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About Ericsson Mobile Platforms
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EMP helps manufacturers of mobile phones stay ahead of the competition by providing state-of-the-art platform technology.
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In a fast-moving telecoms market, Ericsson Mobile Platforms (EMP) gives its customers instant access to the latest technology. EMP helps manufacturers of GSM/GPRS, EDGE and WCDMA mobile phones, and other mobile devices stay ahead of the competition by providing state-of-the-art platform technology. EMP gives its customers the ability to take advanced products to the market quickly and more cost effectively.
By using EMP's stable platform technology, mobile handset manufacturers can focus their resources on product differentiation in such areas as applications, industrial design, manufacturing, distribution and branding - getting advanced products with short time-to-market. In addition to the complete platform, EMP also offers support in the forms of application development tools (development boards, software development kits, and integrated development environments), training, customization, industrialization, type approval, and operator acceptance. EMP is the only supplier to provide a fully-integrated platform for mobile handsets, and other mobile devices, with complete radio hardware, via drivers and stacks, and a mature, open application environment. EMP's tightly integrated reference designs can be extended and adapted to yield custom designs. Apart from a highly optimized and versatile Java Micro Edition (Java ME) environment, this includes a comprehensive set of standard Java specification requests (JSR), Open Application Framework (OAF) and Open Platform API (OPA) support, and provides extensive functionality for applications. EMP was the first platform provider in the world to have commercially-launched handsets containing its WCDMA, EDGE and GPRS technologies. This offers significant benefits and synergies to customers who build multiple products, including:
Ericsson believes in and supports Java. EMP's mission is to help its customers sell more phones. To succeed, EMP must supply the right functionality in its platforms - it must also make this functionality available to application developers, enabling them to use the EMP platforms. Java ME is an effective means of doing this because it complements the native OPA from EMP for situations where platform independence is important. The optimization of telephony, communications, and application functionality in the platform helps EMP's customers to ensure that applications written by third-party developers have been optimized for speed and low power consumption.
Ericsson is the largest supplier of mobile systems. Its customers include the ten largest mobile operators in the world; 40 percent of all mobile calls are made through systems from Ericsson. Ericsson's technology leadership, which includes end-to-end capabilities, gives customers first-mover advantage. Ericsson is working to ensure that network services are available for rapid adoption in handsets. Thanks to a strong developer base, Java ME and its partner editions in the server space (Java Standard Edition, JSE, and Java Enterprise Edition, JEE) provide an excellent mechanism for delivering and further enhancing end-to-end services, such as multimedia messaging service (MMS). In time, the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) will also find its way into Java ME. Ericsson and BenQ Mobile are leading the standardization of IMS in Java Community Process (JCP) through JSR-281 (IMS Services API). By adopting Java ME, Ericsson continues to encourage the Java developer community to develop services that take full advantage of Ericsson technology and EMP devices. Ericsson's interest in Java ME is backed by stakeholder interest in the technology - competitors, content providers and wireless operators whose collective efforts are making the wireless data ecosystem more profitable and sustainable. Java ME in mobile platforms from Ericsson Java ME continues to play an integral part in EMP platforms. At the heart of the EMP Java ME environment is the Java virtual machine, whose advanced techniques, such as adaptive dynamic compilation, achieve performance comparable to that of native applications. The just-in-time compiler is carefully tuned to guarantee a smooth, uninterrupted user experience. Amark 1.3 benchmark scores show that the EMP Java ME implementation outperforms other single-CPU phones, several Smartphones, and most PDAs with a dedicated application processor. Java performance varies with choice of software implementation and platform hardware. Moreover, the performance of implementations by different vendors on equivalent hardware varies significantly. It is possible to deploy a third-party Java implementation on an EMP platform, but in all likelihood the performance will be inferior to that implemented by EMP on its own platform (EMP Java). Figures 6-9 compare the results of EMP Java with third-party implementations in customer handsets built on EMP platforms. The EMP Java ME environment includes version 2.0 of the Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP), which allows operators, manufacturers and end users to download and install MIDlet applications. The implementation complies with initiative JSR-185 of Java Technology for the Wireless Industry (JTWI). EMP's role in JCP ensures compliance with future standardization. The EMP platform also contains many other JSRs including
EMP was first in the industry to implement a multi-tasking Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) environment based on Sun's CLDC HotSpot Implementation. The multitasking CLDC environment allows multiple Java applications to run concurrently, even in the background. This paves the way for more diverse applications, such as productivity tools, e-commerce, and enterprise applications. The Java environment includes a wide range of APIs (JSRs) that tap into an abundance of standard features in the EMP platform. The extensible Java virtual machine supports additional Java APIs, such as JSRs and operator-specific class libraries. Developers who implement custom Java APIs stand to benefit from the rich functionality provided by OPA.
Ericsson Mobile Platforms provides mobile handset manufacturers with everything they need to quickly and safely develop and manufacture 2.5G and 3G mobile communication devices. The platform delivery includes:
Reference design is a tried-and-tested blueprint for making a mobile device. The main purpose of reference design is to support mobile phone manufacturers? development. The reference product is proof of the platform concept, and has been interoperability tested with major network vendors and operators. The reference component list offers both security and flexibility by listing essential components, recommended components and components that may be selected by the customer. The reference Printed Circuit Board (PCB) provides a verified example and an excellent starting point for development. Also, the reference application suite serves as development references or starting points for user interface and software application development. Platform software ? focus on adaptability EMP's software deliveries enable handset manufacturers to develop their own applications, or to port existing applications. The open platform application programming interface (API) is very extensive, making all of the platform functionality available. It is also common for mobile platforms from Ericsson to enable re-use of applications across both air-interface technologies and market segments. Further, Ericsson Mobile Platforms? customers can adapt the platform device drivers to meet specific hardware needs, such as displays, cameras or human interface components. ASICs and development boards Ericsson Mobile Platforms? Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) and development boards help mobile handset manufacturers to build software and hardware prototypes early in the development cycle. Development and testing tools The Software Development Kit (SDK) provides developers with an intuitive environment especially designed for developing handset software. It supports Java and C applications, and accelerates application development by using the open APIs from Ericsson Mobile Platforms. Combined with the development boards, the SDK allows parallel development of applications and hardware. Ericsson Mobile Platforms also offers an integrated development environment, reference phones and software development kits. Training, support and documentation Ericsson offers comprehensive training courses and documentation on all aspects of its mobile platforms, as well as a wide range of services to support mobile phone manufacturers from start to finish in their product development project. Each customer project is unique and has a dedicated customer-support team. Why Ericsson Mobile Platforms? Ericsson Mobile Platforms' business model is a royalty-based license agreement. A key element of this technology-licensing model is Ericsson's successful position in standardization and its unique Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) portfolio. IPR is crucial to the development of the complex mobile devices that the market is demanding. EMP develops extensive core technology in the form of:
As part of the world's largest supplier of telecom infrastructure and services, Ericsson Mobile Platforms has a unique end-to-end insight into the industry. The Ericsson group has global presence, advanced systems and services, and a long history of technological leadership. Ericsson Mobile Platforms excels in core handset technology and has a deep understanding of wireless devices and end-user behavior. 
Last published March 13, 2007
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