New iPhone series to have faster LTE modem: MDM9635M

We are now able to expect what radio feature will be upgraded without watching Apple event thanks to many leaked media sources.

According to 9to5Mac, iPhone 6s will allegedly have faster multimode LTE modem to support more radio features especially Category 6 downlink speed up to 300Mbps.
It is not a surprising news but is meaningful for Apple iPhone hardcore fans because Apple finally seems to change their modem chipset upgrade cycle.

Typically Apple has maintained for two generations using a modem however this case will skip the previous step.

Then let's take a look where it comes from to check new iPhone's modem as below.

Source: 9to5Mac

Qualcomm gobi modem, MDM9635M is shown from leaked board picture.
MDM9635M has been introduced by Galaxy S5 last year however let's just remind what radio features will be supported.

- DC-HSPA, EVDO Rev. B, CDMA 1x, GSM and TD-SCDMA
- Carrier Aggregation Category 6 up to DL 300Mbps
- More radio and CA bands combination
Source: 9to5Mac

New iPhones have now doubled LTE speed and will maximize user experience along with upgraded CPU and RAM size with A9 chip and 2GB ram memory.

Is it enough that we can say it is hugely upgraded for users?
Of course, people will tell and compare with legacy iPhones and Androids when launched in the market.

iPhone 6s/7 maintaining same modem introduced by iPhone 6/6+ again?

Apple is known as one of most conservative companies to introduce new radio technologies especially LTE modem so far.

We have observed how Apple has introduced modem chipsets since they launched iPhone  but have focused on user interface and other innovative services like App store, finger print and so on.

Today I want to highlight Apple will do insist again using second usage same with iPhone 6 modem chip which is Qualcomm MDM9625M.

Image source: idownloadblog 

Take a look previous Apple iPhone radio technologies introduced as below.

iPhone 5   : Qualcomm MDM9615M
iPhone 5s : Qualcomm MDM9615M
iPhone 6   : Qualcomm MDM9525M 
iPhone 6+ : Qualcomm MDM9625M

And below mainboard shows iPhone 6 plus teardown.

Apple A8 APL1011 SoC + Elpida 1 GB LPDDR3 RAM (as denoted by the markings EDF8164A3PM-GD-F)

Qualcomm MDM9625M LTE Modem

Skyworks 77802-23 Low Band LTE PAD

Avago A8020 High Band PAD

Avago A8010 Ultra High Band PA + FBARs

TriQuint TQF6410 3G EDGE Power Amplifier Module

InvenSense MP67B 6-axis Gyroscope and Accelerometer Combo

Source: ifixit

Then iPhone 6s or iPhone 7?

Apple doesn't seem to choose a major upgrade with faster and latest LTE modem chipset in a hurry because Apple is truly the world class and biggest Smartphone maker as of now by focusing software quality.
However it's a bit pity for Apple cares less about gaps between Rel 9 for Apple and Rel 10,11,12 for Android because latest release can bring better quality of network experience for users many cases.

What will be next modem for iPhone 6?

Qualcomm announced next generation LTE modem chipset plan at November, 2013 and early this year and it will be Gobi 9x35 series to support faster internet access speed.

Source: Qualcomm

300 Mbps downlink speed has been demonstrated via MWC14 using Samsung Galaxy Note3 prototype and it is LTE Advanced(a.k.a LTE-A) Category 6 with carrier aggregation(a.k.a CA).
This is an affirmative step forward to real LTE-A speed and will accelerate mobile internet speed race more not only for customers but also operators in their services.

3GPP release	User equipment category	Maximum L1 datarate downlink	Maximum number of DL MIMO layers	Maximum L1 datarate uplink
Release 8	Category 1	10.3 Mbit/s	1	5.2 Mbit/s
Release 8	Category 2	51.0 Mbit/s	2	25.5 Mbit/s
Release 8	Category 3	102.0 Mbit/s	2	51.0 Mbit/s
Release 8	Category 4	150.8 Mbit/s	2	51.0 Mbit/s
Release 8	Category 5	299.6 Mbit/s	4	75.4 Mbit/s
Release 10	Category 6	301.5 Mbit/s	2 or 4	51.0 Mbit/s
Release 10	Category 7	301.5 Mbit/s	2 or 4	102.0 Mbit/s
Release 10	Category 8	2,998.6 Mbit/s	8	1,497.8 Mbit/s

Source: Wikipedia and 3GPP

Whenever Apple launches new iPhone series, Apple has showed conservative stance to introduce modem chipset and has sticked to already-stable and evaluated modems only but now it remains to be seen how Apple will move.

Category 6 is not the long term future but just will be short term planned service and technology for us. In this year, Nokia Solutions and Networks(now known as Nokia Networks), Broadcom and Finnish carrier Elisa said they have demonstrated LTE Advanced carrier aggregation Category 6 data rates of 300 Mbps on a live commercial network.

Qualcomm will roll out 2 types of chipset solutions like one-chip Snapdragon integrates modem and discrete type modem like MDM9x35 series.

Anyhow new iPhone is expected to introduce 2nd generation of 64 bit processor A8 and faster internet modem between MDM9x25 for cat4 and MDM9x35 for cat6.

Image source: movilzona

If Apple is interested in engaging in internet speed contest, MDM9x35 will not be a bad challenge for them.

As a bonus, MDM9635M will allegedly support LTE-A category 7 as well for 100 Mbps uplink speed that is double speed of legacy modems.

Source: MyDrivers.com

Galaxy Note3 hints at a prelude for Super Speed USB3.0

Samsung Galaxy Note3 rolled-out this month and now available in the market with the spot-light of many media and followers almost same time of new iPhones.

Hardware features are not absolute decision point to make people buy products but still significant.

Galaxy Note3 is one of existing most powerful performance Smartphones in the world now and introduced fastest processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 800(hereafter it is called S800) for it.

Source: QCT

It is one chip to integrate AP(Application Processor) and CP(Communication Processor, Modem) and takes small size of area in the mother board.

Source: QCT

For the faster connectivity, S800 introduces 802.11ac Wi-Fi, USB3.0 Super Speed as well as BT4.0. It will bring many potential chances to utilize fast connectivity combined with LTE cellular network speed.

Source: Olleh Smart Blog

USB3.0 Super Speed has 5Gbps speed and backward compatibility for transfer. USB organization describes it as below with some characteristics:

• SuperSpeed USB has a 5 Gbps signaling rate offering 10x performance increase over Hi-Speed USB.
• SuperSpeed USB is a Sync-N-Go technology that minimizes user wait-time.
• SuperSpeed USB will provide Optimized Power Efficiency. No device polling and lower active and idle power requirements.
• SuperSpeed USB is backwards compatible with USB 2.0. Devices interoperate with USB 2.0 platforms. Hosts support USB 2.0 legacy devices.

Huge file transfer will cause many inconveniences to users to copy external devices to Smartphones and vice versa.

Source: USB org.

We can imagine some of benefits by the use of USB3.0 with something possible use cases.
- Faster tethering and better power consumption management
- Efficient and more productive file copy
- Faster direct copy from wireless connectivity
- 4K video direct recording to Storage incl. external storage

And many ideas will be available on this but there's still technical issue like I/O bottleneck because I/O speed among storage, processor and USB like I/Os.

But I compliment Samsung's huge effort to try new feature and looks like to try transform from fast follower to leader in innovation. 

You can find more information regarding USB3.0 and 3.1 as below link:

http://www.usb.org/developers/ssusb

Apple makes so-so microcontroller M7 special for iPhone 5s by re-branding strategy

M7 motion co-processor introduced by Apple is eye-catching change since iPhone 5s introduction.

Apple's effort to make technologies into art within their products brings impression from their storytelling.

M7 is another processor that helps main application processor A7 to save processing power in iPhone 5s as well as independent the other tasks working but not a totally new concept nor product.

However Apple has suggested new paradigm on data collection from human's movement and environment.

It continuously not only collects motion data from sensors like accelerometer, gyroscope and compass sensors but also optimize your life pattern based on contextual awareness.
Saving power consumption is another plus whilst you don't use iPhone.

All right, now let's get into the M7 coprocessor inside.
M7 is LPC1800 family microcontroller supplied by NXP that is one of popular semiconductor suppliers and it has Cortex-M3 with 180Mhz clock speed.

Source: NXP

Above LPC1800 relevant table doesn't show any differentiation and impression.

However Apple has been using discrete sensor API and hardware but now changing on both sides using centralized sensors data controller. Obviously Apple will extend current Core Motion Framework then iPhone will catch up human's behaviors.

This will be eventually Apple's potential strong advantage than competitor like Android and shows how mobile hardware and software move together and change the our life style.

One more thing about M7 coprocessor just represents low power/indepentent controller therefore Apple has a leadership in microcontroller market.

Finally let's remind Apple's explanation about M7 Motion coprocessor as below:

For example, Maps switches from driving to walking turn-by-turn navigation if, say, you park and continue on foot. And if your phone hasn’t moved for a while, like when you’re asleep, M7 reduces network pinging to spare your battery.

The M7 motion coprocessor continuously measures your motion data, even when the device is asleep, and saves battery life for pedometer or other fitness apps that use the accelerometer all day.

iPhone5s and iPhone5c to use modem forecast

Apple is about to announce new iPhone series with iOS7 in a couple of hours but any modem features are not leaked yet to public.

In this section, I want to expect possible LTE modem options for iPhone5s and iPhone5c respectively.

MDM9625 is latest LTE modem chipset provided by QCT(Qualcomm CDMA Technologies) but just opened recently reletively.
It supports multimode multiband radio access technologies and has been used with upgraded modem on each iPhone announcement.

There are two options for iPhone5s, one is MDM9625 and another is MDM9615. However iPhone5s is flagship model of Apple so MDM9625 is very promising candidate for it.

MDM9615 is still good candidate for iPhone5s and iPhone5c at the same time because of downsizing BOM(Bill of material) cost and use same design factor.

Big difference between MDM9625 and MDM9615 is Peak Data Rates and LTE-A features as below table.

Source: QCT

Apple is still focusing on high margin by reducing price of each components for example, AP(Application processor), Nand Memory and LTE modem.

And there will not be quite demanding of LTE-A especially, Carrier Aggregation, from operators so MDM9615 will be a good prop until launching iPhone6 next year.

Let's wait and see how Apple will decorate new iPhones' radio feature from coming Tim Cook's key note speech.