|
Q. What is the Sandblaster®
core?
A. Sandblaster® is the
new high performance, low power DSP architecture from Sandbridge
Technologies, Inc. It enables the handset OEM to implement radio
communications protocols, including the physical layer design, completely
in software. It is an example of the Software Defined Radio (SDR)
approach to design in communications devices.
|
 |
Q. What is the SB3000®?
A. The SB3000® is Sandbridge's
system-on-chip (SoC) product which integrates 4 Sandblaster DSP cores
plus an ARM9 general purpose processor core. It is a complete device
platform that includes support for multiple protocols-plus all of the
peripheral device-features of an advanced, multi-feature handset including
camera, Multimedia messaging, and USB interface.
|
|
|
Q. What is the key enabling
technology of the chip?
A. The Sandblaster DSP
core provides the key technology to enable protocol implementation
fully in software. Traditional baseband processing chips incorporate
the 'physical layer' of the protocols in hardware logic, and are thereby
'locked' into a particular protocol. By using an SDR (Software Defined
Radio) approach, the Sandblaster allows the complete protocol to be
described and implemented in software. This allows for enhancements
to the phones communications to be implemented in software and modified
over the air, and allows rapid modification by the manufacturer as
part of an improved manufacturing process.
|
|
Q. How does a programmable
solution achieve lower cost?
A. A software programmable
solution provides more re-use of the same silicon resulting in lower
product cost, plus, it provides the opportunity to create differentiated
products in less time and at lower cost than hardware-specific solutions.
|
|
Q. What is the compelling
technological advantage of the SB3000®?
A. The SB3000®T System-on-Chip
solution includes all of the hardware functionality to enable development
of 3G handsets, and also enables the development of a baseband processing
function that alternatively run existing 2.5G or even WiFi radio
protocols. This means that operators and their customers will soon
have access to devices that can run on multiple networks and on a
combination of licensed and unlicensed spectrum.
|
|
Q. What is your target
market?
A. Sandbridge focuses
on the emerging class of “convergent devices” such as PDA handsets,
Smartphones, portable digital TVs, switchable LAN/WAN handsets (3G+Wifi),
and so on.
|
|
Q. How do you achieve ultra-low
power?
A. G. In the development
of the SandblasterT DSP, Sandbridge's architects and engineers focused
on creating an architecture that can achieve the best results in
computational efficiency for algorithms typically found in advanced
protocols such as W-CDMA and CDMA2000. Use of a multi-threading approach
allows many simultaneous time-critical tasks and minimizes inefficiencies
found in traditional software-running-on-DSP approaches. This allows
the final product to approach the power consumption levels of hard-wired
logic.
|
|
Q. What other wireless
protocols can the SB3000® support?
A. While the architecture
can support advanced next-gen protocols (such as W-CDMA, CDMA2000,
EV-DO, and TD-SCDMA), it can also support 2.5 G protocols, as well
as 802.11, Bluetooth, and GPS.
|
|
Q. What is the interface
to the RF?
A. The SB3000® has
a digital I/Q interface to the RF components.
|
|
Q. What applications can
the SB3000® support?
A. The SB3000® can support
a number of integrated protocols and applications. The SB3000® can
also support a wide range of emerging applications such as image
capture, playback, video conferencing, and audio encode/decode. Additionally,
the powerful DSP complex may also be used for timing critical tasks
from speakerphone echo cancellation to ringtone generation to video
processing.
|
|
Q. What is the overall
system design advantage offered
by this compilation technology?
A. The key design advantage
with this approach is that while expressing the desired algorithm
in C and using tools included in the Sandblaster® IDE, the developer
can achieve performance of assembly language programming in a fraction
of the time.
|
|
Q. What is Sandbridges’ vision for mobile devices?
A. Sandbridge sees a
future in mobile devices of ubiquitous coverage over a variety of
networks. Whether roaming from WAN to LAN, or if the carrier aggregates
multiple technologies to establish a coverage footprint, true multi-mode
devices will provide a continuously connected experience for end
users. Additionally, we expect to see 'entertainment' functions,
both Digital Audio and Digital Video broadcast services, to augment
the person-to-person communications function that currently drives
the handset market.
|
|
Q. What is Sandbridge
Technologies’ mission statement?
A. Establish
the de facto standard software platform for multi-protocol
wireless devices through architectural innovation, superior product
features, and unparalleled software productivity tools and support.
Back to top »
|
