Mobile World Congress starts Feb. 27

Claimed to be the industry’s premier mobile event, Mobile World Congress starts next week, running from February 27 to March 1 at Fira Montjuïc in Barcelona, Spain. Various products and services will be showcased. Some semiconductor companies will be exhibiting the following:

Nujira (Hall 1, Stand 1C62) will be showcasing the first member of in its Coolteq.L product family, the NCT-L1100 envelope tracking (ET) IC. The device was offered as the first commercial chip of its kind. The company claims that the chip reduces wasted energy from power amplifiers in mobile handsets by more tha 50% — further cutting heat dissipation and extending battery life.

Nujira’s NCT-L1100 envelope-tracking IC

The company will also be demonstrating a new system developed specifically for characterizing handset RF PAs under (ET) conditions. This new system overcomes the challenge of characterizing PAs in ET mode using standard test equipment, allowing PA vendors to optimize future ET PAs.

Texas Instruments (MWC Hall 8, Stand 8A84) will be showcasing a variety of products, such as its OMAP mobile processors, DLP projection technology, high-speed analog products, wireless connectivity solution, touch and sensor technology, and high-performance audio.

TI’s WiLink 8.0 family

Specifically, the company will be showcasing its recently announced WiLink 8.0 family: a five-in-one wireless conectivity solution for next-generation mobile Wi-Fi, GNSS, NFC, Bluetooth, and FM applications.

Intel (Hall 8, Booth B192) will showcase how its products and technologies are transforming experiences from device to cloud. Through a variety of unique and interactive demonstrations, Intel will highlight solutions across a variety of mobile market segments, including Intel Atom processor-based smartphone and tablets; and leading-edge wireless solutions from Intel Mobile Communications.

Peregrine Semiconductor’s SteP5 RF switches

Peregrine Semiconductor (Hall 3.1, Gallery 3.1HS01) will be showcasing the SP8T and SP10T RF switches for 4G LTE handsets. The devices are based on the company's new UltraCMOS process technology version, STeP5, which enables RFICs with an unprecedented combination of linearity, insertion loss, isolation, and power consumption, all monolithically integrated into the industry’s smallest footprint.

Transwitch Corp. (Hall 2, Booth 2G63) will be showcasing the Atlanta 2000 LTE Gateway reference design, which is an innovative hardware / software platform that enables fixed mobile broadband service using LTE technology. The reference design has successfully completed voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) testing on the Verizon Wireless network.

Transwitch’s Atlanta 2000 LTE Gateway reference design

Agilent Technologies (Stand A46 in Hall 1) will demonstrate its industry-first communications test and measurement solutions for LTE-Advanced, LTE, HSPA+, dual-carrier HSDPA, MIMO, multi-standard radio and voice over LTE, along with 2G/3G solutions for R&D, manufacturing and deployment.

austriamicrosystems (Hall 4.5, HS14 and Hall 2.0,-2H02) will feature various products such as the AS3677 smart lighting management unit with integrated ALS, DLS, and RGB LED support, the AS3648 (a 2,000-mA high-current LED flash driver, and the AS3922 active tag analog front end. They will also showcase the TLS 2771 light-to-digital converter with proximity sensing. This part provides both ambient light sensing and proximity detection (when coupled with an external IR LED). It is based on the TAOS patented dual-diode technology that enables accurate ALS results and approximates human eye response to light intensity under a variety of lighting conditions.

Nordic Semiconductor (Hall 2, Booth 2A67) will host demonstrations of over 25 unique smartphone wireless accessories incorporating wireless technology. These wireless accessories will be shown operating with a wide range of leading smartphones including the iPhone 4S, Motorola Razr, HTC Rhyme, Sony Ericsson Xperia Active, and NEC Medias. Nordic will also be showcasing its recently launched nRFready iOS Demo App sample application for the iPhone 4S that can be used to fast-track ANT+ and Bluetooth Smart wireless app and accessory development.

Nordic's nRFready iOS Demo

WiSpry (Hall 7, Stand 7G11) will demonstrate the company’s disruptive tunable antenna technology. In short, the solution allows an antenna to dynamically tune itself — in real time — to accommodate for hand, head and other types of common interference. The company will also have announcements regarding: optimized LTE tuners (so operators can deliver on 4G performance promises) and LTE filter products.

Broadcom (4.1 – 4.1HS02) will be providing demonstrations of two chipsets that support the fifth generation of WiFi. The BCM4360 and BCM43516 are the world’s fastest 802.11ac solutions and claimed 3x faster and up to 6x more power efficient than equivalent 802.11n solutions. • NFC The company will also be demonstrating their ‘Tap and Stream’ technology – a technology that transfers video playing on a mobile device to a TV by tapping the phone to a remote. NFC pairs the phone to the remote, creating a secure link. The video content is then transferred using Wi-Fi Direct Wi-Fi Display. Users can pause, rewind, forward the content right from the phone. Broadcom’s reference design for NFC, Wi-Fi Direct and WiFi Display simplifies connectivity between mobile phone, headset and TV. ■