Texas Instruments, has done well to profit handsomely from the rise of VoIP, WiFi, Broadband and Video-over-IP technologies. So well, that it has started to attract imitators in the space. These are the findings of a recent report from Mountain View-based The Linley Group. The analyst firm says that the key driver for the “access network evolution is the convergence of voice, video, and data delivery across the access network. Triple-play services couple packet-voice deployments with the growth in DSL and cable networks. The transition to 3G cellular wireless networks holds out even greater opportunities for packet-voice processors.”

“VoP market leader Texas Instruments faces challenges from Centillium, Freescale, and Mindspeed in high-density applications,” says coauthor and senior analyst Sanjay Iyer. “As VoP vendors shift their focus to 3G wireless applications, the requirement for sophisticated low-bit-rate codecs and protocol interworking will stress conventional multi-DSP architectures. VoP vendors must innovate to meet these requirements or perish.”