Broadcom BCM21654 Android chip provides advanced graphics and a good price

Broadcom makes a bunch of the chips that are found inside the smartphones we know and love. The company has announced a new chip for the inside of Android devices that promises to be cheap and provide advanced graphics. The new 3G baseband processor has an ARM Cortex A9 processor inside and is aimed at mass-market handsets.

The chip is called the Broadcom BCM21654 HSPA processor and supports Android 2.3. Broadcom says that it offers a full Android smartphone platform using the BCM21654 baseband, the BCM2091 RF IC, the BCM59039 advanced power management unit, and the BCM4329 chip with WiFi, Bluetooth, and FM capability along with the new BCM47511 GPS chip that supports GPS and GLONASS.

Highlights of the new BCM21645 processor include a 40nm CMOS process construction and the lower price point of the chip will allow it to be used in cheaper smartphones. The baseband processor has integrated 3G HSPA support along with Class 32 EDGA support. It has dual SIM capabilities, support for VideoCore IV mobile media processor core for media playback, a 12MP camera, and support for 16 million colors among other features.