MWC 2012: Qualcomm announces new Snapdragon

Qualcomm has shown off a brand new version of its Snapdragon S4 processor, with a 'Pro' version announced at MWC 2012 alongside displays of the latest LTE technology.

The chip giant's Snapdragon has become a familiar sight in mobile devices, and the company is keen to keep up momentum with the arrival of the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 Pro.

The processor includes the Adreno 320 GPU to support high res displays, new multimedia capabilities and the ability to tap directly into the computational capability of its GPU through new APIs like Open CL.

Pro version

"As a result of strong customer demand for Snapdragon S4 processors, we've added a new Pro version of MSM8960 to continue delivering the highest performing mobile processors in the industry," said Cristiano Amon, senior vice president of product management, Qualcomm.

"By delivering the S4 Pro processor in 2012, we are fulfilling our promise that Snapdragon processors will remain the industry's barometer for excellence in mobile computing while helping our customers bring the most innovative smartphones and tablets to market."

The S4 Pro version of MSM8960 is optimized for the most advanced operating systems, including the highly anticipated Windows 8 system.

Qualcomm is also showing off LTE broadcast at the show, which enables network operatios to adjust coverage and capacity dynamically, and its latest LTE chipsets that take advantage of HSPA+ release 10.

Qualcomm Atheros Demos 802.11ac on MSM8960

Among a bunch of interesting Krait features is a noteworthy change in connectivity that represents some of the first fruits of the Qualcomm Atheros acquisition. We touched on it in our architecture piece a while back, but that feature is inclusion of the WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 basebands into Krait alongside the traditional combination of cellular and GPS baseband.

Just like cellular is implemented today, that design still requires external RF, but the result is a WLAN and Bluetooth baseband that get to take advantage of the SoC's 28nm process geometry. Today I caught a glimpse of both 802.11n single spatial stream, and more interestingly 802.11ac single spatial stream running on an MDP MSM8960 utilizing the on-SoC WiFi basebands and the corresponding WCN3860 external RF chip.

The demo itself was pretty self explanatory - Qualcomm was running an 802.11ac network with two MDP MSM8960s and seeing throughput of around 220-230 Mbps using their single spatial stream WCN3860 external RF. This was live on the crowded MWC show floor with other 5 GHz APs running nearby, and admittedly pretty brave to do considering other 802.11ac demos I saw at CES used wired links. The end result is pretty impressive, and it'll be interesting to see how many of OEMs choose to go this route for WiFi, Bluetooth and FM Rx/Tx (also inside WCN3860) as opposed to some of the more common discrete solutions. In addition Qualcomm had an 802.11n demo showing the same functionality.

The 802.11ac network is the middle, 80 MHz wide one in the middle, between channels 112 and 132

Just like I did at CES with Buffalo's AP demo, I also had the WiSpy DBx handy and captured another sample of the 80 MHz OFDM waveform, just to take another peak. 

Additional: Qualcomm Atheros

 

 

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Qualcomm and Ericsson Demonstrate SR-VCC Voice Handover from LTE to WCDMA on MSM8960

Until now, the way voice has worked on handsets with a 4G LTE air interface has been, well, interesting. That is to say, thus far all voice calls haven't been over 4G LTE but conventional circuit-switched (as opposed to packet-switched) 2G or 3G networks like CDMA2000 1x in 3GPP2 land, or WCDMA/GSM in 3GPP land. For example, on Verizon LTE the handset has a second radio always camping 1x for voice and SMS, and on AT&T LTE the handset falls back from LTE to WCDMA for the voice transaction. This is CSFB - Circuit-Switched FallBack. LTE deployments thus far have focused primarily on data connectivity for a variety of reasons, and further logistical hurdles like emergency call support has made VoLTE effectively only possible in 3GPP Release 9. 

Following their first quarter earnings announcement (and quiet period), Qualcomm is lifting the veil on news of a successful SR-VCC (Single Radio Voice Call Continuity) call which took place December 23, 2011 on an Ericsson test network using a Snapdragon S4 MSM8960 SoC. This marked the first successful trial of a VoLTE call which originated in the VoIP/IMS packet-switched domain handing over to WCDMA's circuit-switched domain. While this news is effectively a technology demonstration on a test network, this is just one more sign that the dual baseband cellular architecture (and associated power draws) we've talked about already is on its way out this upcoming year. With the appropriate software updates to radio access hardware, sufficient carrier testing, and the appropriate baseband support, it's looking like 2012 might be the year we finally get handsets with VoLTE enabled out of the box.

The Ericsson device and a demonstration network will be on display at MWC 2012, and we're looking forward to seeing VoLTE in action. 

Source: Qualcomm

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Computex: Qualcomm demos dual-core mobile processors

Qualcomm has been showing off its latest dual-core mobile phone processing tech at Computex in Taipei this week.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors are already in many of the smartphones already on the market, including the Google Nexus One and the HTC Incredible.

Next up from Qualcomm are new dual-CPU chipsets that boost the mobile processor speed to 1.2 GHz and 1.5 GHz.

Qualcomm's snappily-titled MSM826,MSM8660 and QSD8672s should appear in a smartphone near you later this year, with a number of handset manufacturers already designing phones based around the processors.

Better gaming and video

In terms of what this means for the end user, the two cores and faster processing clout will generally mean better gaming and multimedia output on your smartphone.

Qualcomm's new chipsets also include a graphics processing unit (GPU) with 2D and 3D acceleration engines, 1080p video encoding and decoding capabilities and an integrated GPS.

"Qualcomm today announced the extension of Adobe Flash Player capabilities and full Web browsing to the mass market segment of Qualcomm-enabled smartphones," reads the company's Computex release.

"In addition, Qualcomm will enable high-definition (HD) video playback of Flash-based content on mid-tier and higher end Snapdragon-powered smartphones and tablets."

So better, faster, smoother games and video on our mobile phones, you say? It's hard to really argue with that logic…

Adobe partnership

"Qualcomm and Adobe have developed a lasting relationship driven by both sides' desire to bring an exceptional Web experience throughout all tiers of smart mobile devices," adds Rob Chandhok, president of Qualcomm Internet Services.

"Bringing Flash Player to the mass market segment of smartphones and HD video to higher end smartphones with Qualcomm's processors will expand the scope of possibilities on a mobile device."

Finally, Kouji Kodera, chief product officer at HTC, chips in with: "Software continues to be critical to the mobile user experience, and HTC is committed to bringing Flash content from the Internet to all types of devices, including smartphones and tablets."

Qualcomm Uplinq 2011 Day Two Keynote - HTC and Nokia

Today is the second and last day of Qualcomm's Uplinq conference in San Diego California, but we've still got a bunch in store. This morning, we sat down at the keynote and listened to HTC CEO Peter Chou talk about where HTC has been, its plans for the future, and make an announcement about HTC Sense development. After that was Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, who outlined five principles which will help Nokia  foster its own new mobile ecosystem in a joint partnership with Microsoft. 

Read on for more from these two keynotes.

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Qualcomm Uplinq 2011 Day Two Keynote - HTC and Nokia

Today is the second and last day of Qualcomm's Uplinq conference in San Diego California, but we've still got a bunch in store. This morning, we sat down at the keynote and listened to HTC CEO Peter Chou talk about where HTC has been, its plans for the future, and make an announcement about HTC Sense development. After that was Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, who outlined five principles which will help Nokia  foster its own new mobile ecosystem in a joint partnership with Microsoft. 

Read on for more from these two keynotes.

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Qualcomm demos dual-core mobile processors

Qualcomm has been showing off its latest dual-core mobile phone processing tech at Computex in Taipei this week.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors are already in many of the smartphones already on the market, including the Google Nexus One and the HTC Incredible.

Next up from Qualcomm are new dual-CPU chipsets that boost the mobile processor speed to 1.2 GHz and 1.5 GHz.

Qualcomm's snappily-titled MSM826,MSM8660 and QSD8672s should appear in a smartphone near you later this year, with a number of handset manufacturers already designing phones based around the processors.

Better gaming and video

In terms of what this means for the end user, the two cores and faster processing clout will generally mean better gaming and multimedia output on your smartphone.

Qualcomm's new chipsets also include a graphics processing unit (GPU) with 2D and 3D acceleration engines, 1080p video encoding and decoding capabilities and an integrated GPS.

"Qualcomm today announced the extension of Adobe Flash Player capabilities and full Web browsing to the mass market segment of Qualcomm-enabled smartphones," reads the company's Computex release.

"In addition, Qualcomm will enable high-definition (HD) video playback of Flash-based content on mid-tier and higher end Snapdragon-powered smartphones and tablets."

So better, faster, smoother games and video on our mobile phones, you say? It's hard to really argue with that logic…

Adobe partnership

"Qualcomm and Adobe have developed a lasting relationship driven by both sides' desire to bring an exceptional Web experience throughout all tiers of smart mobile devices," adds Rob Chandhok, president of Qualcomm Internet Services.

"Bringing Flash Player to the mass market segment of smartphones and HD video to higher end smartphones with Qualcomm's processors will expand the scope of possibilities on a mobile device."

Finally, Kouji Kodera, chief product officer at HTC, chips in with: "Software continues to be critical to the mobile user experience, and HTC is committed to bringing Flash content from the Internet to all types of devices, including smartphones and tablets."

Qualcomm Uplinq 2011 Day One Keynote - Mobile is King

Today marks the first day of our coverage of Qualcomm's annual Uplinq conference in San Diego, California. It's our first time coming to Uplinq, a conference whose roots trace back to the haydays of the Brew MP platform, when featurephones were king. Since then it's become a mobile conference hosted by Qualcomm for developers, operators, and software developers alike. 

Read on for our coverage of today's keynote by Dr. Paul Jacobs, CEO of Qualcomm.

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We're Giving Away a Qualcomm MSM8660 Mobile Development Platform

Last month Brian put together a performance preview of Qualcomm's first dual-core SoC: the 1.5GHz MSM8660. The article was mostly focused on GPU performance as the new Adreno 220 is something we were very interested in. The first MSM8660 based smartphones will ship this year, but we benchmarked the SoC using Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon Mobile Development Platform (MDP).

Starting today, the MSM8660 MDP will be available for purchase by any developer through BSQUARE for $1350. Qualcomm's MDP is a nice way of getting a head start on developing for the next-generation of Android handsets based on Snapdragon SoCs.

What if you're an Android developer on a budget? Qualcomm was nice enough to provide us with a MSM8660 MDP to give away to one lucky reader. Read on for details on how to enter the contest.

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Qualcomm Demos Remote Handwriting Recognition Using an Ultrasonic Pen

 The technology is pretty cool and I can see a number of real world applications for it. If you wanted a pen-and-paper feel but want your notes to be stored digitally, this is one option. Qualcomm mentioned that we could see smartphones or tablets featuring this technology starting next year. ]]>

HP Announces TouchPad, Veer and Pre 3: All Powered by Qualcomm

We're here at HP's webOS 2.1 event in San Francisco. HP has announced a couple of big things today; a tablet (HP TouchPad), a (tiny) smartphone (HP Veer) and a professional phone (the Pre 3), all running the webOS 2.1 operating system.

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CES 2011: Qualcomm Demos Snapdragon MSM8660

Qualcomm used CES to showcase their new dual-core Snapdragon parts, and they invited a group of bloggers to get their thoughts on the new chips. Qualcomm gave us a demo of the next generation Snapdragon development platform, with a Snapdragon MSM8x60 processor inside. The MSM8x60 has two Scorpion cores clocked at 1.2GHz and the Adreno 220 GPU, is built on the 45 nm process, and is set to show up in smartphones and tablets later this year.

Read on for more details.

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