Case Studies : Blue Mug Demonstrates Wireless on SoC for Neomagic

Customer: NeoMagic
Industry: Integrated handheld applications processors
Solution: Wireless demo for MiMagic product family

NeoMagic Profile:

NeoMagic provides single chip solutions for mobile device manufacturers. NeoMagic's System-on-Chip solutions bring engaging high-performance multimedia capabilities - graphics, video, and audio - to small, low-power devices for mobile communications, productivity, and entertainment.

Technical Challenge:

NeoMagic was targeting a few specific markets with their new MiMagic processor family, one of which was smart phones. As phones become more graphics intensive, their System-on-Chip solutions provide a perfect mix of multimedia features and performance at low power. What they needed was a demonstration showing their processor's potential in a wireless multimedia product.

Blue Mug Solution:

Starting pre-silicon, Blue Mug designed a demonstration and emulation environment for NeoMagic that would allow wireless capabilities to be demonstrated on a live cellular network. Using embedded Linux and Trolltech's Qtopia suite as a starting point, Blue Mug created Phone and Network applications to provide an interface to the voice and data functions of the cellular network. We then designed and implemented a Telephony Library to integrate our applications with the Sierra Wireless SB519 CDMA module.

The result was a demonstration system that could actually make and receive voice calls over a CDMA network, as well as connect to the Internet for web browsing, email, etc. Standard interface elements such as signal strength and incoming caller ID were included to create the feeling of using an actual cellular handset. When the applications were later enhanced to incorporate MiMagic's unique graphics capabilities, the result was a truly compelling demonstration of the potential for such a chip in a smart phone product.

Benefits to NeoMagic:

• Powerful demo to help open new market for MiMagic SoC
• NeoMagic engineering team able to focus on ongoing product development rather than the demonstration effort
• Rapid execution thanks to Blue Mug's experience in cellular products
• Huge potential ROI