Atheros unveiled its first cellular solution -- a single chip that implements a complete cellular transceiver, baseband, application processor, audio paths, power management, and keypad, display and USB interfaces. The Atheros AR1900 is the first single-chip solution for PHS (Personal Handyphone System), which is widely deployed in China, Japan, Taiwan and other countries. PHS, or Personal Access System (PAS) as it is known in China, is an advanced digital TDMA-TDD technology operating at 1.9 GHz providing high-quality voice, advanced data services, and long battery life.
The AR1900 is implemented in a standard digital CMOS process and Atheros estimates the single-chip design will reduce the cost of PHS handsets by 30% compared to multiple chip solutions. In addition, the chip's audio path contains voice processing and mixed-signal blocks that can be leveraged for applications such as VoIP and streaming audio (wireless speakers). http://www.atheros.com
- There were over 65 million PHS subscribers in China as of the end of 2004, and a further six million in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand.
