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This summer when I landed in my native country of Pakistan, I peered out the airplane window and saw the baggage handler chattering away on his cell phone, ignoring the bags sliding off the conveyer belt. I shook my head and thought, what a slacker! And during my journey through the streets, I saw newspaper boys, janitors, milkmen on their bicycles, all chattering away on their cell phones. Even my mother used her cell phone to scold one of the hired help to make sure he would purchase the freshest fruits, unlike the last time he made a trip to the grocery store.
I was amazed to see, in this developing country, where the official poverty level is 25 percent (probably closer to 50 percent in reality), and the average income is less than $2 per day, blue-collar workers owned cell phones. But they weren't socializing on their cell phones; in fact they were conducting business and looking for odd jobs to make ends meet, all in real-time without the hassle of searching for work door-to-door. Cell phones have already begun to make a significant impact on income levels and lifestyle.
By the fourth day of my trip, I caught myself singing jingles. If your eyes were open, you couldn't miss the billboards, radio and television ads encouraging you to get connected or move to a newer, better, less expensive phone service. It made me think what's next after voice? I vaguely remember reading about this but what if data could really be provided via the cell phone in a fast and inexpensive manner? Wired systems are too expensive and disruptive to deploy in a country where the infrastructure does not exist. Only 3 percent of the population has fixed phone lines while over 50 percent have a cell phone. With such deep penetration, how evolutionary would data on a phone be? Children doing research, farmers advertising, security guards monitoring, people purchasing goods, businessmen investing in China, Brazil, and the United States, all while sitting on a charpoy in their village.
Of course these people can't afford the $70 per month I pay for my iPhone to access data. In order to make it available quickly and inexpensively (less than $10 per month) to over 3 billion people worldwide, it will require a significant infrastructure upgrade at a very low cost.
This is where a low cost programmable device with transceivers will be key in enabling infrastructure companies to design their products with a strict eye on product cost. With the processing capability required for 3G wireless systems and support for mainstream 3 Gbps protocols such as CPRI and OBSAI for wireless and XAUI for wireline systems, FPGAs can provide the right platform at the right price to build these systems.
This will allow service providers to deploy low cost products in the emerging markets like Latin America, Asia and Africa as well as China and India and satisfy the world's want for instant information, inexpensively.
In addition to cost, a special emphasis needs to be placed on low power consumption, primarily to address three major concerns. The first is to reduce system cooling requirements resulting in less expensive products. Second is to reduce power consumption reducing pressure on the power grids in these developing countries. Third is to go green by reducing emissions.
The next time I'm in my home country, I won't be surprised to see everyone glued to their smart phones. As far as jingles are concerned, I'd better get ready to hum a few more!
Umar Mughal is a senior product marketing manager at Altera, responsible for low cost products including Cyclone FPGAs and MAX CPLDs.
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