Rick Nelson

RF takes center stage at DAC as well as IMS
June 30, 2008

June might well have been called “Wireless Month,” based on the attention RF and microwave topics received during this month’s trade shows. It’s completely natural that the topics got wide play at the MTT-S International Microwave Symposium, of course, but what is surprising is the attention wireless topics garnered at the Design Automation Conference. Wireless was the focus of two DAC keynote addresses as well as seven panel discussions and technical sessions.

I already reported on the first wireless keynote, delivered by Justin R. Rattner, VP and CTO at Intel. The second was delivered Wednesday June 11 by Sanjay K. Jha, COO of Qualcomm and president of Qaulcomm CDMA Technology.

While Rattner focused on technology, Jha concentrated on the business aspects as well as technology, noting from a technology standpoint that today’s 3G smart phone embodies more technology than a computer did five years ago.

As for the business aspects, he notes that today there are 2 billion wireless subscribers, while 4 billion would have access to wireless networks. By 2020, he said, 9 billion people will become potential customers, creating a huge market, albeit one that’s very cost-sensitive. A small percentage will be willing to pay hundreds of dollars for a high-end phone—$15 to $20 is more likely.

Wireless will experience strong growth in developing countries, he said, because service providers will not be laying copper or fiber to remote locations. He noted that the largest US carrier has 70 to 80 million subscribers; China, he said, adds that many each month.

Data service and integrated computer capabilities, he said, will be as important as voice service as phones acquire GHz-rate processors. He noted that phone-equipped handsets outsell digital still cameras and added that many videos appearing on sites like YouTube were taken with cell-phone cameras. He said he also expects a strong market for pocketable computing devices (PCDs), which fill a niche between traditional laptops and handsets.

As for technology, he said, today virtually every new process node is driven by memory development, without much attention to the needs of wireless developers. Memory is highlyu regular, he said, while wireless chips are highly irregular. Technology scaling is becoming harder and harder, he said, adding that few companies have sufficiently large markets to justify moving to 32 and 28 nm. He said he is a firm believer in the fabless business model but added that fabless companies must work closely with their foundries. “What we do in design has a profound impact on yield,” he said, adding that EDA companies have a role to play.

He noted that Qualcomm is not producing components: “We are producing full systems; we are doing the R&D that system houses used to do.” He said that EDA firms can help in particular by facilitating the co-development of hardware and software: “That’s still not getting done in the way it needs to be done.”

Other DAC wireless-related sessions ranged from a panel discussion of Maxwell’s legacy to a technical session on advanced wireless design. Of note was a panel called “Designing the New-generation Wireless Platform: Lessons from iPhone and Android,” co-hosted by EDN Executive Editor Ron Wilson. Read Ron’s account here.

Posted by Rick Nelson on June 30, 2008 | Comments (0)