NEC Electronics today introduced the M2 system LSI chip that
integrates third generation (3G to 3.5G) W-CDMA and HSDPA
communications technologies, with low power technologies.
The chip utilizes a 3.5G digital baseband (DBB) technology
developed by Adcore-Tech, the mobile communications joint
venture established in August 2006. The M2 chip is part of
NEC Electronics' Medity series of mobile handset solutions,
and is the successor to the "M1" chip introduced in
September 2006. While the M1 was based on the ARM926EJ-STM
CPU core, the M2 chip utilizes the more advanced
ARM1176JZF-STM core, promising to deliver a significant
improvement in performance.
Through a combination of several advanced technologies,
power consumption was reduced by 50 percent. This
improvement was made possible by a host of advancements in
circuit design and layout, including dynamic frequency
scaling, automatic hierarchical clock control, LCD Direct
Path technology, on-chip power switch technology, Quick
Recovery technology. In addition, the use of 65-nanometer
process technologies such as Multi-Vt transistor technology,
and back-bias technique also contributed to lower power
consumption. NEC Electronics also utilized LongRun2
technology licensed from Transmeta.
Samples of the M2 chip are available now priced at US$45.
Volume production is scheduled to begin in October 2007, and
reach approximately 1 million units per month by 2008.