teardown google s nexus 7
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Teardown: Inside Google's Nexus 7 tablet
Allan Yogasingam - July 5, 2012
Teardown: Inside the Google Nexus 7
Amazon shook the consumer electronics market last year when it introduced the first sub-$200 tablet, the Amazon Kindle Fire. Many were skeptical of the online vendors foray into
electronics, but some saw it as a stroke of genius. By leveraging its vast library of online
titles, Amazon set itself up to compete on content with industry leader Apple.
The Kindle Fire was an instant hit by combining Amazons library of e-books, music and
movies with one of the lowest tablet price points featured quality technology. In the fourth
quarter of 2011, IDC reported over 6 million units of the Kindle Fire were sold, making
Amazon the No. 2 tablet maker with 16.8 percent of the overall market.
Hence, it was strange then that few companies tried to replicate Amazons model. Tablet
manufacturers are still trying to compete with Apple, releasing products with specifications
close to or better than the iPad. The result has been that few tablets under $400.
Perhaps only one company, Google, possesses the resources and the content to offer a
tablet capable of taking on the Kindle Fire.
The first Google-branded handset, the Google Nexus One, was manufactured by HTC and
was the first to be sold directly by Google to consumers. It served as the template for other
Google devices like the Nexus S, the Nexus ONE and the Galaxy Nexus. With each
product, Google partnered with an established device manufacturer, focusing its own efforts
on the user-interface and optimizing its Android operating system for a particular device.
Google finally introduced its first branded tablet, Nexus 7, at its I/O conference last week
(June 27) with a price tag of $199, meaning it will compete directly with the Kindle Fire. The
Android OS, particularly Honeycomb, had long been used by iPad competitors. The Nexus 7tablet also included the latest version of Android, 4.1, or Jelly Bean.
Like Kindle Fire, Nexus 7 offers specifications comparable to other tablets while also taking
advantage of the rich library of applications that were available through Googles Android
Market. Featuring a 7-inch display, Nexus 7 also uses Nvidias quad-core Tegra 3 processor
while also sporting 1 GB of internal RAM and the option of up to 16 Gb of storage.
What's inside?
Since the Tegra 3 processors first design win inside the ASUS Transformer Prime, it has
been steadily grabbing more socket wins. According to our IRIS database, Tegra 3 has at
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least five design wins, including a major win in the new Microsoft Surface tablet.
The 1.3-GHz, low power SoC was the first mobile applications processor to incorporate four
cores each in the CPU and GPU. The Tegra 3 features "Variable Symmetric Multiprocessing"
that uses a single low power core for tasks requiring less power consumption.
Front side view of the Nexus 7 communications board (click on image to enlarge).
New vendors
Among the chip suppliers in the Nexus 7 are familiar companies like Maxim, providing the
main power management IC (MAX77612A), and Texas Instruments with two design wins
also related to the power management. Hynix also won a socket for memory with its 2 Gb
DDR3 SDRAM modules on the main board. We also found a 8-Gb memory module from
Kingston manufactured by SanDisk/Toshiba and a PN65 NFC secure module from NXP. The
latter device was recently found in the Samsung Galaxy S3.
Broadcom was another notable design winner with it BCM4330 802.11n with Bluetooth
wireless transceiver and BCM4751 integrated GPS receiver. The BCM4330 is paired with anAzureWave AW-NH665 802.11n Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/FM radio module.
Among the chip makers not usually seen in tablets is ELAN Microelectronics, which provided
controllers for the Nexus 7s touchscreen. We have previously seen ELAN microcontrollers in
handsets manufactured for the Chinese market, so the Nexus 7 represents a major design
win for the Taiwanese vendor.
The combination of a high-end processor, a multitude of applications optimized for Android4.1 Jelly Bean and a $199 price tag for the 8 Gb model give Google a chance to make a dent
in the tablet market. Early indications are that the pre-orders for the Nexus 7 are substantial.
If Google succeeds with Nexus 7, the pressure will grow on Apple to introduce its own 7-inch
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model, the protests of the late Steve Jobs notwithstanding.
Key components:
Nvidia Tegra 3: Quad-core mobile applications processor
Hynix H5TC2G83CFR: 2 Gb DDR3 SDRAM
Kingston KE44B026BN: 8GB memory module
Realtek (RMC) ALC5642: Audio codec and headphone amplifier
Maxim MAX77612A: Power management IC
Texas Instruments TPS63020: Buck-boost converter; SN75LVDS83B LVDS display serdes
Fairchild FDMC6675BZ: P-channel power MOSFET
ELAN Microelectronics eKTF3624BWS and eKTH1036BWS: Controllers for resistive
touchscreen
Broadcom BCM4751: Integrated monolithic GPS receiver
InvenSense MPU-6050: Six-axis (gyro and accelerometer) MEMS device
AzureWave AW-NH665: 802.11n Wi-Fi/Bluetooth/FM radio module
NXP Semiconductor PN65: Secure NFC module
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Back side view of the Nexus 7 communications board (click on image to enlarge).
Allan Yogasingam is a technical research manager atUBM TechInsights, a sister company
to EE Times. For a closer look at the UBM TechInsights teardown analysis of the Nexus 7,
please visit thefirm's website.
Out of the box
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The Google Nexus 7 Tablet as manufactured by ASUS (click on image to enlarge).
Removing the back cover
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Removing the back cover of the Nexus 7 (click on image to enlarge).
Revealing key internal components
Removing the back cover of the Nexus 7 reveals some of the key internal components (click
on image to enlarge).
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Back cover with shielding
The back cover of the Nexus 7 with some shielding (click on image to enlarge).
The front of the Nexus 7
The front of the Nexus 7 featuring the PCB and LCD touchscreen (click on image to enlarge).
Removing the shielding
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Removing the shielding around the main PCB (click on image to enlarge).
Lithium-polymer battery pack
The 3.7V, 16Wh lithium-polymer battery pack (click on image to enlarge).
Closer look at the display
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A closer look at the display manufactured by HYDIS (click on image to enlarge).
Revealing the apps processor
Revealing the Nvidia Tegra 3 applications processor (click on image to enlarge).
The main PCB
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A look at the main PCB with the shielding removed (click on image to enlarge).
Removing the speakers
Removing the speakers from the Nexus 7 (click on image to enlarge).
Markings on the speaker
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Revealing the markings on the speaker (click on image to enlarge).
Removing the main PCB
Removing the main PCB from the Nexus 7 front cover (click on image to enlarge).
Board separated from the cover
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The board separated from the cover (click on image to enlarge).
Backside of the PCB
The backside of the PCB with shielding (click on image to enlarge).
Front of PCB
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The front of the Nexus 7 PCB with some of the main components visible (click on image to
enlarge).
Front cover minus main board
The front cover minus the main board (click on image to enlarge).
Removing LCD touchscreen
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Beginning the process of removing the LCD touchscreen (click on image to enlarge).
Removing the board enclosure
Removing the board enclosure (click on image to enlarge).
HYDIS-manufactured display
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A look at the HYDIS-manufactured display (click on image to enlarge).
Markings on the display
The markings on the HYDIS display (click on image to enlarge).
Separating the display, cover
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Separating the display from the cover (click on image to enlarge).
Further separation
Further separation of the front cover (click on image to enlarge).
Removing the shielding
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Removing the shielding reveals the flex connector to the touchscreen (click on image to
enlarge).
Touchscreen components
The flex connector and the components related to the touchscreen's operation (click on image
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to enlarge).
Backside of the main PCB
A closer look at the backside of the main PCB (click on image to enlarge).
Touchscreen separated from the glass
The touchscreen separated from the glass (click on image to enlarge).
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