DSPs in mobile communication in the United States

The mobile communication industry in the United States is undergoing major changes. Auctioning of additional spectrum will lead to more service providers and will significantly increase competition. Service providers are likely to customize the services they offer to differentiate themselves from others. We discuss possible technologies for differentiation of services and the implications of these on the requirements for embedded digital signal processors (DSPs). In the US, supporting at least three widely used air interfaces will be a challenge to the industry. The need for customization in the context of multiple standards will create strong pressure to significantly improve the firmware development environment for DSPs. This also implies evolution to architectures that are more friendly to developers