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Android opens door to IC open source(http://www.chinaicmart.com/)
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摘自: www.eetimes.com 被阅读次数: 50
由 yangyi 于 2008-02-16 22:19:45 提供
BARCELONA, Spain -- Mobile World Congress this year has offered a storm of announcements
and demonstrations surrounding Google's new Android mobile operating system, with Texas
Instruments, Qualcomm and others showing off early implementations. But the demonstrations
of Android--a Linux-based, open mobile platform--sparked as many questions as answers.
One open question is what it will mean to be an "open source" semiconductor manufacturer in
a market as competitive as mobile-handset applications processors. Several semiconductor
manufacturers are active members in the Open Handset Alliance, a group of technology and
mobile companies committed to deploy handsets and services using the Android platform.
Among them are leading handset chip makers Broadcom, Texas Instruments and Qualcomm.
In contributing their low-level drivers and libraries to the Android platform, however, the
companies also commit to an open-source model. They'll have to make the full source code
readily available to everyone, including their competitors. That opens a host of questions
that could take years to resolve. The Mobile World Congress exposed the various issues to
the light of day.
Qualcomm and TI confirmed in discussions that as part of their participation in the Android
platform, they would make source code for their low-level drivers available through the
royalty-free licensing program. Other companies that contribute their intellectual property
into the Android platform will likewise make their source code available.
The backers of Android point to the benefits of an open-source model: more innovation as
more companies develop solutions, faster time-to-market, lower price points and even better
utilization of the sheer power of the applications processors. Indeed, Texas Instruments
and Qualcomm hope their participation in Android will spur design wins and make it easier
to incorporate their chips into the wave of Android handset introductions the market is
likely to see later this year.
Nobody, however, is quite sure what the implications of open source code will be on
semiconductor manufacturers. Linux developers already understand the model, but it's new to
the software engineers and market strategists at the chip companies.
The driver source code will provide unprecedented visibility into the detailed
functionality of the chips. While such source code is regularly shared with OEMs under
nondisclosure agreements, it will now fall directly into the hands of competitors. Broadcom
and Qualcomm will have unparalleled access to the detailed functions of TI chips, and vice
versa.
While visibility among these direct tier-one competitors unleashes a new competitive
dynamic, it may turn out to be the least of the concerns. Source code will also be
available to the growing set of Chinese semiconductor manufacturers hoping to compete in
the handset market. Will that access accelerate the Chinese vendors' ability to mimic
functionality and drop prices? If it does, given the open-source licensing model, will
manufacturers have any recourse?
These are among the backroom questions being posed as mobile-technology providers across
the board decide how-and whether-to participate in Android. Decisions made now will have
implications for years to come.
Who showed what? TI demonstrated an Android-based prototype handset and developer kit last week. Showcasing
TI's Omap3430 and Omap850 processors, the demonstrations validated TI's ability to provide
multimedia features, connectivity options like WLAN and Bluetooth, and rich user interfaces
on Android. The platform promises to provide access to applications such as Web browsers,
e-mail, messaging and video.
Qualcomm similarly offered a live demonstration of an Android prototype. Its offering was
based on its MSM7201A single-chip solution, which was originally developed to target the
Microsoft Mobile OS.
While Broadcom is also a member of the Open Handset Alliance, its demonstrations at Mobile
World Congress stood in stark contrast to the Android demos. Broadcom showed its BCM2153
dual-core HSDPA processor, with the ability to support Symbian, Windows Mobile or Linux on
a single, monolithic chip. The 3G solution stretches flexibly across what today are the
three most popular operating systems supporting the smart-phone market. STMicroelectronics,
for its part, showed off its Nomadik multimedia application processor, the STn8815, ported
to various operating systems, including Symbian, Nucleus, WinCE, Linux 2.4 and Android.
The handset demonstrations at Mobile World Congress illustrated the growing power of mobile
multimedia devices as a new class of application-centric mobile gear emerges. These
products are Internet browsers, music players, text messengers and e-mail devices that also
make voice calls. Market research firm and consultancy MultiMedia Intelligence projects
that feature-rich, high-end multimedia phones will grow from last year's 20 million units
to more than 250 million units in 2011.
Touchscreens also could be found everywhere at Mobile World Congress, as the shadow of
Apple's iPhone drew a competitive response from handset manufacturers. MultiMedia
Intelligence projects the number of handsets with touchscreens will approach 200 million by
2011.
Yet for all the feature-rich multimedia handset demonstrations, the implications of the
Android platform seemed paramount.
Mark Kirstein is president of MultiMedia Intelligence (Scottsdale, Ariz.), a market
research and consulting firm.
