One of the components of your future device is a cellular chip. There are many chip providers from which to choose, all eager to help bring your product to market. One of the components of your future device is a cellular chip. There are many chip providers from which to choose, all eager to help bring your product to market.
The decision to partner with a chipset vendor is not an easy one, and requires a significant amount of research, time and resources. With so much riding on making the right decision, it is crucial to understand your potential vendor's full capabilities.
Asking vendors the following five questions will help you select a long-term partner that can help you achieve your business goals.
1. What markets will your chipset solution enable me to address?
Is your device slated for launch in the U.S., Europe, or Asia?
The global LTE market is extremely fragmented, with more than 40 frequency bands as well as variances for TDD (Time Division Duplex) and FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) modulations. In addition to regional requirements, mobile network operators also have their own unique combination of bands.
Depending on where you want to launch your product, you’ll first need to determine which bands will need to be supported.
An ideal chip partner is one that can provide you with the flexibility to combine any band and frequency needed. This will allow you to address any market world-wide, without limitation.
With the right long-term partner, you can invest in one platform and then easily adapt it to various bands using the same software, chipset and tools. This is much more efficient than building new solutions from scratch each time and only requires a marginal investment for each additional combination added.
2. What is the maturity level of the solution and the shipment track record?
When it comes to maturity, it is crucial to understand where the chip has been tested. Make sure to find out with whom has the chipset vendor conducted interoperability testing (IoT) and to what extent. Also, explore what kinds of products and form factors have already been shipped based on this technology.
Most importantly, find out which carriers have already certified the chip on their networks (see question 4 for more on the implications). These important guidelines will help you distinguish between chips that look good on paper and those that have been thoroughly tested and are market-ready.
Shipment track records can also offer insight into market adoption, but don’t just take them at face value. Make sure you understand how the numbers compare to different subsets of the total industry.
For example, when it comes to single-mode LTE (4G only, without 3G fallback), market shipments to date are still relatively low compared to multi-mode 3G+LTE. Single-mode LTE has recently begun to come to market in meaningful volumes and is expected to rise exponentially over the coming years, as LTE network coverage becomes ubiquitous. Although a single-mode LTE developer will likely initially have fewer shipments than a traditional multi-mode developer, it offers the benefits of lower cost, lower power and better solution flexibility that must be factored into the final decision.
3. What performance metrics does it deliver? At what power consumption?
4. How complex/expensive will it be to take a product based on your technology to market?a
5. How cost competitive is it and what is your roadmap to maintaining feature/cost competitiveness?
Read the answer to the rest 3 questions at ECN.
