The NVIDIA Blog

NVIDIA’s Icera Modem Hooks Up Voice-Over-LTE And Live Gaming

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 09:31 AM PST

If you're in Barcelona next week, check out our booth at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) show in Hall 1, Stand C34. We'll be giving a sneak peek at advanced technologies developed by Icera, the UK company NVIDIA acquired in mid-2011.

We'll be showing the NVIDIA Icera 410 LTE modem to our partners, showcasing the latest advances in Voice over LTE (VoLTE), as well as multiplayer gaming over a live LTE network.

Voice over LTE

For VoLTE, we'll demonstrate seamless handover of voice calls from an LTE network to a circuit-switched WCDMA 3G network, and vice versa, using Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC) with HD quality voice (known in the industry as AMR-WB or Adaptive Multi-Rate-Wideband).

These technologies are rich in acronyms, so let's try to explain what this means.

SRVCC is a technology that enables voice calls to seamlessly hop between 4G and 3G networks, which will exist side by side for some time. It's important because it marks a significant step towards operators being able to move their voice traffic from 3G to LTE networks, allowing the 3G spectrum to be re-used for super-fast LTE technology.

It relies on a single radio in the handset for hand-off and a single multimode baseband processor to support LTE VoIP and circuit-switched 3G – like the Icera LTE modem – rather than different basebands for each air interface. What's more, using a single multimode baseband also means smaller phone designs, lower power and better battery life.

LTE Gaming Demo

We're also showing a live LTE gaming demo at our booth (Hall 1, Stand C34), using our software defined radio (SDR) modem that implements all three radio technologies – 4G, 3G and 2G – with the full handover capabilities that network operators will need next year. The NVIDIA Icera modem is currently used more than any other modem to validate LTE handover test cases designed to meet the requirements set by global standards organisations. This means consumers will experience a smooth and fast connection, regardless of whether they are using an LTE, 3G or 2G network.

The NVIDIA Icera LTE modem leverages our unique SDR technology, which enables software upgradable functions to OEMs and carriers, offering high throughput and best-in-class power and small die size.

This feature also enables faster time to market for new air interface technologies and lower R&D expenses for handset manufacturers. This allows us to include on our roadmap for 2012-2013 a bevy of wireless data technologies, including: LTE FDD, TD-LTE, 42Mbps Dual Carrier and TD-SCDMA in addition to existing HSPA+, HSPA and 2G technologies.

You can also keep tabs on MWC 2012 updates via this blog, twitter and our Social Media Newsroom.

Tegra 3 Enters Next-Gen LTE Pact with Suppliers

Posted: 24 Feb 2012 06:58 AM PST

NVIDIA today joined leading suppliers of cellular silicon solutions – GCT Semiconductor and Renesas Mobile – to announce support and joint development of LTE modems and Tegra 3 mobile processors.

This is pretty exciting for a few reasons.

Number one is that OEM partners can now take their current NVIDIA-powered devices to the next level by creating next-gen LTE products with a fast time to market.

Number two: this will let more users in more markets access the award-winning performance capabilities, next-gen games, and lightning fast apps enabled by Tegra.

Finally, this helps push the envelope on the overall mobile experience. Through fast data access offered by LTE, users get even better multiplayer gaming options, lightning fast web browsing, supercharged app downloads… and the list goes on and on.

If you happen to be in Barcelona for Mobile World Congress 2012 next week, stop by our partners' booths to see the latest updates.

For even more LTE news, check out this space tomorrow for a few announcements from NVIDIA's very own Icera modem team.