受微软拖累，诺基亚或再次错过双核手机技术

诺基亚今年转向双核智能手机的目标可能会由于微软的支持不力而无法达成。

根据多核大会(Multicore Expo)上透露的消息，有三家手机厂商的双核移动处理器已经开始出货，这个数字到年底可能会增长为八家。Linley集团首席分析师Linley Gwennap标示，2011年，“几乎所有高端智能手机”都会采用双核处理器。

已经有三个移动操作系统支持多核处理器——Android 3.0、iOS 4.3、Blackberry 8，很明显Windows Phone 7落伍了。

有消息称微软为使Windows Phone 7尽快上市，移除了其操作系统的多核支持，集中精力于单核高通处理器开发软件。微软很清楚自己需要比升级桌面系统代码更频繁地升级手机系统代码，但目前尚不清楚微软何时才能增加多核支持。

手机的生命周期通常只有12-24个月，Gwennap标示，而缺少多核支持“将会在微软解决此问题前束缚诺基亚”。

诺基亚长期以来都是第一大手机供应商，并让Symbian操作系统成为最受欢迎的移动软件平台。但这位手机巨头面对苹果iPhone所开辟的的联网设备概念，显得“尾大不掉”。

根据IDC的数据，苹果公司今年一季度的智能手机销售额位居世界第一。

支持多核处理器的Symbian^4系统本应在近期发布。但诺基亚最近与埃森哲(Accenture)达成协议，聘用它的Symbian团队，这是诺基亚裁员7000人计划中的一部分。

今年一月发售的LG Optimus是第一款采用多核处理器的智能手机，很快摩托罗拉与苹果公司分别在二月和三月推出了多核平板电脑。今年晚些时候将会推出的移动多核处理器包括(按预计发布时间排序)：三星Exynos 4210、高通MSM8260、意法爱立信U8500、Marvell Armada 2828、博通BCM 11311。

Gwennap表示：“ARM的双核Cortex A9参考设计让芯片厂商得以快速出货。除了Marvell和高通自行设计多核架构以外，其它厂商都采用了该设计。”

“多核处理器将会为操作系统的核心应用程序——浏览器、Flash、PDF阅读器带来速度提升。它们对第三方游戏开发者也有帮助。”

“需要一段时间才会出现大量多核移动软件。”

Gwennap预测2011年将有大约21%的移动设备采用多核处理器，2015年将增长至94%。到2013年，移动设备的多核处理器出货量将会超过个人电脑与服务器。

下一页：智能手机成本将是关键

{pagination}

Gwennap还表示，到2012年，这个趋势将随着中端手机上基于ARM Cortex A5内核的双核处理器替代Cortex A8而继续加速。2014年，这两种芯片将进入低端智能手机市场。

市场观察公司Arete Research分析师Richard Kramer认为到2013年，售出的智能手机多达58%将会是新兴市场售出的中低端手机。他说：“由于智能手机在新兴市场蕴含着大量机遇，成本将会变得非常重要。”

图1：DSP处理器的电源容差。

设计师希望智能手机的BOM成本到2012年能够降低到80甚至60美元。Kramer表示：“如果你花些时间去深圳看看，就会发现很多公司都在向这方面努力。”

点击参考原文：

《电子工程专辑》网站版权所有，谢绝转载

{pagination}

Nokia may lag shift to dual-core phones

Rick Merritt

Nokia may lag the shift to dual-core smartphone processors happening this year for lack of support from Microsoft, its new operating system partner.

Three companies are already shipping dual-core mobile processors and as many as eight will be by the end of the year, according to a talk at the Multicore Expo here. "Just about every high end smartphone" will move to dual-core processors in 2011, said Linley Gwennap, principal of the Linley Group (Mountain View, Calif.).

Three mobile operating systems already support multicore chips including Google's Android 3.0, Apple's iOS 4.3 and Blackberry 8. One of the big laggards is Windows Mobile Phone 7.

Microsoft removed multicore support from its Mobile Phone 7 OS, focusing the software only on a single-core Qualcomm chip set in an effort to get it to market quickly, said one source. The company knows it needs to update its mobile software more often than its desktop code, but it's not clear when it will add multicore support.

Handsets typically have a 12-24 month lifecycle, said Gwennap. The lack of multicore support "could limit Nokia until Microsoft can retrofit the software for dual core," Gwennap said.

Nokia has long been the leading supplier of cellphones, making its Symbian OS among the most popular mobile software platform. But the handset giant has been slow to respond to the concept of a Web-connected device pioneered by the Apple iPhone.

In the first quarter, Apple lead growth in smartphone unit sales, according to IDC.

Symbian^4 is expected to be released soon supporting multicore processors. However, Nokia recently struck a deal with Accenture to hire its Symbian team as part of a plan to layoff 7,000 people.

The LG Optimus smartphone was the first smartphone to use a multicore chip when it shipped in January, quickly followed by tablets from Motorola and Apple in February and March. Mobile multicore chips coming later this year include (in order of their expected appearance) the Samsung Exynos 4210, Qualcomm MSM8260, ST Ericsson U8500, Marvell Armada 2828 and Broadcom BCM 11311.

"ARM has a dual-core Cortex A9 reference design enabling the chip vendors to ship quickly. Most vendors are using it except Marvell and Qualcomm that designed their own multicore architectures.

The multicore chips will help speed core apps from the OS makers such as browsers, Flash and PDF viewers. They will also be used by third party game developers.

"It will take time for a broad base of multicore mobile software to appear," said Gwennap.

About 21 percent of mobile devices will use multicore processors in 2011 rising rapidly to 94 percent in 2015, Gwennap estimated. By 2013 more multicore processors will ship in mobile systems than in PCs and servers, he said.

The trend will be accelerated by the arrival in 2012 of dual-core chips based on ARM's Cortex A5 core replacing single-core Cortex A8 chips in mid-range phones. By 2014, those chips will get packed into low-cost smartphones, said Gwennap.

As much as 58 percent of smartphone sales in 2013 will be for mid- or low-cost handsets sold in emerging markets, said Richard Kramer, an analyst with market watcher Arete Research, speaking in a separate talk. "Cost will be the critical word in this industry because the vast opportunity for smartphones is in emerging markets," he said.

Designers hope to get smartphones to an $80 and even a $60 bill of materials in 2012. "If you spend any time in Shenzhen, you see dozens of companies working on that," Kramer said.