Today's mobile phone includes the components and software for multiple cellular standards such as GPRS, EDGE and UMTS. In addition, there is usually a personal area technology such as Bluetooth. But according to ABI Research, the number of radios in the cellphone is set to rise exponentially, in the quest to make the handset a multifunction, multimode communications, information and entertainment device.

It will incorporate GPS for location based services, FM radio and broadcast/satellite based television for entertainment, various flavors of Wi-Fi and eventually WiMAX for data and VoIP communications. It may also include Near Field Communications (NFC), Ultrawideband (UWB), radio frequency identification (RFID), and maybe even Zigbee. The challenges of including the circuitry to support all these functions in the limited size of a handset are obvious.

Alan Varghese, the firm's principal analyst of semiconductor research, asks, "Do some of these technologies solve the same problems, and will they consolidate? Can they work within the handset's small form factor and limited battery capacity? What about heat dissipation, antenna placement, interference and last but not least, price?"

To answer such questions, ABI Research has launched a completely restructured Wireless Semiconductors Research Service, a suite of annual subscription products containing a choice of seven annual research reports on various parts of the sector, a user-searchable industry database, four quarterly "market updates" and three special reports examining developments in the world's fastest-growing region, Asia. Subscribers also receive analyst support time, and ABI Research Analyst Insights.

In addition, the Service examines the technology and the market for cellphone ICs such as the power amplifier, RF transceiver, baseband, applications processor, camera module and newer modules such as Wi-Fi and GPS. Lastly, it also focuses on the deployment of EDGE, 3G cellular, and HSDPA worldwide.

Founded in 1990 and headquartered in New York, ABI Research maintains global operations that support annual research programs, quarterly intelligence services and market reports in wireless, automotive, semiconductors, broadband, and energy. Their market research products can be found on the Web at www.abiresearch.com, or by calling 516.624.2500.