Latest handset puts TV in your hand

Vodaphone’s Toshiba V603T handset, available in Japan on the W-CDMA 2-GHz band, offers something new and exciting into the world of handset convergence—television! With a QVGA (240 by 320 dots) LCD that can be viewed either horizontally or vertically, the image quality may not be the highest quality. But with the proper subscription, you can watch shows on the go without carrying an additional device.

The television recording capabilities make for a unique feature. A group of nine shots can be taken while watching a show. You can record your favorite show on the memory card so you can watch at your convenience as you make your way home on the crowded Japanese subway. Although the handset supports a 512-Mbyte MiniSD card, recording videos is limited to just 256 Mbytes. If a call comes in during the show, the recording will be interrupted. And you don’t have the ability to change the channel while recording a show. But all in all, it’s a good start.

And what do you do if there’s nothing on TV to your liking? There’s an FM radio to pass some time. And if you want to take your phone out during a party, you even have a karaoke function. The 1.3-Mpixel digital camera can capture images and also functions as a 3-min. QVGA video recorder. It even has a built in penlight and offers infrared data transfer.

Considering the functionality, the handset is relatively small at 50 by 102 by 26 mm, and weighing 142 g. There’s an external 65,000-color TFCC LCD and an internal 260,000-color TFT display (see the figure). The talk time is estimated at 120 min., with a 380-hr. standby time.

The key functions on this handset are handled by 14 major ICs.

From a component perspective, there are 17 different die contained within 14 key ICs (see the table). At the heart of the television viewing is the Toshiba multimedia accelerator for mobile terminals. This component is part of the MobileTurbo series, and enables the video functionality. The three hardware accelerators include an MPEG-4 codec, a 3D graphics engine, and a JPEG codec. Developed in a 130-nm CMOS process with 20 Mbits of embedded DRAM, the TC35285AXGB can decode QVGA video at 15 frames/s at 125 MHz.

The next component that’s required for enabling television is Analog Devices’ chip-scale PAL/NTSC video encoder with advanced power management. This device converts digital video into standard analog signals for different standards. The digital noise reduction removes low-amplitude, high-frequency noise to allow for a clearer image. Power management is critical for all mobile devices, but even more so for devices with highly integrated functionality. The ADV7191 can enter a low power sleep mode when not in use to extend battery life.

The application processor shows Intel package markings, but when we decapped the device, the die showed TI markings. The apps processor serves as a method for switching between functions as well as performing such handset operations as receiving calls, gaming, and running the applications.

Toshiba’s TB31177 transceiver is likely used for radio communication in the 2.4-GHz band. It incorporates a low-noise amplifier, an FM detector, a voltage-controlled oscillator, and a power amplifier. This enables radio functionality.

The memory is a standard package incorporating both Micron’s mobile DRAM and Intel’s NOR flash. However, there’s a slight change compared to normal, as there are two die of each type in the package, which is twice what’s typically found in handsets.

There are two LCD drivers, one for the internal screen and one for the external. The Hitachi HD66766U controls the external display while the NEC D161955 manages the internal.

About the author
Gregory A. Quirk is a technology analyst for Semiconductor Insights. He can be reached at .

This article is excerpted from Semiconductor Insights’ Handset Design Win (HDW) subscription service.