Nvidia Announces Icera 500 - The Baseband in Grey
by Brian Klug on May 24, 2012 4:27 PM ESTDuring Nvidia's Tegra analyst day, more details were disclosed about both Nvidia's plans for Icera, and the upcoming codename Grey SoC with Icera inside. Earlier today we talked about how Icera 410 had been validated for use on AT&T's LTE and HSPA network, which itself is an exciting step towards a complete Nvidia solution. Nvidia just announced their upcoming Icera baseband, Icera 500, which is an LTE UE Category 3 device (building on 410 which is UE Category 2) and includes HSPA+ and other features from Icera 450. Because Icera's architecture is a software defined radio, it was hinted we might even see beyond UE Category 3 in the future. We'll have to wait and see for further details about what other capabilities Icera 500 brings.
“NVIDIA’s second-generation LTE modem – the Icera 500 chipset - addresses high end smartphones as well as tablets and clamshell devices, and provides worldwide LTE support. We expect to see the Icera 500 modem in devices in 2013.”
Nvidia expects Icera 500 to appear in devices by the end of this year, and Grey will appear with Icera 500 directly integrated later in 2013. This will enable Tegra to drive into lower cost platforms and smaller form factors in a way that only a few other SoC players can.
Nvidia is rapidly putting all the pieces together for delivering a complete solution with both their own SoC and baseband. Grey will definitely be a part to keep a watchful eye for.
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A5 - Friday, May 25, 2012 - link
It seems like we've been saying "oh the next Tegra is going to be the one to go for" since the first one.SkullOne - Friday, May 25, 2012 - link
Tegra will never be worth getting until they upgrade the the GPU to make it useful. It's sad that the GPU on Tegra 3 is slower then iPad 2. The "new" iPad's GPU just puts Tegra 3's to shame.jeremyshaw - Friday, May 25, 2012 - link
To be fair, it was only because Apple was willing to pay for such a chip. I'd bet no other OEM would really want to spend the few dollars(?) more per unit. Think it's insane? Intel was willing to save a few cents per unit on a cheaper TIM process for their Ivy Bridge.And I'd bet no OEM would go for the insane A5X, but Apple.
That being said, Tegra 3 is only overshadowed by Samsung's GSIII GPU. It's still slightly faster than the Adreno 225, which is faster than about everything else out there in the Android market.
Zingam - Saturday, May 26, 2012 - link
But that's exactly why Apple is selling all they can and the rest are struggling.Lugaidster - Saturday, May 26, 2012 - link
Sorry, but no. GPU has barely anything to do with Apple's success. They could have a tegra chip inside the iPad and it would still sell like there's no tomorrow.Tegra 3's GPU may not be that fast compared to the latest and greatest from Apple, but it's certainly plenty fast.
mnasub - Wednesday, May 30, 2012 - link
Recomiendo teléfono inteligente muy barato! Sólo necesita el euro 58.79 euros! Otro párrafo Parejas 3,2 Pulgadas Android2.2 WIFI dos Cámaras Bluetooth! Realmente genial! Usted puede mirar en: http://me2.do/IFP5KCmvision33r - Tuesday, May 29, 2012 - link
Stop defending nVidia. There's no excuse for putting out such a mediocre GPU coming from the top GPU maker in the PC world.Tegra 1-3 all have been weak GPU with paid developer enhancements instead of top dog performance.
Which is actually kind of sad in the PC world nvidia also pays game companys to enhance game code for their GPUs.
Lucian Armasu - Friday, May 25, 2012 - link
If they want to be competitive in GPU performance in 2013 with Tegra 4 they need to increase the performance like 5x compared to Tegra 3. It might be possible if the both move to 28nm and also make the chip at least as large as the A5X.The only question is, will it be power efficient, too? Nvidia still wants to focus on CPU performance more than Apple, so they will go quad core Cortex A15, while Apple will only go dual core. So Nvidia might have to compromise a little on GPU performance there. Then again, rumors says they will use a new GPU architecture with Kepler DNA, so maybe it will be more efficient.
Either way, Nvidia has more to worry about Samsung and Apple. So far Samsung has had the best CPU's, and they now have the best GPU in a smartphone, too. Plus, Mali T604 is coming out very soon in at least one of their Exynos chips, and it will be more powerful than anything that will be released this year, by far.
Apple might take a lead again in GPU performance for a few months when they launch iPad 4 next spring (quite a bit from now) but just a few months later Mali T658 will appear in another Exynos chip, and should also become the most powerful GPU of the year, in both graphics performance and GPU compute performance.
GotThumbs - Friday, May 25, 2012 - link
On the plus side....the New IPAD3 also works great at keeping your coffee hot. :->name99 - Saturday, May 26, 2012 - link
I hope you're proud of yourself, comparing the value of your comment to the intelligence of those surrounding it.