The Cell Phone FM Chip. Intel Just Joined Our Team.

June 15, 2011

The plan to get cell phone providers to open up to the idea of happily promoting FM radio chips in phones just took a positive turn for the radio industry. Two stumbling blocks radio has run into are the high cost of the chip as well as the fact that the carriers could really care less about the FM chip. SiPort is a company that develops HD radio chips. They were just purchased by Intel which gives the FM Chip movement some real clout now.

And, they have developed a chip that only costs $2.00, a price that radio executives hope convinces the carriers to let radio in. Last night we interviewed Dr. David Rolston. Rolston is the Sr. Director at Intels Digital Radio Group.

Can you give us some background on the chip for HD radio you have developed?

Intel?s SP1010 Digital Radio IC is quickly becoming the highest volume HD Radio solution shipping with popular devices like the Microsoft Zune HD media player.  The SP1010 supports worldwide digital radio standards: HD Radio (USA), DAB/DAB+/DMB (Europe, Australia, and Asia) as well as all of the digital data standards: RDS-TMC, HD Data and DAB Data.  The SP1010 receiver was fabricated at industry leader TSMC?s RF CMOS process to achieve higher performance and better sensitivity per mill watt than any competitive solutions. The key to this achievement is the deployment of a self-tunable radio technology specifically developed for mobile terrestrial digital radio use. By combining a CMOS RF tuner and a baseband receiver in a compact and low power IC, Intel is able to deliver the lowest power, smallest package, excellent performance and low price needed to receive digital audio and digital data services on a variety of portable devices such as MP3 players, personal navigation systems and mobile phones.

Jerry Lee, a much respected broadcasters, seems to think the SiPort chip is the next big thing. Is it? Why?

Jerry Lee, a much respected broadcaster, correctly points out that digital radio needs to be seamlessly represented on the fastest growing consumer market segments: Handsets and Tablets.  The key to integration of digital radio on handsets and tablets are the four Ps: Power, Package, Performance and Price.  Intel?s roadmap of digital radio ICs represent the best of class power, package, performance and price solutions that are enabling the adoption of digital radio on handsets and other fast growing mobile market segments.

He also believes the SiPort chip will replace streaming for radio stations. Do you agree?

We believe that terrestrial broadcast radio and streaming radio will co-exist to meet the diverse needs of consumers.  There are data download cost factors associated with streaming radio and this is a very important consideration as service providers are moving away from ?all-you-can-eat? data plans due to severe congestion on the cellular networks.  Terrestrial Digital Radio broadcast uses radio spectrum much more efficiently and delivers the music and data services to the consumer without taxing the cellular network.

The Radio industry has been having a hard time convincing the cell industry this is something they should embrace. Why will the SiPort chip improve that dilemma?

The high cost of components and the lack of solutions that meet the power and package requirements of mobile platforms such as handsets and tablets were preventing the adoption of digital radio solutions.  Digital radio provides compelling value to the consumer in terms of Album Art, Tagging, New content, emergency alerts etc. while at the same time providing service providers new revenue streams in terms of music tagging & purchase, coupon & advertisement delivery etc.  Intel is working very closely with the service providers, handset makers as well as the broadcasters to enable the eco system that delivers the true value of digital radio broadcasting to mobile platforms.

SiPort was just purchased by Intel. Do you think that brings more clout to what can be done with the chip in terms of convincing people this is a must have?

Digital radio is poised to become an important ingredient for handsets and other mobile devices as broadcast radio transitions from analog to digital. Intel?s acquisition of SiPort enhances our abilities to continue as the leading provider of low power, single-chip CMOS solutions enabling wide spread adoption of broadcast digital radio. The digital radio business will  also take advantage of Intel?s global footprint and technology leadership to provide best-in-class digital radio solutions.

(6/15/2011 7:03:05 PM)
The key here is really not the cost of the chip so much as it is about bandwith usages. Carriers are abandoning their unlimited plans because they are finding they do not have the bandwith as the penetration of smart phones continues to grow. The HD chip is an opportunity for carriers to relieve some of their load on their bandwith, market a differentiating feature, and prevent anger from customers who start getting charged or throttled for their bandwith usage.
(6/15/2011 2:35:16 PM)
What a load of crap this article is. FM radio for $2.00 as the catalyst for carriers to adopt radio??? It's been free for years in combo chips. Stated correctly, is $2.00 the right price to catalyze digital radio into handsets? No. Wrong again. It's about how they make money on the service supported by the chip, and importantly, how they make money they wouldn't otherwise make using the billions in infrastructure they have bought and deployed. Intel's acquisition of Siport does nothing on this front, and this article proves that once again, Intel is completely missing the point of how to use IP it buys. Good luck Siport. See you in a few years after you work with the crack Intel Combo team in Israel.
(6/15/2011 12:44:07 PM)
SiPort can use Intel's fab expertise and marketing clout to drive down costs.

Intel is going to be a big player in the smart phone market when they take advantage of their Nvidia cross-license and begin selling a system-on-a-chip with an ARM core.

There are two driving factors for radio on smart phones. First is for emergency notifications. Second is for music and news. As cell carriers all move away from unlimited data,subscribers will no longer waste money on data to stream music.

(6/15/2011 11:35:23 AM)
I'd be cautious about pinning much hope on HD being the savior. According to wikipedia, a recent (Oct 2010) canvassing of local electronic stores like Sears, Best Buy, and Radio Shack, finds no HD radios in stock due to lack of demand as consumers are favoring the more popular Internet radio options.

I'd also be reluctant to divert battery resources to power yet another radio chip inside my phone, when my already present data connection can provide me with the stream.

As Gregory pointed out below, there's an app for that.

(6/15/2011 11:30:34 AM)
I guess I'll be labeled a hater, but it should be noted that Intel is a non-factor in the cellphone industry. They are desperately trying to penetrate the business, but they don't power a single smartphone currently in the market.

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