By using this process, designers now can realize the true performance and quality of their wireless IC designs before going to tape-out. The board then plugs into one of the Quickturn emulators, enabling engineers to verify the hardware at megahertz speeds while their software code is running at speeds of one MIPS and faster. For the multimedia portion of wireless designs, Quickturn's Audio SpeedBridge interface allows designers to transfer audio data at emulation speeds. This allows designers to debug their multimedia output and identify the corresponding logic in their design. The complete Quickturn 3G wireless environment is expected to be available worldwide in Q4 2000.
Pricing varies based on configuration.
Everyone one is excited about the prospects for 3G wireless systems. The reason for this enthusiasm is today s exploding market for cellular phones. Estimates of cell-phone shipments are 347 million units for this year and as high 1.5 billion units by 2010. There are however, some concerns beginning to cloud this otherwise rosy picture. Saturation levels have bee reached in Europe and an increasing portion of cell phone purchases, in both Europe and the U.S., are for replacement of existing sets.