Tensilica Lays the Foundation for Software Programmable LTE-Advanced User Equipment PHY (Layer 1) in Less than 200mW

Using the ConnX BBE32UE DSP core, coupled with Tensilica Baseband Dataplane processors (DPUs), a fully software programmable, flexible modem for LTE-Advanced user equipment category 7 PHY (Layer 1) can be realized in less than 200 mW (28 nm HPL process). It can also support 2G, 3G, LTE and HSPA+ standards.

The transition from LTE to LTE-Advanced can require up to a 5x algorithm and data rate computation increase within a very tight power budget. Tensilica has worked with leading handset manufacturers to optimize the architecture and the instruction set of the ConnX BBE32UE for algorithms required by user equipment applications.

“Tensilica has made significant inroads into the LTE market, and this new product looks well positioned for LTE-Advanced user equipment,” stated Will Strauss, president of Forward Concepts and leading DSP analyst. “Tensilica understands how tight the power budget will be for LTE-Advanced and has applied their customizable processor technology to meet this challenge.”

Tensilica’s flexible, processor-based solution is ideal for LTE-Advanced because the new algorithms may well need changing during field and interoperability testing. Previous design methods with hardwired implementations will not be able to provide the flexibility of algorithm updates, and most conventional wireless communications DSPs will fail to meet the power budget. With this new, very low-power DSP core and Baseband DPUs, Tensilica can offer system developers a path to implement flexible, ultra-low-power PHY systems.

Data bandwidth, an important criterion for LTE-Advanced User Equipment applications, is enhanced in the ConnX BBE32UE through the use of dual 256-bit load/store units. Additionally, designers can use Tensilica’s proprietary Port (general-purpose I/O) and Queue interfaces to directly connect hardware blocks to the processing ALUs. This allows single cycle dedicated access without the need to go over a system bus, hence reducing the required clock frequency and power consumption.

“Our new ConnX BBE32UE IP core helps us reach new performance levels at the low power required for handset design,” stated Eric Dewannain, Tensilica’s vice president and general manager, baseband business unit. “We are excited about our design activity with major handset OEMs and IC manufacturers and appreciate their input as we worked to meet the challenging performance/power/area LTE-Advanced handset modem requirements.”

Like other members of Tensilica’s ConnX family of DSPs, the ConnX BBE32UE is fully programmable in C. It is software compatible with other ConnX DSPs and supported by an optimized DSP library.

While early access customers now have access to ConnX BBE32UE, general product release is planned for the third quarter of 2012.