Cei de la 9to5mac au reusit sa obtina detaliile hardware ale unui prototip al iPhone 5 pe care Apple il testeaza in momentul de fata. Am aflat deja ca acest prototip are un nou model de procesor si 1 GB RAM, insa acum aflam ca el ar putea aduce un chip Broadcom BCM4334 care ar administra mult mai eficient energia furnizata de baterie, ar avea integrata tehnologia Wi-Fi dual band si ar permite folosirea tehnologiei Wi-Fi Direct. Din pacate chip-ul reduce cu 40 – 50% consumul de energie numai in cazul utilizarii cu o retea Wi-Fi, insa chiar si asa ar trebui sa observam o diferenta notabila in autonomia bateriei unui iPhone.
BCM4334 which is the follow-up part to BCM4330 that we’ve seen in a bunch of devices. BCM4334 changes from a 65nm process to 40nm LP, which itself offers a power profile reduction. The change isn’t a simple die shrink either, Broadcom says it has worked on and refined the existing BCM4330 design and reduced power a further 40-50% and dramatically reduced standby power by 3 orders of magnitude. I asked Broadcom to give me a realistic estimate of power consumption – BCM4330 in full Rx mode consumes around 68mA, BCM4334 consumes 36mA at the same voltage, just to give an example of the reduction. Air interfaces don’t change between BCM4330 and BCM4334.
Noul chip al Broadcom este construit folosind un proces de fabricatie de 40 nm, de aici venind consumul redus de energie, insa acea energie ar putea fi redirectionata catre alimentarea ecranului mai mare si a functiei 4G LTE. Chiar si asa chip-ul se anunta a fi extrem de interesant, functia dual-band Wi-Fi si Wi-Fi Direct oferind celor de la Apple posibilitatea de a implementa in iDevice-uri tehnologia AirDrop care pe Mac-uri permite partajarea de fisiere in retele Wi-Fi intr-un mod asemanator cu cel al incarcarii unui fisier pe Dropbox, de exemplu. Wi-Fi Direct ar permite interconectarea cu alte smartphone-uri care suporta aceasta tehnologie si cu ajutorul acestei tehnologii Apple ne-ar putea permite sa partajam rapid fisiere din terminalele noastre catre terminale Android, Windows Phone sau poate chiar BlackBerry.
…the BCM4334 is designed to address the needs of highly mobile devices that require minimal power consumption and compact size while delivering dual-band Wi-Fi connectivity. The chip includes IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n single-stream MAC/baseband/radio, Bluetooth 4.0 + HS, and an integrated FM radio receiver. It is designed to be used with external 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz front-end modules, which include power amplifiers, T/R switches and optional low noise amplifiers. The combo device also features advanced switching techniques that enable concurrent dual-band operation to simultaneously support network connectivity with one band while also allowing content streaming via technologies such as Wi-Fi Display and Wi-Fi Direct.
Desi in chip-ul Broadcomm se gasesc multe tehnologii, Apple are “talentul” de a le dezactiva si exemplul cel mai bun este cel al functiei radio. Viitorul se anunta a fi foarte interesant, insa numai daca Apple se va hotara sa ne uimeasca intr-adevar cu un iPhone 5 revolutionar.
