Qualcomm unveils 1 GHz mobile phone processors

By Jonathan Angel
2007-11-14

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Qualcomm has unveiled the first two products in its "Snapdragon" family of chipsets aimed at next-generation mobile phones. The dual-core QSD8250/8650 chipsets clock to 1 GHz, include a "universal modem" claimed to support "all 2G and 3G mobile broadband standards," and are being demonstrated running Linux- and Windows CE-based OSes, the company said.

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According to Qualcomm, the QSD8250 offers HSPA data rates of up to 7.2 Mbps on the downlink and 5.76 Mbps on the uplink, with full backward compatibility. The dual-mode QSD8650 offers HSPA, as well as CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Rev. B, again backward-compatible with WCDMA and GSM/GPRS/EDGE.

Both chipsets include an ARM-based 1 GHz "Scorpion" microprocessor with 128-bit SIMD (single instruction multiple data) capability, plus a 600 MHz low-power, "low-leakage" DSP. According to Qualcomm, they also offer WiFi, Bluetooth, and a "universal broadcast modem" that can receive broadcasts in MediaFLO, SDMB, ISDB-T, TDMB, and DVB-H formats.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips offer a wide array of functionality
(Click to enlarge)
Other multimedia capabilities are said to include XGA display support, WVGA (800 x 480) encode/decode, and audio support for MP3, aacPlus, and enhanced aacPlus. In addition to supporting GPS, the QSD8250 and QSD8650 also support cameras with resolution up to 12 MB, Qualcomm says.

In addition to offering "unsurpassed mobile processing performance," the new chips also provide extended, "all-day" battery life, claims Qualcomm.

Availability

The QSD8250 and QSD8650 are already shipping to handset-makers worldwide, according to Qualcomm. In particular, they are being adopted by Taiwanese ODM (original design manufacturer) HTC, whose CEO, Peter Chou, stated, "We are happy to be working together with Qualcomm on this groundbreaking new Snapdragon solution, which will bring a new era of fully featured, customizable user experiences to consumers around the world."

In its announcement, Qualcomm said it would be demonstrating the Snapdragon chipsets "running both Windows Mobile and Linux to deliver productivity applications, entertainment applications, and advanced user experiences" at its Nov. 14 analyst meeting in New York.

More information about the Snapdragon chipsets can be obtained from Qualcomm's website, here.

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