LONDON — NXP Semiconductors has started sampling a dual-mode Nexperia multimedia baseband chip for HSPA and EDGE phones that feature H.264 decoding on QVGA at 30 frames per second (fps).

Made in a 65-nm process, NXP (Eindhoven, the Netherlands) says the baseband will play a significant part in achieving sub-$30 electronic bill-of-materials (eBoM) for a multifunctional mobile phone.

NXP also claims the Cellular Multimedia Baseband PNX6712 outperforms existing HSPA-EDGE basebands in its category, offering up to 750 hours of standby, 45 hours of MP3 and 8 hours of video playback, and a multitude of connectivity options.

The device's architecture is based on an ARM926-EJ processor, with novel algorithms for voice and video, hardware accelerated low-power video, graphics and camera features, and built-in security and digital rights management (DRM).

"NXP has yet again raised the bar for HSPA feature phones, by developing a comprehensive dual-mode EDGE-HSPA baseband solution that is ready-to-integrate and very flexible, allowing manufacturers to offer a rich mobile multimedia experience with extended playback time and seamless mobility of content," said Armand Guerin, Vice-President, Product Line Feature Phones, NXP Semiconductors.

The part comes in a 12x12mm footprint with a 0.4mm pitch and supports a wide range of audio and video codecs, four microphone inputs, two class-D amplifiers, W/QVGA display interfaces, and TV-out functionality.