirements, the designs will be subjected to Ericsson's "Mobile Platforms IOT" regimen, described as "one of the industry's most extensive interoperability testing processes."
Robert Puskaric, head of Ericsson's mobile platforms unit, stated, "EMP's access technology and platform size leadership with TI's innovative OMAP application processors [will] provide the most capable open OS platforms on the market today."
Handsets based on Ericsson/TI hardware reference designs are expected to reach market in the second half of 2008.
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