Fujitsu's Vector Processing DSP Promises LTE Performance Gains

Fujitsu Laboratories has developed a digital signal processor (DSP) for mobile device baseband processing that uses the same vector processing architecture employed in supercomputers.

Fujitsu's 28-nanometer DSP runs at 250 MHz and is  capable of processing data at 12 GOPS (12 billion operations per second). Excluding memory, the DSP measures only 0.4 mm2, and it consumes 30 milliwatts (mW) of power, 20% less than existing DSPs. It can run highly repetitive processes common in LTE and other wireless processes.

Fujitsu said that while typical processors execute a single instruction on a single piece of data at a time (scalar data), its vector processor will execute a single instruction on multiple pieces of data (vector data) at a time. The company said this vector approach is especially effective with LTE, which uses OFDM modulation and communicates by bundling data that is carried by up to 1,200 "subcarriers" in a wireless signal. The vector DSP can be used to extract information from an incoming signal.

Fujitsu said its new DSP can lengthen talk times, usage times and standby times for smartphones and other mobile devices. In addition, the DSP can handle ongoing upgrades to the signal processing algorithm.

http://www.fujitsu.com/global/news/pr/archives/month/2013/20130201-04.html