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What s a !aseband "rocessor#

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Written By: Andrew Kirmayer
Edited By: Shereen Skola
Last Modified Date: ! "#ne $%&
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Mo5ile (hones and other de.ices ty(ically re6#ire considera5le (rocessing (ower to control their
com(#tational and comm#nications f#nctions2 The 'entral )rocessing 7nit 8')79 of s#ch a de.ice
allows for many f#nctions1 and often incl#des se.eral software a((lications and dri.ers2 Most mo5ile
comm#nications de.ices also incl#de a Base5and )rocessor 8B)91 se(arate from the ')72
:enerally1 it manages the radio control f#nctions1 s#ch as signal generation1 mod#lation1 encoding1
as well as fre6#ency shifting2 4t can also manage the transmission of signals2
The 5ase5and (rocessor is ty(ically located on the same circ#it 5oard as the ')71 5#t consists of a
se(arate radio electronics com(onent2 4t can therefore ha.e a different (rogramming interface and
control software2 The hardware f#nction is often inde(endent of the o(erations of other (hone
com(onents as well2 A 5enefit to this is #s#ally that changes to software a((lications and o(erating
systems do not affect the o(eration of the B)2 Software 5#gs can affect other ca(a5ilities1 5#t the
5ase5and (rocessor will #s#ally f#nction witho#t a (ro5lem in s#ch a case2
An a((lications (rocessor is often #sed to manage all of the software (rograms on a de.ice2 A
se(arate 5ase5and (rocessor can also ena5le (hone designers to create a((lications and #ser
interfaces witho#t ha.ing to worry a5o#t changes to the B) or the way radio signals are (rocessed2
Wireless comm#nication ca(a5ilities ha.e contin#ed to increase thro#gh the early %st cent#ry2
Some 5ase5and radio (rocessor models can handle many channels at once1 #s#ally while
(rocessing all recei.e and transmit demands2
This ty(e of de.ice sometimes incl#des m#lti(le (rocessing com(onents2 ;ne kind has fo#r1 so it
can com5ine (arameter estimation1 signal searching1 transmission1 and recei.ing f#nctions and
other ca(a5ilities2 The B) can also search for mo5ile signals and track them1 as well as select
antennas a#tomatically2 4n many cases1 a 5ase5and (rocessor is contained in a common integrated
circ#it (ackage1 s#ch as a 5all grid array2 Low (ower models are often a.aila5le as well2
As of $%%1 5ase5and (rocessor ca(a5ilities are often s#((orti.e of the fo#rth generation (rotocols
for wireless comm#nication2 The (rocessor is often (art of the de.ice<s modem1 and can incl#de
other feat#res s#ch as =lash memory2 A low (ower memory 5ase5and (rocessor often has
connections to common interfaces1 s#ch as 7ni.ersal Serial B#s 87SB9 fo#nd in most com(#ters
and mo5ile de.ices2 The design of se(arate (rocessors in a (hone is not only efficient1 5#t a5le to
(re.ent malf#nctions d#e to software 5#gs1 which co#ld ca#se wides(read (hone (ro5lems as well
as network iss#es2
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)iscuss this Article
Markerrag
Post 2
@Logicfest -- true, but there's also a disadvantage inherent in that design. Let's say
you have a plan that limits your cellular data to 2 gigabytes -- once that threshold is
reached, you will pay quite a bit to eep receiving cellular data.
!f your "i-#i fails but you eep receiving data through the radio, then you might
not now something is wrong with your "i-#i. !n other words, you can burn
through your cellular data limit in a hurry if you eep using your phone lie it was
connected to your $free$ "i-#i networ.
Logicfest
Post %
&he baseband processor can, in a lot of ways, offer an unseen advantage. 'uite
often, the "i-#i and (luetooth functions of a cell phone operate independently of
the $radio$ functions of a phone )the part of the cell that deals with cellular data and
calls*.
"hy is that an advantage+ !t is not uncommon for the "i-#i or radio function in a
phone to fail. (y having those controlled by different bits of hardware, it is far
more liely that one function will wor if another fails.
#or e,ample, if your "i-#i stops woring, you can usually still receive data
through the radio. !f the radio fails, you might not be able to mae phone calls but
at least you can still access "i-#i data. !n other words, eeping those functions
separate often means that you're not completely out of luc if one function fails as
the other one will probably eep woring.
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