The mobile handset market continues its march forward towards total convergence as music, still images, video, WiFi and mobile TV become standard features on smart handsets. The shear processing power to accomplish these tasks rivals what home PCs offered less than a decade ago.
Mobile phones, PDAs, personal media players and other handheld devices provide the ability to access information and run even the most media-rich applications anywhere, any time, on any device.
As designers integrate more features into smart handsets, they are finding that single processor solutions do not have the required features for today’s designs. There is also a limit on processing performance, package size and power consumption for a single device. This is the application space where special function devices are adding value to high volume handset designs.
By Alan Gatherer, Texas Instruments Imagine for a moment that the year is 2012 and you have the good fortune to be in London for the Olympic Games. Although taking a front row seat at the world’s most prestigious sporting event is already a fortuitous opportunity, you also have the chance to experience the new wireless communications capabilities that will be available at the games.