Broadcom Introduces New Mobile Chip To Monitor Health Parameters

Irvine, California-headquartered Broadcom Corporation has announced the release of a new system-on-chip that will enable people to monitor certain key health parameters while on the move.

The new chip is called BCM2049, and is the first in a series of new-wave chips that will be built on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology and specifications. Mobile phone and other device manufacturers can incorporate this chip in their handsets and sell as value-add to customers. The chip allows mobile phones to be conveniently connected to sensors and monitors to aggregate and display data such as tracking the progress of their workouts, monitoring their heart rate, etc. This information can be displayed on the handset screens.

The Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology has been ratified by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), which means that soon, the market is expected to see a new wave of devices which require very little power which can be drawn from coin-sized batteries. And since consumers are already familiar with Bluetooth, the acceptance of these new devices shouldn’t be difficult, according to analysts.

Read about the latest technology that can enable people to monitor their health while on the move, here.

A New Chip For Mobile Devices From Broadcom

A new processor and transceiver solution for the mobile domain has been introduced in the market by Irvine, California-headquartered Broadcom Corporation. The solution is called BCM21553 HSUPA (short for “high speed upstream packet access”).

The new HSUPA solution targets the 3G mobile and cellular market, and is touted as a “3G phone-on-a-chip” and RF solution. It utilizes an integrated ARM11 processor which can run operating systems such as Windows Mobile and Android. This implies that the need for an external apps processor is eliminated altogether, thereby reducing costs, size, system complexity and battery drainage.

The underlying technology supports 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) releases 6 and 7. These releases define specs for up to 5.8 Mbps upstream connectivity, 7.2 Mbps downstream connectivity and also support CS (circuit switches) over HSPA services. Another technology built into the solution is PRISM, which handles interference from radio signals coming from neighboring cells. A 3D graphics core has been incorporated into the solution to enhance user interfaces, and to support encoding and decoding of H.264 video at 30 fps.

The Radio Frequency transceiver is called BCM2091. This provides RF connectivity for the BCM21553 processor.

Read more about the revolutionary new processor for mobile devices, brought out by Broadcom, here.

Intel Launches Itanium 9300

Santa Clara, California-headquartered Intel Corporation has launched the Itanium 9300, a processor targeted at mission-critical computing environments. This processor was codenamed “Tukwila” during its design stages.

The new processor ranges in price from USD 946 to USD 3,838 in quantities of 1,000. The family comprises 9310 with 2 cores and 4 threads, and 9320, 9330, 9340 and 9350, all with 4 cores and 8 threads.

The Itanium 9300 processor operates at 1.73 GHz base frequency and up to 1.86 GHz at peak workloads. The processor includes various platform ingredients such as QuickPath Interconnect, which has a bandwidth of 4.8 GT/s, and Scalable Memory Interconnect. In addition, the processor also has 7500 Scalable Memory Buffer which exploits the capabilities of DDR3 memories. The processor can address up to 1,024 terabytes of memory. The i/o hub is the standard 7500 chipset, which allows i/o devices to be assigned to virtual machines.

The processor comprises 2 billion transistors, four cores, more cache and 800% more interconnect bandwidth than the predecessors. The second generation of virtualization technology has been incorporated into its innards to increase performance and robustness, according to the company release.

Read about the latest mission-critical processor launched by Intel, here.

New Processor Family From Intel

A new family of processors has been launched by Santa Clara, California-headquartered Intel Corporation. This family has been targeted at the business community.

Called 2010 Intel Core vPro, the family comprises the following processors: Core i7 vPro processor, Core i5 vPro processor, i7 processor, i5 processor and i3 processor. The platform that is based on this family includes the new Intel Q57 Express chipset. For network connection, in case of notebooks the platform includes 82577LM Gigabit Network Connection, and in case of desktop PCs the platform includes 82578DM Network Connection.

The company has obtained commitments from computer OEM manufacturers such as Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Toshiba for lifting the processors in bulk. Software solutions developers too have evinced keen interest in exploiting the features of the new processors, and such companies include Microsoft, Symantec, WinZip, LANDesk, Bomgar, Aternity and the like.

According to the company press release, a notebook built upon the Intel Core i5 vPro processor is capable of handling applications at 180% the present notebook speed. The processor can also multi-task applications upto 200% faster. Further, there is inbuilt facility to protect confidential data.

Read about the latest launch of an entire family of processors from Intel, here.

DirectX 11-capable GPUs From AMD

Sunnyvale, California-headquartered Advanced Micro Devices Inc has announced the release into the market of a new series of GPUs that are capable of running DirectX 11 technology.

These GPUs are the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5000 series of processors, and are aimed at the mainstream and second generation ultrathin notebook machines. These processors will also be found in the to-be-launched “Danube” mainstream and “Nile” ultrathin notebooks that are scheduled to be launched in the next six months.

What the capability to run DirectX 11 means is that users can take advantage of the gaming features of Windows 7, especially its DirectCompute 11 feature. The ATI Eyefinity multi-display technology makes it now possible for even mobile users to couple up to six monitors to their system and enjoy a totally different gaming environment. Upscaling beyond the standard 1080p and dual-1080p resolution has become possible with the Unified Video Decoder 2 technology that the GPUs come with.

According to the company release, more than 20 DirectX 11 games are being developed around the HD 5000 series of processors at the moment. Titles such as “EA Phenomic’s BattleForge” and GSC Gameworld’s “S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Gall of Pripyat” are already available in the market.

Read more about the latest release of GPUs for the mobile computer from AMD, here.

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