C2C Interchip Link Connectivity IP licensed by 10 vendors

 

Arteris, a supplier of network-on-chip (NoC) interconnect
IP solutions, announced that the Chip to Chip Link (C2C) product jointly
developed by Texas Instruments and Arteris has been licensed by 10
system-on-chip vendors serving the mobile and wireless application processor
and modem markets.

 

C2C is the first instance of an industry standard
allowing shared memory between two chips, such as a mobile phone applications
processor and a mobile phone modem.

 

The 100ns round-trip latency of the C2C connection is
fast enough for the modem to share the application processor’s RAM and to
maintain enough read throughput and low latency for cache refills.

 

This enables the phone manufacturer to remove the modem’s
dedicated RAM chip from the phone’s bill of materials (BOM), saving a minimum
$2 in cost per phone.

 

In addition to the $2 cost savings for a single LPDDR2
RAM, removing a RAM saves up to 115 square millimeters of printed circuit board
(PCB) space and reduces mobile phone system complexity.

 

C2C is an optimal solution for low latency mobile phone
modem connection to applications processors because it allows us to fully reuse
the same DDR pads that are available for connecting the standard dedicated
modem RAM,” said Stefan Wolff, division vice president and general manager
Smart Phones and RF at Intel Mobile Communications GmbH (IMC).

 

Using the Chip to Chip Link allows IMC modems to connect
to a wide selection of mobile phone application processors from multiple
vendors, allowing our customers to choose the best products for their needs
whilst saving cost and footprint without compromising performance,” Wolff
added.

 

TI believes that split architecture provides the
industry’s most optimal environment for innovation. TI worked with Arteris on
C2C and pushed its evolution in the MIPI Alliance to help its customers turn
split architecture into something advantageous regarding modem connection.

 

In the end, OEMs and ecosystem partners alike benefit
from the growth of a cost-effective thin modem market and the opportunity to
combine those modems with the best-in-class OMAP applications processor.

 

In addition to Intel and Texas Instruments, other
publicly announced C2C licensees include Samsung, LG, ST-Ericsson, HiSilicon
Technologies, and VIA Telecom.

 

Though licensees initially consider C2C for mobile phone
DRAM memory sharing, we are seeing new use models such as coprocessor
connectivity to quickly meet market windows for new standards like LTE,” said
K. Charles Janac, president and CEO of Arteris.

 

By Telecomlead.com Team
[email protected]