Extending talk time

A low-power chipset that cuts component count in IS-54B digital cellular telephones and adapts easily to the emerging IS-54C standard has been introduced by Texas Instruments. Planned availability for the chipset is end of first quarter, 1995.

Called the TCS320IS54B, the three-chip digital cellular baseband chipset allows longer "talk time" and "stand-by time" for cellular by using up to 60-percent less power than other solutions. It also reduces costs and sim-plifies design, allowing greater profit margins and better time-to-market.

The three devices in the `IS54B chipset are:

• TCM4300 Advanced RF Cellular Telephone Interface Circuit (ARCTIC), a high-performance mixed-signal device. The ARCTIC combines signal conversion from and to the RF subsystem with wideband data demodulation and other interface timing functions.
• TMS320IS54B DSP, a 16-bit fixed-point device capable of 40 MIPS at 3.3 volts. The DSP handles the voice and channel processing associated with baseband (non-RF) signals.
• TLV320AC3x Voice Band Audio Processor (VBAP), a high-quality audio codec that converts signals to and from analog inputs and outputs.

"Our customers have told us that this three-chip architecture could save them 30 percent or more in the cost of baseband components," said Navdeep Arora, marketing manager for wireless communications at TI. "With low-cost digital phones, cellular services and fixed-wireless derivatives will become available to large numbers of people throughout the world."

According to InStat, the digital cellular market is expected to grow from an installed base of a half million units in 1994 to more than 7 million in 1997. Arora said that the "the IS-54C standard will provide additional user services and is expected to fuel the growth of the digital cellular market in the United States." Only minor external hardware must be added to employ the 'IS54B chipset in IS-54C designs. The new standard allows designers to add power saving modes and other enhanced services to cellular sets.

The new chipset also extends TI's roadmap to digital cellular standards worldwide. TI currently is the largest supplier of DSPs for GSM telephones in Europe and IS-54 telephones in the United States.

For the TCS320IS54B chipset, the estimated resale price is less than $60 in quantities of 100,000. Both 3.3- and 5-V versions will be offered, packaged in thin quad flatpacks (TQFPs) and tested for commercial (0/70 degrees C) or industrial (-40/85 degrees C) temperature ranges.

January 1995, vol. 12, no.1

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