Philips' Chips Extend Smart-phone Battery Lives

Philips Electronics has launched a single-chip power management unit, the PMU+, with a real-time software control feature that it says can reduce power consumption by up to 70% in smart phones and wireless PDAs. This software control feature allows the Philips PMU+ to continuously adjust voltages throughout a handheld device minimizing power consumption and extending battery life. The PMU+ also includes an on-chip battery management system, battery charger, touch screen interface and other features required for wireless handheld devices. Because of this high level of integration, the chip uses 50% less space and costs 30% less than equivalent semiconductors.

"The functional integration of the Philips PMU+ and its small footprint make it optimal for a new lower-cost category of PDAs," said Ed Suwanjindar, product manager for Mobility at Microsoft Corp.

The PMU+ supports Intel XScale, ARM, MIPS and Motorola DragonBall processors for handheld devices.

"The PMU+ is based on the same technology that allows the Philips Xenium(TM) cell phone to have the industry's longest standby time, 550 hours," said Reinier van der Lee, power management marketing manager for Philips Semiconductors. "The PMU+ is an example of Philips leadership in mixed-signal ICs and the next success in our family of highly integrated companion ICs for handheld devices."'"

Posted to the site on 5th June 2002