Mediatek MT6595 LTE SoC announced

Not wishing to be left behind by Qualcomm and Broadcom in the rapidly expanding LTE market, Mediatek today announced a new LTE SoC  featuring Octa-Core A17/A7 and PowerVR Rogue:

TAIWAN, Hsinchu – 11 February, 2014 – MediaTek today announces the MT6595, a premium mobile solution with the world’s first 4G LTE octa-core smartphone SOC powered by the latest Cortex-A17™ CPUs from ARM®.

 

The MT6595 employs ARM’s big.LITTLE™ architecture with MediaTek’s CorePilot™ technology to deliver a Heterogeneous Multi-Processing (HMP) platform that unlocks the full power of all eight cores. An advanced scheduler algorithm with adaptive thermal and interactive power management delivers superior multi-tasking performance and excellent sustained performance-per-watt for a premium mobile experience.
 

Excellent Performance-Per-Watt
• Four ARM Cortex-A17™, each with significant performance improvement over previous-generation processors, plus four Cortex-A7™ CPUs
• ARM big.LITTLE™ architecture with full-system coherency performs sophisticated tasks efficiently
• Integrated Imagination Technologies PowerVR™ Series6 GPU for high-performance graphics
Integrated 4G LTE Multi-Mode Modem
• Rel. 9, Category 4 FDD and TDD LTE with data rates up to 150Mbits/s downlink and 50Mbits/s uplink
• DC-HSPA+ (42Mbits/s), TD-SCDMA and EDGE for legacy 2G/3G networks
• 30+ 3GPP RF bands support to meet operator needs worldwide
 

World-Class Multimedia Subsystems
• World’s first mobile SOC with integrated, low-power hardware support for the new H.265 Ultra HD (4K2K) video record & playback, in addition to Ultra HD video playback support for H.264 & VP9 
• Supports 24-bit 192 kHz Hi-Fi quality audio codec with high performance digital-to-analogue converter (DAC) to head phone >110dB SNR 
• 20MP camera capability and a high-definition WQXGA (2560 x 1600) display controller
• MediaTek ClearMotion™ technology eliminates motion jitter and ensures smooth video playback at 60fps on mobile devices
• MediaTek MiraVision™ technology for DTV-grade picture quality
 

First MediaTek Mobile Platform Supporting 802.11ac
• Comprehensive complementary connectivity solution that supports 802.11ac 
• Multi-GNSS positioning systems including GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo and QZSS 
• Bluetooth LE and ANT+ for ultra-low power connectivity with fitness tracking devices

END

Yesterday, Broadcom made the following announcement about its new (PowerVR-based) LTE solutions:

Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM), a global innovation leader in semiconductor solutions for wired and wireless communications, today introduced a turnkey reference platform designed to help OEMs rapidly develop a portfolio of affordable 4G LTE mobile devices. This new platform is targeted at the rapidly growing sub $300 LTE smartphone market.  For more news, visit Broadcom's Newsroom.   

Broadcom's fifth generation turnkey platform supports Android KitKat and utilizes the company's pin-to-pin compatible dual-core M320 or upcoming quad-core M340 LTE SoC and best-in-class connectivity and location technology. With complete design reuse between dual-core and quad-core basebands, OEMs can develop multiple devices with the same platform design while lowering engineering costs and accelerating time to market. Certification by leading carriers worldwide and Category 4 (Cat 4) speeds in FDD-LTE and TD-LTE modes enable OEMs to deliver high-performance smartphones with seamless worldwide roaming capabilities.

LTE delivers a significantly enhanced browsing and streaming experience. In fact, LTE users consume 1.5GB of data per month on average - almost twice the average amount consumed by non-LTE users[1]. By offering a turnkey LTE design with 5G Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, location and near field communication (NFC) technologies, Broadcom is enabling consumers around the world to experience faster browsing, shorter download times and more reliable video streaming at unprecedented price points.

"We project that the LTE baseband market will register about 64 percent year-on-year growth in 2014 to reach over 500 million units," said Sravan Kundojjala, Senior Analyst, Handset Component Technologies service at Strategy Analytics. "Broadcom is one of the only players with a mature carrier-ready multimode LTE SoC, the engineering expertise and the worldwide scale required to deploy complete LTE platforms.  The new Broadcom turnkey design will help accelerate the adoption of LTE worldwide and make high-performance, yet affordable devices available to the broader market."

"Broadcom's turnkey team achieved a design with a very low cost bill of material (RBOM) to enable handset companies to quickly and efficiently take Broadcom's LTE solutions to market," said Robert Rango, Executive Vice President andGeneral Manager, Mobile and Wireless Group. "In addition, this turnkey design is flexible and allows OEMs to build a wide range of LTE handsets."

Additional Product Features

• Cat 4 150 Mbps LTE speeds in FDD-LTE and TD-LTE modes and up to 42 Mbps with DC-HSPA+ 3G as well as GSM/EDGE
• BCM2095 LTE RF transceiver enables FDD and TD LTE/3G/2G band support for worldwide roaming
• VoLTE and HD voice support
• HD display, imaging and graphics for an immersive consumer experience
• Pre-integrated with the Android KitKat operating system
• Reduces LTE modem power consumption by up to 30 percent for extended hours of use
• Broadcom's best-in-class connectivity - 5G WiFi, Bluetooth Smart, NFC and location technologies

AvailabilityBroadcom's M320 LTE SoC is in production now.

Broadcom will showcase its mobile innovations for Category 4 and Category 6 at the upcoming Mobile World Congressshow in Barcelona, February 24-27.