Fujitsu Microelectronics Limited (FML) recently announced the launch of a new mobile Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) chipset. The chipset has been specifically designed for smart phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs).

 

FML was founded as a subsidiary of Fujitsu Limited and is a large-scale integrated (LSI) circuit manufacturer. Its new WiMAX Chipset is designed so that the dimension of the WiMAX (News - Alert) is 12 x 12 millimeters and its maximum standby current is just 0.5 milliamps. This will not only improve its battery life but will also encourage better future models of mobile WiMAX terminals.

 

"This highly integrated WiMAX chipset features the low power and small form factor essential to the development of attractive mobile WiMAX terminal products," remarked Makoto Awaga, General Manager of the Mobile Solution Business Group of Fujitsu Microelectronics Limited in Japan. "Fujitsu Microelectronics has assumed a global leadership position in moving WiMAX into deployment, and we are now ready to work with module vendors to meet market requirements.”

 

The chipset’s key features include baseband LSI - the MB86K22; a Radio Frequency LSI - the MB86K52; and a power management LSI - the MB39C316. All three LSIs are essential elements for viable WiMAX modules.

 

The MB86K22 uses the CMOS (Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor) low-leakage process technology reducing the operating power by 36 percent. Its power-gating technology stops power supply to the unused blocks in the device making the mobile WiMAX consume just 0.5mA. This extends the device’s battery life.

 

The MB86K52 uses CMOS process technology. It utilizes frequencies such as 2.3GHz, 2.5GHz, and 3.5GHz giving manufacturers a chance to introduce global WiMAX devices. It also uses the MIMO (Multiple-input multiple-output communications) and Beamforming technology, which is required for mobile WiMAX Wave 2.

 

The MB39C316 power management LSI, as the name suggests, manages power requirements by accommodating it in one cell battery, thereby reducing the power consumption for every operation. This results in minimizing the usage of optional hardware outside the module.

 

Currently, the next-generation Mobile WiMAX is to be distributed in United States, Europe, and Taiwan. It will move on to Japan only in the following year. Along with its initial service through PC-based mobile broadband access, FML will also develop handsets, smart phones, PDAs, portable games and navigation systems.

 

Estimated to be worth Japanese Yen 8,000 (about $74), samples of the Mobile WiMAX Chipsets will be available from August 2008.