Headlines

News Releases

Trade Shows

Search the News Archives

Single-chip Audio and Data Processing Solution Simplifies Designs for Analog Cellular Handsets

New Processor Compliments TI's DSP Solutions Portfolio for Wireless Personal Communications

DALLAS (Feb. 10, 1997) -- A single-chip audio and data processor that supports the full range of worldwide analog cellular standards was announced today by Texas Instruments (TI). The TCM8030 Baseband Processor for Analog Cellular Telephones handles the audio and data processing required for an analog cellular telephone or the analog mode in a mixed-mode analog and digital cellular telephone.

The single-chip solution, which complements TI's portfolio of digital signal processor (DSP) solutions for the digital cellular market, addresses all major analog cellular standards worldwide, including the Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), Total Access Communications System (TACS) and Narrowband AMPS (NAMPS).

Enabling Product Differentiation and Profitability in a Maturing Market

The TCM8030 offers a flexible, low-cost, low-power solution, allowing analog phone manufacturers to bring products to market faster through the device's simplified design, assembly and test. As a result, manufacturers gain a competitive edge in a maturing but thriving market that the company estimates will exceed 30 million units per year through 2001.

Using a low-power, mixed-signal CMOS process, the TCM8030 combines two existing highly integrated baseband devices into a single 2.7-V to 5.5-V device. The completeness of this implementation allows original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to use the TCM8030 along with a simple, inexpensive microcontroller for low-cost, entry-level telephones. With the addition of advanced features in the microcontroller software and memory, OEMs can create highly differentiated, high-end phones. Even in the most complex wireless handsets, the processor communicates with a wide range of microcontrollers through a simple four-wire serial interface. The TCM8030 independently monitors base station traffic during idle modes, allowing the microcontroller to sleep while waiting for incoming calls. This and other power-saving modes enable most sections of the phone and of the TCM8030 itself to be powered down when not in use. These power savings help extend talk and standby times and allow designers to reduce the size and weight of batteries in cellular phones.

On-chip Functions Reduce Component Count and Provide Narrowband Capability

The TCM8030 includes several on-chip functions that reduce component counts, including three 8-bit digital-to-analog converters (DACs) suitable for the on-chip automatic frequency control (AFC) circuit and other voltage-controlled trims, supervisory audio tone (SAT) detector and transpondor, a dual-tone multifrequency (DTMF) generator, an 8-bit programmable counter/timer, and an independent watchdog timer. Narrowband standards such as NAMPS can be implemented with a minimum number of external components using an on-chip AFC circuit and with on-chip processing of the digital supervisory audio tone (DSAT) and digital signaling tone (DST).

"In the past, the large manufacturers have built custom chips for the analog cellular baseband," said Russell MacDonald, manager of the mixed-signal new product development team of TI's wireless communications business unit. "Now a comparable chip is available from TI without the cost of custom development and with assistance from TI's well-known worldwide sales and applications support."

The TCM8030 is packaged in an 80-pin thin quad flatpack (TQFP) and is sampling to selected customers now, with volume production planned near the end of 1997.

The Wireless Communications Business Unit of Texas Instruments was formed in the fourth quarter of 1994 to establish and maintain SC technology leadership in the fast-growing wireless communications market. The Wireless Communications Business Unit focuses specific TI resources on the design, manufacture and support of highly integrated DSP Solutions for wireless communications handsets and base stations used with the various popular transmission standards around the world.