Deployment of mobile terminal chips to promote the independent development of 4G industry

Mobile communications is a strategic emerging industry in my country. It is one of the few fields in my country that has become internationally competitive through independent innovation. It is also an important breakthrough in deepening reform and establishing a national independent innovation system.

The development bottleneck of my country's independent 4G mobile communication technology TD-LTE mainly lies in terminal chip technology. The large-scale commercial use of LTE chips requires solving a number of core technologies: First, the realization of multi-mode and multi-frequency. The arrival of LTE will form a situation where multiple network standards such as 2G/3G/4G coexist. The industry has reached a consensus on the development of multi-mode and multi-frequency LTE chips; second, a single-chip solution using advanced technology (at least 28nm) is used to reduce the chip size, provide the possibility for flexible terminal design, and better realize power consumption optimization under high data throughput.

Preemptive 4G Chip

The integrated circuit industry is the foundation of strategic emerging industries. Mobile terminals are replacing computers and becoming the new driving force for the development of the global integrated circuit industry. The rapid development of 4G mobile communications will drive the integrated circuit industry into a new round of rapid growth.

In the face of the development of 4G mobile communications, Datang Telecom is accelerating its layout in the LTE field. In the communications industry, the golden period for commercial use of mobile communication standards is generally 5-8 years. The golden period of 4G mobile communication applications can last at least until 2020, and the life cycle of 28 nm process chips that support 4G commercial use will also reach 8-10 years, and the life cycles of the two industries will overlap for a long time. At present, my country has achieved continuous improvement in mobile communication standards, and its integrated circuit design and manufacturing capabilities are in a critical period with the shortest gap with the world's leading level. Only by deepening the collaboration between mobile communications and integrated circuit industries based on the "4G+28nm" project can my country's mobile communications and integrated circuit industries achieve leapfrog development.

In order to connect the two key industrial links of integrated circuit design and manufacturing and enhance its core competitiveness in the integrated circuit industry, Datang Telecom has actively cooperated with SMIC, a shareholder of Datang Telecom Group, and actively participated in the "4G+28nm" project to promote the positive interaction between chip design and chip manufacturing, enhance the international competitiveness of my country's integrated circuit industry and mobile communications industry, and promote the structural adjustment, optimization and upgrading of my country's communications industry.

At the end of 2013, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued three 4G licenses, all of which adopted the TDD-LTE standard with independent intellectual property rights proposed by Datang Telecom Group. It is estimated that "4G+28nm" will have a long life cycle, providing a rare strategic opportunity for the development of the integrated circuit industry and mobile communications.

In 2014, Datang Telecom's independently developed 28nm chip will be put into mass production, and a new generation of full-mode SoC smartphone chip will be launched. The chip adopts 28nm process and covers five modes: LTE-TDD/LTE FDD/TD-SCDMA/WCDMA/GGE, helping end customers to achieve seamless migration from 3G to 4G standard supporting global LTE, fully supporting large-scale commercial use of TD-LTE 4G and rapid development of mobile Internet, and realizing healthy interaction and transformation and upgrading of the industry.

Deeply cultivate the 4G market

Entering the 4G era, all enterprises in the ecosystem, whether operators, equipment manufacturers, terminal manufacturers or content providers, are seeking to gain a competitive advantage. Previously, China Mobile has publicly stated that its terminal sales target for 2014 is 190 million to 220 million units, including 100 million 4G terminals. As the supporting chip manufacturers, their ability to control the entire terminal industry chain will largely affect the development of the 4G terminal market.

As early as 2011, Leadcore Technology, a subsidiary of Datang Telecom, successfully launched the first TD-LTE/TD-SCDMA dual-mode baseband chip and participated in China Mobile's large-scale technical trials. Later, Leadcore Technology launched the industry's first four-mode eleven-band LTE chip LC1761 that supports Zu Chongzhi's algorithm. In 2013, CPE equipment based on Leadcore Technology's LTE terminal chip LC1761 was applied to Chengdu public transportation, realizing large-scale commercial use in the southwest region.

2014 is the first year of 4G. 4G and the Internet will be more closely integrated. Leadcore Technology has accurately entered the Internet market and has worked closely with Internet manufacturers such as 360. The 360 ​​portable WIFI 4G version has been well received by customers after it was launched. Its LTE series products are expected to develop deeply in the mobile Internet market. On the other hand, Leadcore Technology is focusing on rapidly advancing the development of 28nm five-mode LTE chips. Its five-mode LTE SoC chips will cover a variety of products such as smartphones and tablets in the future.

As the first five-mode LTE SoC chip launched in China, LC1860 has attracted the attention of the industry since its launch. At the 2014 Mobile Asia Expo (MAE) in June this year, two LTE terminal prototypes developed based on LC1860 became a highlight and triggered widespread heated discussions. At present, the terminal products developed by customers based on LC1860 have been sent to China Mobile for testing and are expected to be launched in the third quarter of this year. At that time, many smart phone products developed based on this chip will also be launched in the same period.

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LC1860 adopts 28nm process technology, fully covers five modes: TD-LTE/LTE FDD/TD-SCDMA/WCDMA/GGE, supports global roaming, and can achieve a maximum downlink speed of 150Mbps. Its LTE standard and multi-mode capabilities will fully meet the needs of real-time transmission of big data on mobile terminals in the mobile Internet era. LC1860 has a leading LTE Soc chip architecture design, integrating AP and Modem, which can greatly improve chip integration and reduce power consumption and cost, effectively solving the key links in the design of mobile smart terminals in the 4G era. Its AP is a large and small core architecture, with a total of 6 ARM A7s, including four large cores, one small core, and one auxiliary core. Through this architecture design, the power consumption of mobile phones can be effectively reduced. At the same time, LC1860 adopts a newly upgraded software radio solution, which greatly improves the processor capabilities and realizes dual-card dual standby, dual-card single standby, and dual standby dual pass, including 2G and 4G dual standby dual pass, to meet customers' various terminal needs.

In terms of frequency bands, LC1860 uses five modes and thirteen frequencies, and can be expanded to five modes and seventeen frequencies. If it only supports three modes, the terminal cost can be effectively controlled. Based on the LC1860 platform, the performance of 4G smartphones will be comparable to the configuration of mobile phones priced at 2,000 yuan or more on the market. According to different positioning and customer structures, the LC1860 chip modem has a variety of configurations to choose from, with a target price of 399 to 799 yuan.

In the previous AnTuTu benchmark test, the terminal equipped with LC1860 has achieved an overall performance score of 25558 under conservative configuration, which is comparable to Qualcomm Snapdragon 600. After further tuning the main frequency and various parameters, we can expect LC1860 to have even better performance.

Li Yue, president of China Mobile, said that this year China Mobile aims to reduce terminal costs to around US$100. There is no doubt that Leadcore Technology's LC1860 will become a powerful weapon to promote the rapid popularization of 4G LTE mobile phones.

Conclusion

The 4G market has always been the top priority of Datang Telecom's strategic layout. With the rapid development of mobile Internet and broadband services, there is a clear trend of integration of smart phones, smart cars, and smart homes, which will promote changes in areas including smart cities. 4G chip products will play an immeasurable role. Leadcore Technology's terminal chips and solutions, including LC1860, not only meet the needs of real-time transmission of big data in the mobile Internet era, but also have excellent multimedia processing capabilities, and can take into account the requirements of the mobile Internet market for smart hardware. We believe that these products will help Datang Telecom gain an advantage in the context of the rapid development of broadband services and the rapid changes in the 4G market, and will create a Chinese "core" era for mobile Internet!