re: TI's Single Chip for Handsets
According to TI CEO Thomas Engibous:
Texas Instruments is gearing up to combine all four basic mobile phone functions onto one chip (one central processor and 25 passive components from the four chips and 180 passive components now needed) by 2004
- power management
- radio baseband and software
- radio frequency
- memory
The completely integrated wireless chip will absorb technologies for Bluetooth, 802.11b wireless network access and GPS satellite-based location-finding.
"We now ship all the components. Sometime in 2004, we will integrate that into a single chip.
"The number of (companies) who can produce a single chip is down to two" -- Intel and Texas Instruments.
TI plans in 2003 to offer a two-chip system with one chip for baseband transmission of radio signals and a second with a built-in digital radio frequency converter.
<< TI Aiming to Make Single Mobile Phone Chip by 2004
Eric Auchard
New York
Reuters
September 4, 2002
Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE:TXN) is gearing up to combine all four basic mobile phone functions onto one chip by 2004, potentially years ahead of rivals, CEO Thomas Engibous said on Wednesday.
Many companies have stated a goal of developing a single chip for use in wireless phones, with potential competitors including Intel, Motorola, and Qualcomm.
"The number of (companies) who can produce a single chip is down to two" -- Intel and Texas Instruments, Engibous told Reuters after a speech at a Salomon Smith Barney investment conference.
Dallas-based Texas Instruments is already the world's biggest chip supplier for mobile phones, but Intel is emerging as a competitor. The computer chip powerhouse has been working with Texas Instruments competitor Analog Devices Inc.
Intel has discussed plans for what it calls "Internet on a Chip" that it expects will lead to a single wireless chip within five to seven years, or 2007 at the earliest.
Texas Instruments said its processor will handle power management, radio baseband and software, radio frequency and memory, functions which currently each require their own chips.
"We now ship all the components," Engibous said. "Sometime in 2004, we will integrate that into a single chip. While some companies are talking about entering the wireless market, we have been delivering."
TI, as the company is known, plans to shrink the complexity of a cell phone to one central processor and 25 passive components from the four chips and 180 passive components now needed, a spokesman said.
Salomon Smith Barney analyst John Joseph said TI has used the worst downturn in the chip industry's history to invest heavily in advanced manufacturing technologies that will allow it to leapfrog rivals by integrating multiple technology functions into one.
"They are beginning to reap the rewards of their manufacturing prowess," Joseph said after the TI speech.
Engibous said the completely integrated wireless chip will absorb technologies for Bluetooth links to nearby wireless devices, 802.11b wireless network access and GPS satellite-based location-finding.
Toward its single-chip goal, TI plans in 2003 to offer a two-chip system to mobile handset makers, with one chip for baseband transmission of radio signals and a second with a built-in digital radio frequency converter, Engibous said.
TI's chip would accelerate the consolidation pressures reshaping the wireless semiconductor market, which consists of hundreds of component suppliers globally, including dozens of publicly traded stocks.
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- Eric - |
