Hello Frank,

Here's some info on phones in the CDMA world. Unfortunately, most everything is proprietary. A typ application uses an ARM7, as previously indicated. '186, if you have a phone >3yrs old. They control the GPIO/Ints. LCDs are also driven by and 8080, or 6800. The 2nd one is the driver/bus and is mounted on the LCD.

The implementation starts from the ARM7, which controls all of the phones h/w. Qualcomm refers to it as the 'MSM,' for mobile station modem. It enables/strobes the LCD. S/W control of the phone's GPIOs for display is chipset-dependent. Chipset mfgs provide the subsriber unit s/w core. Cell phone mfg's modify this s/w to include features desired by service providers. Eveyone's out to out-sell the next guy (phone mfg's & svc providers,) so whenever a new technology comes out, be it h/w or features like increased data rates, multimedia and heretofore unknown features, companies keep their development quiet so that they can get it to market 1st. This is why you won't find much 'all you ever wanted to know about ...' info out there. Plus, new technology appears and old features become obsolescent quicker than you would believe.

General info is on the web, though. Some links will explain how LCDs work on cell phones, from a high-level perspective.

You can purchase the LCD and utilize them in applications of your own making. They are not cell-phone specific. Data Sheets/App Notes will lay it out. That may be of interest to you.

You will not be able to take a cell phone embedded processor & make an 8051-esque project with it, though. This Data on cell phone chipsets and RTOS is more secure than computer chipsets & O/S's. If you work for a company which liscenses the devices, you may request access. Anyway, it takes design teams to implement.

LCD:
http://www.optrex.com/Default.asp?bhcp=1
http://www.optrex.com/engcenter/manuals.asp
-Over a dozen mfr's exist. Cell phone mfr's use 3-15 different varieties for a single product. Every company that makes LCDs is involved in cellular.

Drivers:
http://www.ultrachip.com.tw/us/produc..._color.asp
-Mounted on the LCD.
-8080 interface typ used.

Phone chipset:
-ARM7 Typ.
-Info requires you to work for a company which posesses a technology license. Qualcomm requires this for CDMA CPU s/w integration access, for example.

Hope this helps,

John