LONDON — Dutch chip company NXP BV is working on the Nexperia PNX6910, a cellular software modem, which the company claimed is capable of achieving data transfer rates of 150 Mbits per second downlink and 50 Mbits per second uplink, and supports multi-mode LTE/HSPA/UMTS/EDGE/GPRS/GSM capability.

That speed, NXP claimed, makes the modem the world's fastest digital cellular modem. Powered by the Embedded Vector Processor (EVP), the PNX6910 will be available to early access customers in the second quarter of 2009, NXP said.

The PNX6910 is capable of downloading a high-definition movie in less than seven minutes, over twenty times faster than todays HSPA Cat 8 devices at 7.2-Mbits per second.

"Multimedia content sharing and Web 2.0 services will be the drivers for next-generation handsets and a new breed of connected consumer electronics," said to Dan Rabinovitsj, general manager of cellular business at NXP, in a statement. "The PNX6910 will provide consumers with the data services and experiences they are used to from the Internet, while they are on-the-go."

NXP has selected the first implementation of a multi-mode baseband processor to address the LTE market, which is expected to gain rapid acceptance due to its wide support in the mobile industry and the ubiquity of GSM standards worldwide. "The PNX6910 will enable OEMs to develop their next-generation products quickly during the critical ramp-up phase of the technology, enabling faster time-to-market and better performance," remarked Rabinovitsj.

NXP has a reference design around the PNX6910 to that can connect a wide variety of handheld products via cellular services to the internet.

The PNX6910s software programmable vector processor enables multi-mode capability and supports the entire GSM, HSPA family of standards, including LTE TDD for China, which paves the way for global roaming. The soft modem approach reduces chip design effort by 1.5 to 2 years due to parallel design phases, NXP said.