3G DigRF Interface Module Ready

Europe UK : TTPCom announced the availability of its 3G DigRF solution, designed to enable semiconductor device vendors to quickly and easily add a 3G DigRF compliant digital interface to both 3G RF and Baseband ICs.

Inset is Charles Sturman, RF product manager quoted below.

This extends to dual system 3G chipsets the benefits of DigRF which include; greater integration, reduced component count, easier board level design and manufacturing and plug and play flexibility between RF and Baseband ICs.

TTPCom's product is a complete implementation of the latest version of the specification and supports dual-system GSM/(E)-GPRS and WCDMA, together with HSDPA.

Since its launch in 2004, DigRF has become the de-facto interface between digital basebands and RF ICs. The specification defines an efficient physical interconnect between baseband and RF integrated circuits for digital cellular terminals. For 3G, only a six-wire link is required to carry the transmit data, receive data, status and control together with the system clock between the two devices. A serial communications protocol ensures robust operation and includes optimisations for power consumption and sleep capability.

The DigRF standard ensures that compliant RF and baseband ICs can communicate directly with each other, removing the need for an intermediate mixed signal device. The standard places few constraints on the internal architectures of the ICs, to maximise scope for suppliers to differentiate through innovation and efficient design.

"As a founding member of the DigRF working group, TTPCom has long been an advocate of the DigRF initiative," comments Charles Sturman, RF product manager at TTPCom. "We recognised the potential for optimisation that DigRF offers early on and by making our 3G interface module available now we hope to ease the transition from 2G to 3G which many developers are currently facing. The existing DigRF standard has already succeeded in reducing component size and cost whilst increasing flexibility and choice. As the 3G handset market ramps up, it too faces aggressive cost and power targets, so 3G chipsets have a great deal to gain from DigRF."

TTPCom's 3G DigRF interface module consists of:

DigRF control logic and register bank for both RF and Baseband ICs
Digital signal processing path including channel filtering; modulation, pulse shaping and correction
In addition to the interface module, TTPCom also offers a system integration and validation service to ensure full performance and specification compliance between the Baseband and RF ICs. Validating the whole system through simulation and bench-level integration and test ensures the highest level of compliance, fastest time to market and lowest risk.

In addition to the 2G and 3G DigRF interface modules, TTPCom also offers comprehensive RF system design services in 3GPP-based standards such as GSM, EDGE, WCDMA, LTE and UMA.

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