Cognovo has announced its Software Defined Modem (SDM) platform which the Cambridge, UK, based company says is designed to reduce the cost, size and design complexity of LTE handsets and other wireless enabled consumer electronic products. The SDM platform, using technology originating from research carried out at ARM, is already under evaluation at leading handset OEMs and is expected to appear in handsets during 2012.
The Cognovo SDM platform - which is available now - comprises the Modem Compute Engine (MCE), a licensable processor sub-system, the SDM Operating System (SDM-OS) and a fully integrated development suite. Cognovo claims that its programmable approach makes it possible for OEMs and platform providers to reduce development times by 9 - 12 months compared with a traditional hardware-based modem design, and that this allows handset developers to freeze designs much closer to deployment, as standards and requirements become fixed.
The SDM platform is based on the Ardbeg Vector Signal Processor technology spun out from ARM six months ago. "The software and system support that Cognovo has brought to the Software Defined Modem platform complements the many years of development by ARM of the Ardbeg Vector Signal Processor," said Warren East, CEO, ARM. "We are delighted with the rapid progress made by the Cognovo team and look forward to seeing end products utilising the platform to enhance the user mobile experience."
Will Strauss, President of Forward Concepts commented,"The Software Defined Radio concept has been around for a while, but with the move to HSPA and LTE a more flexible approach is becoming essential. Cognovo's combination of disruptive processor technology with a set of supporting software and tools promises to enable handset makers to bring products to market much faster than before and with significant cost savings in the modem - the most critical part of a wireless terminal."
The Cognovo SDM platform is dimensioned for handsets and portable devices capable of LTE Category 4 (150Mb/s), but also scales to support multi-mode operation with other standards. A single engine supporting WCDMA, HSPA, HSPA+, LTE and WiMAX enables a multimode baseband IC to be realised in a core die of less than 6 square mm in 32nm geometry - significantly smaller than conventional modem ICs. A fully-integrated suite of tools has also been developed, including a C compiler and a system design toolkit to minimise development timescales for modem designers.
Cognovo will be presenting a paper about its SDM technology at LTE Focus in Amsterdam in September.
