Two keys to success in Tablet PC design

Tim Saxe, CTO, QuickLogic Corporation
EETimes (10/13/2010 10:53 AM EDT)

Rising interest in consumer and user-generated mobile video – coupled with growing demand for higher resolution – is creating a challenge for tablet design. Devices will need to handle large amounts of data quickly in order to satisfy consumer expectations. Two keys to meeting this need are enhanced USB connectivity and off-loading data tasks from the CPU.

Video is clearly emerging as a critical application for mobile devices such as tablet PCs. According to networking giant Cisco Systems, 40% of the mobile data bandwidth consumed in 2010 carried video. Further, the company expects that to grow to more than two-thirds of all mobile traffic by 2014.

Much of this traffic is user-generated. YouTube alone is responsible for nearly one-fifth of mobile data traffic. Streaming of consumer or copyrighted content such as mobile television and movies are another source. In addition, users are increasingly downloading full movies for off-line playback onto their tablet PCs.

Increases in video resolution are compounding this growing demand for video data bandwidth. Traditional VGA (640x480) resolution is already giving way to 720p for mobile devices. Tablets, with their larger display panels, will soon need to deliver full 1080p high definition video.

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