Mobile Handset Processors and DSPs

Enabling LTE and 4G Handsets and Basestations

Tensilica is already playing a pivotal role in next-generation LTE and 4G handset design. Several Xtensa LX DPUs are used in the latest LTE mobile handset and modem SOC designs by NTT DOCOMO and its partners NEC, Fujistu and Panasonic Mobile.See press release.

Tensilica is also working with Huawei, DesignArt Networks (now part of Intel), and several other major companies on LTE chip designs.

Tensilica's Dataplane Processor Units (DPUs) -- unique combinations of customizable processors and DSPs -- are used in many places in mobile handsets.

• Audio processing
• Baseband PHY and MAC
• Other radio interfaces
• Imaging
• Fingerprint and biometric processing
• Security and decryption
• Embedded control processing

Architectural Considerations

Audio Processing

Audio requirements in mobile handsets range from low-power MP3 playback to higher performance multi-channel playback of pre-recorded media and even noise reduction, echo cancellation and virtual surround sound for speaker phones and headphones. The HiFi 2 Audio Engine covers all of the above, plus it can offload the main CPU with its remaining available processing power. It has the lowest power MP3 playback on the market, enabling 200 hour playback for portable media. And it supports all Dolby and DTS home entertainment standards, enabling advanced high-end handset design for mobile TV reception and personal media player functionality. Read more about our audio DSPs, which are designed into millions of cellular phones as well as higher end audio equipment.

Baseband DSP

Tensilica is the number 1 supplier of multimode LTE/4G baseband DSPs IP cores (based on LTE customer design wins). Tensilica offers several highly optimized dataplane processors (DPUs) that lead the industry in performance, low area, and low power. As a result, our customers achieve smaller size (smaller cost) and lower power implementation for their wireless baseband modem products.

For LTE baseband modems, Tensilica offers the ConnX BBE16 DSP, a single-core DSP that performs the high-performance OFDM DSP computation required by LTE modems. Tensilica also offers acceleration units that offload the ConnX BBE16 for specific non-DSP tasks, including the ConnX SSP16, ConnX BSP3 and ConnX Turbo 16. These special-purpose accelerators perform operations usually implemented in hardware blocks or dedicated processor cores. The Atlas LTE reference architecture provides an example of how these cores can be used to build a baseband modem for infrastructure and user equipment.

At the top end of Tensilica's DSP core roadmap, the ConnX BBE64 DSP for LTE Advanced offers up to 100GMAC/second computation performance, meeting the DSP computational needs of  demanding next-generation baseband modems.

Whether you're looking for a solution that is fully software programmable or a mix of hardware acclerated blocks and programmable DSPs and DPUs, Tensilica offers flexible products that can fit a wide range of customer requirements. Our DSPs and hardware accelerated blocks will help you quickly develop low power, low cost implementations in a fast development time.

Local Area Radio Interfaces

Advanced handsets have multiple air interfaces. WiFi, Bluetooth and WiMax are usually implemented as separate subsystems consisting of both an embedded control CPU and one or more DSPs in the PHY and MAC layers - and our Xtensa DPUs can be used for both layers. Atheros is using Xtensa processors for Bluetooth, WiFi and GPS. Other companies such as NEC, SiBeam and Design Art Networks, are using Xtensa processors for creating flexible, programmable radios.

Imaging

Use Xtensa customizable DPUsto meet the challenges of camera image pre-processing, filtering, stabilization, color correction, light processing - anywhere there's lots of customized signal processing. Tensilica's processors are used by Olympus, Sony, Nethra, and an undisclosed tier 1 imaging company.

Security and Decryption

It's essentail to implement complex security algorithms in a programmable engine to cost effectively address the multiple formats required in case these algorithms needs to be changed. By implementing software algorithms in a customized Xtensa processor, it makes it much more difficult for the chip to be pirated. Digital Right Management (DRM) features embedded within commercially distributed music and video require complex encryption/decryption. Tensilica's Xtensa processors are ideal for a programmable solution so that, as standards change, you don't need to respin the chip.

Fingerprint Processing

The growing use of biometrics for transaction processing - with electronic wallets - demands greater degrees of authentication. Several Tensilica customers are using Xtensa processors in biometric chips for control and signal processing.

Embedded Control Processing

Each subsystem in a modern mobile handset often needs a very small, efficient control processor with extensive IO capability to provide optimum I/O management. Tensilica's Xtensa processors are ideal low-power embedded controllers. With a base processor starting under 20,000 gates, Tensilica's Xtensa architecture is perfect for small, deeply embedded control tasks.