Samsung preps Wireless USB chip for handhelds
updated 10:10 am EST, Wed February 11, 2009
Samsung Wireless USB SoC
Samsung today said it has developed a System-On-Chip that should bring Wireless USB to cellphones, MP3 players and other devices for the first time. A newer CMOS process has let the company build an ARM processor (not pictured) with both the ultra-wideband technology, a wired USB interface, and a memory controller that can transfer data wirelessly roughly as fast as a physical connection. Samsung estimates that a 700MB mobile-sized movie could transfer in one minute.
The mobile Wireless USB chip is also claimed faster than many earlier Wireless USB designs. The SoC can manage 120 megabits per second with a real-world amount of overhead where most current chipsets are limited to about 50Mbps.
The company portrays the increase as being particularly useful not just for syncing data between a handheld and a PC but for streaming media, such as playing audio from a media player directly to a set of speakers. Having such high bandwidth would also allow peer-to-peer transfers between cellphones, the firm suggests.
Samsung hasn't named customers for the hardware but says that mass production of the chip will start in the spring.
