4G/LTE chips coming . . . but first, a little chaos

Junko Yoshida, EETimes
(03/22/2010 9:04 AM EDT)

NEW YORK — When the CTIA wireless show opens this week, attendees will see how earnestly the wireless industry has applied itself to moving to 4G LTE/WiMax cellular networks -- including learning more in detail Sprint Nextel's plans for its WiMax mobile phones.

But be warned. Much of the WiMax/LTE solutions on display at the show are still point solutions. This represents a prelude to the chaos and confusion which, in the coming months, many technology vendors will be busy unraveling.

In the transition to WiMax/LTE, however, one thing will be clear to everyone. There's no going back to business as (it was) usual.

Gone are the days when baseband chip vendors could continuously hold onto their existing 3G/2G solutions -- many of them hard-wired. On the horizon is the industry's growing appetite for DSPs -- specifically designed to run software defined radio (SDR).

At least, that's the operative theory for CEVA, a DSP core intellectual property supplier.

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