ly. 10.4.2.1 RF Transceiver and Baseband Processor Integration The integration of RF transceiver with the digital baseband processor has the benefit of lowering the BOM (bill of material), reducing power consumption and minimizing system form factor. The power amplifier is likely to remain a separate IC (Integrated Circuit) due to its unique functional requirements as shown in Figure 10.7. Transceiver and BP manufacturers can be divided into two categories. The manufactures in the first category rely on baseband platform and regard a transceiver as part of the platform, such as Qualcomm, Next Generation Mobile Communications Ecosystem Digital Baseband Processor Power Amplifier RF Transceiver Advanced CMOS Process Figure 10.7 RFIC and BBIC integration Texas Instruments, Freescale, and SO on. These manufactures consider the two entities as part of the same platform since the entities have a close relationship and both often require collaboration in their design. The vendors in the second category are those RF manufacturers that do not depend on baseband platform, including Infineon, RFMD, Skyworks, and SO on [11]. Three key factors that make this integration possible are - ongoing development of semiconductor technologies, innovative circuit designs, and new system architectures that better exploit available technologies. Similarly, the three key developments that have led to the integration of RF Transceivers and BP are: The DigRF initiative that introduces an open digital interface between the RF and baseband. It gives handset manufacturers more options when selecting RF and baseband and sole RF front-end vendors. It also facilitated the move towards a more digital oriented CMOS transceiver design. The initiative later then became part of the Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) Alliance in April 2007. The current release of DigRF standard (version 1.12) supports 2G/2.5G GSM (E-GPRS) implementations but it is not a MIPI specification. The future releases will support 3G/3.5G air interfaces. The use of CMOS 