OPPO’s chip approach!

Latest update time：2019-07-31

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As the importance of chips becomes increasingly prominent, mobile phone manufacturers such as BAT, Xiaomi, OPPO, and VIVO are all busy laying out chips. According to cnBeta , on July 29, 2019, OPPO announced that it had signed a VOOC flash charging patent license agreement with eight chip and finished product companies. Based on the agreement, these eight companies will be able to develop, manufacture and sell chips and products that support VOOC flash charging patent technology, providing users with more abundant flash charging products and services.

Unlike Huawei and Xiaomi, which develop their own chips, OPPO has its own layout in chips. In recent years, OPPO has changed from user-oriented to cutting-edge technology, from creating high-quality products to leading the industry. Behind this is OPPO's new strategic changes.

Investing in chip companies

In May 2017, major media reported that OPPO and vivo have both entered the chip field. Duan Yongping, the big boss behind OPPO and vivo, and OPPO CEO Chen Mingyong have successively invested in a chip company - Xiongli Technology.

According to the industrial and commercial registration information, the shareholders of Suzhou Xiongli Technology are Xiong Bing and Suzhou Manying Consulting Co., Ltd. Although Duan Yongping does not appear in the shareholder information, the industrial and commercial registration information shows that Duan Yongping is a director of Suzhou Xiongli Technology. Moreover, Suzhou Xiongli Technology's shareholder, Suzhou Manying Consulting Co., Ltd., is 100% controlled by OPPO CEO Chen Mingyong.

According to Xinzhixun, Suzhou Xiongli Technology was founded in December 2008, with its headquarters in Suzhou Industrial Park and a R&D branch in Chengdu. The team members are experts from Huawei and Cisco. The founder graduated from Tsinghua University and is a specially appointed expert of the National Thousand Talents Program. The company's core business is to design and sell high-performance, low-power VLSI chips, IP and embedded systems. The main products and technologies currently include network search chips (ISE), security switching chips, VPN confidential communication platforms, DPI deep packet inspection solutions, multi-core network processors and fiber channel switching chips.

The "ISE" series of network search processor chips independently developed by Xiongli Technology have broken the monopoly of similar TCAM chips in the world by American companies, becoming the only semiconductor company in China and the second in the world capable of developing and mass-producing such chips; the products are in the world's leading position in important indicators such as power consumption, capacity and speed. ISE products have been widely used in core routers, three-layer switches, network splitters and other network security equipment.

According to reports, in 2013, Xiongli and Broadcom had a "frank conversation" at the "Processor Conference held in Silicon Valley by Linleygroup, an authoritative analysis organization in the field of network communication chips," and "exchanged views extensively and fully" on TCAM technology. At that time, Xiongli was "the only Chinese semiconductor company ever invited."

At that time, the industry thought that OPPO was going to develop its own chips, but it turned out that OPPO did not make its own chips.

Open VOOC flash charging authorization

VOOC Flash Charge is a fast charging technology with independent intellectual property rights launched by OPPO in 2014. It has applied for more than 1,000 core patents worldwide. This technology uses a special VOOC Flash Charge adapter with a special MicroUSB/USB-C data cable to charge the phone at a voltage and current of 5V/4A. Because it uses direct battery charging, it is more efficient and can effectively reduce the heat caused by charging the phone. VOOC Flash Charge technology is not only a recommended standard for low voltage and high current in the "Technical Requirements and Test Methods for Fast Charging of Mobile Communication Terminals", a communication industry standard of the People's Republic of China, but also the first fast charging technology to pass the five-star certification of China Telecommunication Technology Laboratory.

In early November 2018, OPPO officially announced the opening of VOOC flash charging patent licensing and signed VOOC flash charging patent licensing agreements with six chip and terminal manufacturers. The six companies include: Fuzhou Rockchip Microelectronics Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Ingenic Technology Co., Ltd., Zhuhai Zhirong Technology Co., Ltd., Shanghai Nanxin Semiconductor Technology Co., Ltd., Guangdong Pisen Electronics Co., Ltd., and Changchong Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. For manufacturers that have obtained VOOC flash charging patent authorization, OPPO will provide them with a truly "one-stop" service from development, manufacturing, sales and even brand building.

Among these six companies, four are chip design companies, and all of them have passed the OPPO VOOC certification and started shipping. Rockchip RK825 is a chip currently used by OPPO; Ingenic IP2191 is the industry's first chip to obtain the VOOC certification of TUV Certification Laboratory, and has been officially shipped and applied; Zhirong SW3518S is a highly integrated multi-fast charging protocol dual-port charging chip that supports multiple fast charging protocols such as PPS, PD, QC, AFC, FCP, SCP, PE, SFCP, VOOC, etc.; Nanxin SC2001 is an independent VOOC flash charging protocol chip that supports OPPO's latest SuperVOOC. Not only that, SC2001 has become a representative in this field among domestic power chips, and has been selected by many well-known brands in the industry, and designed into fast charging mobile power supplies, chargers and other products for batch shipment.

According to cnBeta, the eight companies that signed the VOOC flash charging patent license agreement with OPPO on July 29 include: Anker Innovations Technology Co., Ltd., Onpo Electronics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Hangzhou Silan Microelectronics Co., Ltd., Lierda Technology Group Co., Ltd., Ningbo Bull Digital Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Renqing Excellence Investment Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Shishang Chuangzhan Technology Co., Ltd. and Xinhai Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.

Feng Ying, OPPO's Intellectual Property Director, said: "VOOC Flash Charge technology fully demonstrates OPPO's technological leadership in the field of fast charging and greatly improves the user's charging experience. We are very pleased to promote the sustainable development of the VOOC Flash Charge ecosystem through external licensing. Today, OPPO VOOC Flash Charge'Circle of Friends' has 14 excellent industry chain partners. In the future, we will also open up licensing to more companies and use VOOC Flash Charge technology to support the development of accessories , chips and more fields."

Join WPC Wireless Charging Alliance

After officially opening the patent authorization for VOOC flash charging technology, OPPO officially stated that it will not stop at super flash charging. According to ChargerLAB, in January 2019, OPPO officially joined the WPC Wireless Charging Alliance, and OPPO's 15W wireless charging technology is already under development and has entered the stage of being usable. The company has also applied for a patent for its 15W fast wireless charging.

Next, let's talk about WPC (Wireless Power Consortium). The alliance was founded in 2008 and is the developer of the universal Qi wireless charging standard that everyone is familiar with. Well-known manufacturers including Samsung, Apple, Google, Huawei and LG have joined the alliance and have successively launched a number of smartphones with wireless charging functions. If a manufacturer wants to produce a product with Qi wireless charging function, the first condition is to join and become a WDC member.

Any electronic product must be designed and manufactured to meet safety and operating standards. The Qi standard has incredible industry support, and the role of the WPC is to create and manage a rigorous certification program that ensures manufacturers provide products that are safe, effective, and compatible with the Qi ecosystem. This means that if your wireless charger is Qi certified, then you can be sure that it will charge every Qi-certified phone or other product on the market.

Given the addition of OPPO to the WPC, and because OPPO and OnePlus often share technology, the industry generally had high expectations for OnePlus devices to include wireless charging, but currently, all OPPO devices and OnePlus devices lack wireless charging.

Conclusion

To sum up, in the field of chips, OPPO did not rush into the path of self-developed SoC, but took a different approach and moved forward with the entire ecosystem in the field of fast charging. This development model has another level of significance in promoting the development of the entire industry.

*Disclaimer: This article is originally written by the author. The content of the article is the author's personal opinion. Semiconductor Industry Observer reprints it only to convey a different point of view. It does not mean that Semiconductor Industry Observer agrees or supports this point of view. If you have any objections, please contact Semiconductor Industry Observer.

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