A Third Breakthrough Idea
As if the competitive advantages of technically and economically superior CDMA spread spectrum architecture, already translated into a doubling of 3G 1x voice capacity, with a second doubling from antennae diversity and the new vocoder on the horizon, that was already followed by a decoupled and unmatched 1xEV-DO architecture optimized for low-cost high-speed data were not enough, then Qualcomm had a third breakthrough idea, increasing further the likelihood of its global preemption of the future.
Announced in December 2000 as “Revolutionary Radio Frequency Architecture,” Don Shrock, President of QCT boasted, “ZIF architecture has been the holy grail of many wireless communication standards.” Why a “holy grail?” The world’s wireless operators ardently desired a successful grail-quest for a harmonization within spread spectrum of competing 3G alternative standards. A successful grail quest brings a seamless mobile wireless voice-data network connected to the PSTN and the Internet to create the mother of network effects.
Breakthrough Idea #3: Qualcomm’s breakthrough radioOne technology permits the integration of multiple modems in the chipset to enable a global mobile solution that permits universal roaming by flexibly converting protocols to harmonize diverse bands of spectrum, carrier access modes, generations, upgrades, and carriers’ networks.
Reductions in the process geometry of ICs and the shrinkage of die size created tremendous advances in the design of digital chips, increasing their integration, functionality, and speed. Not profiting from Moore’s law, the pace of development of RF subsystems evolved more slowly and incrementally. Designers were challenged by two unsolved problems. First, although they varied in magnitude by factors of 100 dB, both ultrahigh frequency and analog signals were on the same die. Second, components that were external to the RF IC were cost-effective only at certain frequencies. However, problems once solved become new opportunities gained. Thus, by replacing the heterodyne architecture, which was invented in 1917, Qualcomm’s radioOne chipset introduced an unparalleled revolutionary leap in its RF system architecture, a third leapfrogging architectural advantage.
The breakthrough idea resides not in the invention of this idea on no intermediate frequency, but in Qualcomm’s innovative commercialization of the ZIF architecture that simplifies RF and baseband design and, even more important, permits the tight integration in the chipset of the parameters required to satisfy multiple design rules in different standards.
Qualcomm’s radioOne technology directly converts electro-magnetic RF to-or-from baseband. It is called Zero Intermediate Frequency (ZIF) because it eliminates the old step mentioned earlier that required an intermediate frequency conversion between analog baseband and RF signals to reduce unacceptable interference, given CDMA’s stringent requirements for power control.
Using advanced techniques developed by QCT to enable high-dynamic-range receivers, radioOne solved this vexing conversion problem to produce elegant, but powerful, simplicity. Using its innovative direct conversion process, QCT eliminated both the need and the hardware used for intermediate frequency (IF) conversion, saving power and reducing circuit-board size and parts count by 50% and costs by 30% or more.
Consumers want small phones. Before ZIF, the complexity of the previous heterodyne system would not permit the introduction of a world phone with a small form factor. To understand the advantage ZIF creates, you need to picture how much this eliminates in, say, a quad-mode phone (Cellular and PCS CDMA, Cellular FM, and GPS): an IF CDMA SAW filter, an IF FM SAW filter, a GPS IF filter, a dual-band UHF voltage control oscillator (VCO), an external IF switch, a receive IF VCO, a dual-phase-locked loop synthesizer, a transmit IF VCO, a transmit IF filter, electromagnetic interference shields, and a multitude of resistors, capacitors, and inductors. This transforms the main board, reducing its area substantially from two sides to less than half of a single side. See it pictured in Slides 119 and 120 from Qualcomm’s Analyst Day in May:
qualcomm.com
In addition to removing IF silicon, this ZIF architecture requires only one UHF VCO to operate in all CDMA bands worldwide, eliminating the need to stock different flavors of the same device to correspond to multiple local bands-in-use. This architectural innovation increases yields and permits faster time-to-market by reducing development and assembly times.
A direct conversion design seemed ideal from the earliest days of radio, but multiple technical problems prevented the development of a direct conversion receiver. Direct conversion is a special homodyne case in which the local oscillator is set at the same frequency as the desired RF channel. With ZIF, gain takes place by direct conversion in the integrated circuit itself, reducing power usage, and filtering is provided by resistors and capacitors on-chip, eliminating expensive and bulky SAW filters. Thus, by using a combination of RF and digital signal processing, the ZIF digital ASIC increased robustness to second order distortion, introduced off-channel jammer rejection within the baseband, reduced DC offsets to negligible traces, adjusted automatic gain control up to 90dB digitally in the baseband processor, and minimized LO re-radiation.
If, like me, you do not understand that technical description, just substitute this one: Qualcomm engineered some black box magic to solve previously unsolvable technical problems in the receiver and to shrink its circuit-board size. Not only was the solution powerful magic, but also it was elegant because it simultaneously optimized overall system performance as it simplified the architecture. Thus, ZIF-architecture introduced a significant discontinuity from CDMA’s traditional heterodyne architecture.
The savings in parts count and circuit board size created two paths to competitive advantage: (a) low-tier inexpensive mobiles for, say, India, and (b) advanced multi-mode handsets as world phones. On the one hand, almost 80% of phones sold in emerging markets are low tier phones, so this reduction in costs provides operators with the opportunity to cut prices to attract new price-sensitive customers. On the other hand, multi-mode MSMs bring first-mover advantages to Qualcomm in UMTS markets beyond those associated with the MSM5200, where its integration of GSM/GPRS/WCDMA/gpsONE in the MSM 6200 will be the first-available multimode MSM, with unequalled position location. The MSM6250 adds the advanced Internet Launchpad features.
Although no other company has this unique and elegant proprietary architectural advantage within spread spectrum architecture, alternative direct conversion solutions are appearing for GSM, with EDGE presumably slated to follow. EDGE is about an order of magnitude more complex to do than GSM. However, solving the problem for spread spectrum is still more complex by perhaps another order of magnitude.
On April 15 2002, Qualcomm announced sample shipping of the world’s first ZIF MSM 6050 1x chipset solution for next generation mobiles. On June 17 2002, three months earlier than scheduled, Qualcomm shipped samples of the MSM 6200, which combines GSM, GPRS, and UMTS, beating the Europeans to market with a multimode chip for small and interoperable phones in 2G and 3G networks within their “specialty standards.”
Yet again, Qualcomm’s third breakthrough idea transformed another set of technical issues into an asset by eliminating intermediate frequencies, reducing handset size and costs, increasing talk-time by 20% and standby time five-fold. Thus, this simplified ZIF-architecture is beautiful but powerful because it’s fecund functionality can be used either to produce a low-cost phone to meet the needs in emerging markets or to enable integrated interoperability across bands, modes, and networks. And, best of all, this integration of multiple functions not only can be done without expanding present phone size, but also is done within a single integrated chip, saving power, increasing speed, and creating seamless transitions between modes, bands, and networks.
What Technical Magic Enables
Because of radioOne’s reduced complexity, its simplifications permit the powerful integration of multiple modems in a single chip. Multiple-mode handsets permit a global mobile solution that uses protocol converters and a SIM (or U-RIM) smart card to create a world phone.
Just as a router, using protocol converters, translates multiple data formats seamlessly, protocol converters in the RAN netsork translate what were once different and competing standards into one seamless universal language. A portable SIM/R-UIM card permits the individual to be identified, registered, authenticated, and billed.
Thus, a world phone permits the holy grail of seamless harmonization of standards. Universal harmony permits diverse bands of spectrum, access modes, generations, upgrades, and carriers’ networks to operate transparently as a unified global wireless network.
A global transparent network permits universal wireless roaming. This integrative evolution of technology that was enabled by revolutionary ZIF architecture once again expands the wireless degrees of freedom for humankind--global mobile wireless voice and data--always on, always with you. This is a Qualcomm engineer’s wet dream, the ultimate in an inclusive standardized solution that could become de facto standardized as globally ubiquitous.
At CTA2002 in March, Qualcomm conducted the first live demonstrations of both voice and data calls using its radioOne direct conversion technology for 1x. These calls used the MSM6000 system solution for voice and the MSM6050 for data.
An MSM6xxx System Solution includes system software and a chipset of five 6xxx system-integrated IC’s in the handset, plus a CSM chip for base stations, that provide multi-mode services. The term “multi-mode is used generically here by Qualcomm to include multi-band and other diverse integrative functioning, sometimes even new platform capabilities, such as position location, that it wants to highlight.
For instance, the 6050 demo used a laptop to demonstrate streaming video and wireless Internet browsing across the two bands for cellular and PMS CDMA, plus 1G AMPS. Always visionary, both IP capability and AMPS were built into the very first Qualcomm MSMs. The 6000 voice call was compatible across 2G cdmaOne, 3G CDMA2000 and, AMPS in their various bands of spectrum. In addition, these chipset also support the advanced features of QCT’s Wireless Internet Launchpad and QCT’s BREW applications platform (both are described in the Platform section in Part III.)
The MSM6100 offer the complete multimedia suite called the Internet Launch Pad. The MSM6200 for WCDMA and GSM/GPRS is sampling, with the MSM6250 to follow to segment the UMTS market into high and low end. In 2003, the MSM6500 sampled, allowing roaming on networks using CDMA20001x/1xEV-DO/cdmaOne/GSM/GPRS, and the MSM6300, GSM1x,available in commercial quantities in 2003 will be the first world phone. [This was written some months ago; I quickly updated it from memory, without further checking. So, I may be slightly off on dates. Later on, the roadmap will be presented in more detail.]
Always on, always with you, the world phone is an integrated universal standardizing global mobile telecommunication system solution for voice, high speed data, position location, applications, or wireless Internet--no wonder Schrock called it the holy grail. Simply put, it is a mother of mobile wireless spread spectrum platforms.
Once again, Qualcomm has shaped the future of its industry with its preemptive global solution of universal harmonization using its proprietary complete standardized solutions. Thus, by following its engineering maxims to integrate systems, seek standardized solutions, conserve power, and reduce size, Qualcomm’s elegant radioOne breakthrough tightened its strategic architectural control of mobile wireless, expanded integrated functionality toward universal global mobility, and threatened to transform a third-generation standards war into a dominating architectural victory. |
