Handset Hardware Evolution

We have just described how bandwidth has become more adaptive over time�"
adaptive source coding, adaptive channel coding, adaptive modulation, adaptive
multiplexing, and, for the future, adaptive RF channel spacing. By implication, this
means that it is necessary for hardware to become more adaptive. You can take an allpurpose
device like a DSP or a microcontroller and use different parts of it for different
purposes. This is fine but arguably a little wasteful of resources. Alternatively, you can
dynamically alter�"that is, reconfigure�"hardware to be reoptimized to a changed
application requirement. This is the argument put forward by the makers of field programmable
gate arrays (FPGAs). It is certainly true to say that if a number of processes
occur sequentially, and provided FPGAs can be reconfigured sufficiently quickly, efficiency
gains can be achieved.