Power management partitioning in next generation mobile phones

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As the next generation of mobile phones integrate more and more functions in a smaller size, the integration of power and other analog devices is inevitable, but in order to maintain product differentiation, sometimes it is not necessary to integrate some key features to meet market demand. This article analyzes the necessity of split power management and focuses on the selection of discrete power devices.

Third generation (3G) mobile phones offer a variety of features with more functionality. As consumers enjoy the latest and better features of these communication devices, they continue to demand longer working time on a single battery and smaller form factor of the mobile phone. Although IC integration can help solve the size problem, it also increases design complexity and limits design flexibility. Today's mobile phone design engineers must consider many factors to effectively optimize battery use to extend battery working time. Therefore, a combination of highly integrated power management units and high-performance discrete devices must be used for battery management, power conversion, and system management.

Dilemma: Functionality vs. battery power

When designing an advanced wireless device, design engineers face a dilemma. On the one hand, they need to integrate many functions into a specific form factor that is usually determined by the size of the battery and display, complex user interfaces and design engineering; on the other hand, the available energy of the battery depends on the chemical characteristics that determine their energy density and physical size. These constantly changing parameters often force design engineers to use battery power more efficiently to meet consumer requirements for standby time and working time.

Today's 3G multi-function mobile phones support multiple air interfaces, providing not only multi-band modem connections such as GSM and WCDMA, but also other connections through Bluetooth, wireless LAN, infrared and USB interfaces. Digital camera functions have become standard in many mobile phones, which require complex camera engines and high-luminance flash to take high-quality photos. As data transmission speeds increase, video phone functions in mobile phones are also possible. In addition, high-speed application processors provide powerful audio/video processing capabilities to support digital television (DTV) signals and MPEG audio codecs. Newer mobile phones will also add FM radio and digital TV tuners to increase the entertainment value of the phone. The increase in data throughput will eventually require high-density storage capacity, which can be achieved through memory expansion slots and even micro hard drives. It is not difficult to imagine that most of these wireless devices will also function as portable gaming devices.

Figure 1: System block diagram of a 3G mobile phone.

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