[Tfug] Smart phone/tablet PC connectivity

[Bexley Hall]

Hi Erich,

On 5/2/2014 8:33 PM, erich wrote:
> What appeals to me,
> Is the size & efficiency. It looks like Intel has realized that
> you can make a fast processor that isn't an energy guzzler. Looks
> like ARM gave them a run for their money :)

Yes, Intel blew it.  They effectively *owned* the "embedded
systems" market *before* they embraced the Dark Side (80x86).
Then, others stole it from them (e.g., Zilog, Motogorilla
and even General Instrument/Microchip).  Then, ARM stole it
from *everyone*.

[Amusingly, ARM is just an IP house!  AFAIK, they have no foundry!
Even Intel has licensed some of their cores -- e.g., StrongARM]

I'm using ARM's throughout my recent designs.  It's tough picking
a particular chip as each vendor adorns a particular core with
different peripherals so no two products are really the same.
But, OTOH, I can more readily move to another vendor's product
*if* I am careful not to "get pregnant" with some feature that
is only offered by *one* vendor!

ARM, however, is getting dragged into the "high performance"
market with designs like the A15 (e.g., multicore plus integrated
GPU).  So, they are already paying the "inefficiency" price
(several smaller devices -- like the A7 -- will outperform the
fancier product at a lower power consumption *and* die size!).

This makes the design of systems with multiple processors much
more interesting!  E.g., instead of a couple of *really* powerful
nodes (for example, to run my DBMS service), you can instead have
lots of "capable" nodes and end up with greater performance at
a lower power level!

> I can conceive this as a server/router with cellular
> broadband on one side and iptables on the other side for my
> legacy system of boxes. (It would have to be docked
> with to its accessory for this).

Why the cell phone connectivity?  That seems like an expensive
way (cost per byte) to talk to the outside world?

> There are cell phone carriers that refuse to service broad-
> band cell modems. This would be a way around that. Their ads
> don't mention any specific cell network provider. So the internal
> chipset will accept all bands/all carriers. (I think)
> What I'm trying to do is maximize my options: to
> get the best internet service for the best price.

Cable and PSTN options don't work?  Seems like either of those
would be cheaper by far?

--don