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The compiler pass developed by the University of Edinburgh (UoE) team, and integrated into the Hexagon SDK, led to a chain of impacts that benefitted not only Qualcomm’s business, but also the business of their clients, and the end-users of billions of smart devices that now employ the technology.

Qualcomm is one of the world’s leading suppliers of 3G, 4G and now 5G enabled System-on-a-Chip products, under the Snapdragon brand. In 2019, the company was the global leader for all smartphone processors, enjoying a 40% share of a USD4,800,000,000 (11-2019) market [5.1]. Their clients in the smartphone industry include Apple, Xiaomi, Samsung [5.2] and Motorola [5.3]. Meanwhile the company’s processors for IoT devices are sold to many of the world’s top 10 IoT manufacturers including Tesla [5.3], Gemalto, Telit and Quectel [5.4]. In 2015, shortly after UoE research was implemented, Qualcomm shipped a total of 923,000,000 chips [5.5, para. 2]. Since then, the company have sustained large shipment figures and in 2019 Qualcomm confirmed shipment of 1,000,000 modem chips per day for IoT devices alone [5.6, para. 2].

Qualcomm used the novel UoE compiler pass to reduce the size of the embedded software on all their recent cellular modems and WiFi chipsets. Two key improvements in Qualcomm’s product line attributable to the code size reduction technique are chips of the same size as their predecessors with increased functionality, and chips that are smaller and more energy efficient than their predecessors but with the same functionality. Qualcomm confirm the research has had “significant impact” on their business, and state:

[The UoE compiler pass] results in up to 12% reduction in code size, which directly translates into cost savings due to the comparatively high cost of memory relative to the cost of processing elements. It plays a critical part in ensuring that the extremely strict code size requirements dictated by Qualcomm’s business needs are met. [5.6, para. 2]

One of the most significant improvements in functionality enabled by the compiler pass is compatibility with 5G. The 5G software stack has a larger memory footprint than its predecessors; however, increasing chip size to accommodate this would have led to larger, more expensive devices and/or reduced device battery life. The UoE technology helped Qualcomm to maintain chip size (and therefore device size) as well as device battery life, while meeting the demands required for 5G. Qualcomm explain that:

[with] the development of ever more advanced modem chipsets that interface with next-generation cellular networks…cutting-edge research into software tools, such as the work conducted by Dr Björn Franke and his group at the University of Edinburgh, will continue to have high impact on our technology roadmap. [5.6, paras. 3-4]

Program memory, dictated by code size, takes up the greatest amount of physical space on a modem chip. By reducing the physical space needed for memory, the size of the chip is reduced, thus more chips can be made on a single wafer of silicon. Due in part to the 12% code size reduction, Qualcomm have reported that their chips are “50% smaller and more cost-effective” and “engineered to reduce power consumption by up to 70% in idle mode” [5.4, para. 2]. While one benefit of this is the ability to power increasingly tiny devices, such as smart watches and rings, the immediate economic boost to Qualcomm comes via the reduction in chip production costs that smaller chips bring.

These benefits pass positive impacts onto Qualcomm’s clients. In the press release unveiling the 2018 9205 LTE Modem, IoT clients Quectel and Telit stated:

All its features are put together in a tiny and very energy-efficient chipset that will help Quectel to offer LTE IoT modules that are powerful, economical and with support for superb battery life. [5.4, antepenultimate para.]

The multimode, highly integrated capabilities of the Qualcomm 9205 LTE modem allow us to reduce power consumption and module footprint giving our customers the ability to design and deploy smaller, battery-powered devices that work worldwide on virtually any cellular IoT network. [5.4, penultimate para.]

The 5G chip market was worth USD1,100,000,000 (05-2020) in 2019 [5.7, para. 1]. The same year, Forbes named Qualcomm the market leader in 5G: “If you look at which company has the most products out in the market and the one with the most complete 5G mobile solutions, it’s pretty much no contest.” [5.8, penultimate para.]. It is estimated that in 2020 the UoE technology was employed in 175,000,000 to 225,000,000 5G handsets [5.9, antepenultimate para.].

Since UoE’s key contribution to the improved Hexagon SDK, Qualcomm has asserted its dominance in the chip market. Their overwhelming success is exemplified by the renewal of Qualcomm’s contract with Apple in 2019, following a high-profile court dispute. After Qualcomm launched their improved chips, their key competitor, Intel, announced their withdrawal from the mobile 5G modem market, an acknowledgement that they could no longer compete. Apple, who had been poised to contract Intel as chip supplier for their iPhone line, reverted to using Qualcomm chips [5.10].

Acting on UoE research, Qualcomm’s business has significantly improved, the benefits of which have reached a host of clients collectively worth millions of USD, plus billions of end-users of smart devices and IoT technology.