Who Will Own Handset Hardware Value?

There are three views of how handset hardware value may be distributed over the next
3 to 5 years . If you are a memory manufacturer, you consider memory as the most
important component and add some DSP and microcontroller functionality to your
product proposition. If you are a microcontroller manufacturer, you consider the
microcontroller to be the most important component and add some memory and DSP
functionality to your product proposition. If you are a DSP manufacturer, you consider
the DSP to be the most important component and add some memory and microcontroller
functionality to your product proposition.
However, given that we are arguing that much of the future traffic value is uplinkbiased
(image and video and audio capture), then it could be implied that of all three
components, the DSP is probably the most important.
The DSP effectively has a pervasive presence in the cellular handset at RF, IF, and
baseband. Although chip-level processing may initially be undertaken by an ASIC, it is
likely that, as with GSM, the DSP will creep back in as the most flexible and probably
most cost-effective solution. This effectively determines the dominance of the DSP in
terms of handset functionality.
In later chapters, we argue that 3G networks will only perform well if there is a common
denominator handset hardware and software form factor sending traffic to and
receiving information from the network. ADSP vendor is most likely to be in the position
to enforce a de facto standard in this area.
Summary
In Chapters 1, 2, and 3, we described how digital processing is used increasingly to
deliver RF performance (sensitivity, selectivity, stability). In this chapter, we described
how digital processing is used to capture rich media components in the handset (voice,
image, and video), to preprocess, compress, and multiplex those components (MPEG-4
encoders) and to recover or reconstruct/synthesize the original component waveforms
in the receiver.
This ability to reconstruct/synthesize waveforms in the receiver allows us to deliver
significant improvements in perceived bandwidth quality without a parallel increase in
radio bandwidth. We have traded off processor bandwidth against radio bandwidth.
In future chapters we will explore the interrelationship of handset hardware, handset
software, base station hardware, network hardware, and network software with 3G
system planning.