Downloading system for GSM, GPRS & UMTS Cellphones (UNXPCI & MCXPCI boards).

The testing and downloading phases now represent a bottleneck along assembly lines of GSM, GPRS, UMTS cellphones. There, it is often found that the downloading mechanisms are fairly slow (speed < 250 Kbps) and capable of handling only a few mobiles simultaneously.

ACKSYS has developed new devices capable of meeting the requirements of such a market for which it is provided for the time frame 2004 a set of mobiles with a logged FLASH memory of a size not less than 100 Mo. Our objective is, therefore, to considerably reduce the downloading time of a mobile.

An accelerated speed …

By now, mobiles have serial interfaces capable of reaching, for some of them, flows of more than 1Mbps. The downloading speed used to be limited not so much by UART as by the time of writing in the FLASH memory of the mobile.
The builders of FLASH memory today propose new products capable of a writing flow of 3,3Mbps, a flow which is likely to rise rapidly to as much as 6,7Mbps.
Our offer in terms of products already allows the construction of solutions with a speed exceeding 3Mbps.

Currently, the average downloading time of a mobile equipped with a 4Mo Flash memory and at 115 200 bps is of 4,5 minutes …; this would take 115 minutes at the same speed and for a 100Mo capacity.

ACKSYS solutions as of now allow a reduction in time from 4,5 minutes to 17 seconds for a capacity of 4Mo based on a serial flow of 1,8Mbps.

A large number of links …

Our solutions allow for the construction of downloading stations capable of handling 32 simultaneous high flow ports based on an only one PC machine.
Several boards are installed in the self same machine; each of them is in fact a veritable logged communication PC that is totally autonomous.
The various downloading "firmwares" are in a preliminary phase loaded in the Compact FLASH disk of the board whose capacity may reach 200Mo.
Such an architecture ensures a constant and high downloading flow.

A direct electrical interface …

So as to avoid all sorts of adaptations and conversions, certain models of our boards are capable of supplying on the link a TTL tension directly compatible with the low tension interfaces of the cellphones.

Customizable communication speed ...

In order to reduce the component count in a cellphone, communication clocks are most often derived from an internal clock which is not a multiple of the standard communication speeds. Our solutions are designed to be completely adapted to fullfill mobile special requirements.

A future oriented and forward looking architecture …

The exceptional futuristic Hardware of our solutions (communication interfaces and couplers on mezzanine boards) makes it possible to envisage the future while maximising the return on the investments made.
Our offer, which now comprises asynchronous serial couplers, is versatile enough to accommodate further Technology (bus I2C, bus SPI, infra-red link, Blue Tooth, JTAG …) if necessary.
Only the coupler driver would need to be modified and this would entail no incidence on the entire downloading system.

Synopsis of typical application

Click to the PDF icone to download our solutions for mobile phones application note