Spreadtrum announces low cost multimedia mobile phone solution

SHENZHEN, CHINA: Spreadtrum Communications Inc., a leading fabless semiconductor provider in China with advanced technology in both 2G and 3G wireless communications standards, announced the introduction of two low-cost multimedia chipsets, the SC6610 and the SC6620, for the low-end multimedia handset market.

These products feature a higher integration level of design that allows for a more economic cost structure for the GSM/GPRS multimedia handsets, which meet the growing demand for low-end mobile phones in both domestic and overseas emerging markets.

The SC6610 and SC6620 possess Spreadtrum's highly integrated design, and also combine PMU, multimedia accelerator, touch screen controller, backlight controller, 16M/32M pSRAM, and up to four SIM card interfaces into one chip. These solutions allow for significantly reduced handset design complexity, yet still offer customers rich multimedia features.

The SC6610 and SC6620 also integrate multi-SIM card engine and controllers, thus providing customers with the freedom to choose between multi-SIM card options, such as Dual-SIM standby, Triple-SIM standby, and Quad-SIM standby solutions in a set of baseband and RF chip.

In addition to MP3 and MP4 features, the SC6610 and SC6620 support a variety of peripheral device interfaces, including serial/parallel LCD, serial/parallel digital camera sensor and serial nor-flash, which make the PCB design easier. They also enable PCB through-hole double-layer design, which helps to significantly reduce PCB layout components and the number of PCB layers, thus minimizing manufacturing costs. The serial nor-flash interfaces support both 1.8V and 3V products and provide customers with more flexibility in sourcing and security in component supply.

"The SC6610 and SC6620 chipsets are the result of our unwavering focus on innovation," Dr. Leo Li, Spreadtrum's president and CEO said, "Our continuous efforts within R&D and market expansion have provided us with cutting-edge technology and a loyal and growing customer base. We intend to build on this trend in order to accelerate our pace to provide more innovative products for customers that will help them reduce handset development cost, shorten time-to-market, and ultimately enhance their competitive edge."