umpcportal home

Tag Archive | "cortex"

ARM Cortex A15 – 5x Performance for More Than Just Mobile


Just one week before Intel’s IDF will detail more about their mobile CPU roadmap for 2011/2012, ARM have announced some details about their own 2012 high power mobile silicon. Cortex A15 (Codename: Eagle)

Based on a 28/32 nm process (ref: news about 28nm process here) this quad-core design will clock up to 2.5Ghz. That’s 4x cores and 2x clock compared to todays ‘best of.’ ARM say it will provide 5x computing performance. You’ll see it run up to 1.5Ghz in smartphones but I suspect there are some other ‘smart’ opportunities in the netbook space here.

‘Eagle’ Cortex A15 News release.

cortexA15

With the dual-core A9 already reaching up into Intel’s performance space, solutions based on this Cortex A15 will put it directly head-to-head with Intel’s 32nm Medfield platform.

Expect similar power and performance profiles for A15 and Medfield’s Atom core which means the choice of CPU wont be that important for customers any more. The choice lies with the software, designer and, increasingly, the marketing and customer-relations teams.

Intel and ARM have 2 years to get a suite of operating systems ready for these products that range from real-time, through mobile to desktop productivity. I see ARM having a lot of potential with Android but with a lack of productivity applications and a potential patent problem, Intel are in a good position with MeeGo. Having said that, MeeGo will run on ARM CPUs to so in my eyes, what we have here is simply a great range of platforms and operating systems lined up for an amazingly mobile 2012.

A15

Roadmap for Eagle web

More detailed information available here.

Via Slashgear

Expect more details at ARM’s Techcon event in November.

Samsung Galaxy Tab – Sunspider and Quadrant Benchmarks


MVI_4559_0001 After our hands-on with the Galaxy Tab we couldn’t resist a few benchmark tests. In the video below you’ll see the Sunspider test which is a single-threaded test. For reference we’ve seen 9000ms on the iPad and just under that on Tegra 2 (with Android 2.1) A netbook comes in at about 2000ms. The Galaxy Tab? About 7500ms showing that the a single CPU core (we’re not 100% on the CPU details yet we suspect a single Cortex A9 core at the moment.)

Next up you’ll see the Quadrant test that we ran on the Tegra 2 platform this week. On the Toshiba AC100 we saw a very impressive score of 1911 which is one amazing score. Remember the Quadrant test is a CPU, 2D and 3D test so it tests more than just the CPU. On the Galaxy Tab we saw a score of 1064. That might sound a lot less than the Tegra2 platform but it’s more than the impressive Samsung Galaxy S!

All is revealed in the video below.

Samsung Galaxy Tab – Sunspider and Quadrant Benchmarks


MVI_4559_0001 After our hands-on with the Galaxy Tab we couldn’t resist a few benchmark tests. In the video below you’ll see the Sunspider test which is a single-threaded test. For reference we’ve seen 9000ms on the iPad and just under that on Tegra 2 (with Android 2.1) A netbook comes in at about 2000ms. The Galaxy Tab? About 7500ms showing that the a single CPU core (we’re not 100% on the CPU details yet – we suspect a single Cortex A9 core at the moment.)

Next up you’ll see the Quadrant test that we ran on the Tegra 2 platform this week. On the Toshiba AC100 we saw a very impressive score of 1911 which is one amazing score. Remember the Quadrant test is a CPU, 2D and 3D test so it tests more than just the CPU. On the Galaxy Tab we saw a score of 1064. That might sound a lot less than the Tegra2 platform but it’s more than the impressive Samsung Galaxy S!

All is revealed in the video below.

Ti Announces License for ARMs ‘Eagle.’ Cortex A10 / OMAP 5 for 2013?


hdr_ti_logo No-one really knows much about ARMs Eagle CPU design yet. I spotted it on a slide at Computex earlier this year but the only real info available is from a presentation back in 2009. It’s the next-next generation high-end core and likely to be produced in a 28nm process but based on the standard lead-time for an ARM architecture to get into an end product I’d say we’re looking at 2012 and 2013 for this one. Cortex A9 hasn’t been introduced in any products yet and Cortex A8 still has a way to go too. To give you an idea of the end-end timescales for a new CPU design, Ti are only now announcing that they have the license. The deal was made in 2009!

If we project our thoughts 3 years into the future we’re going to be in a time-period where Intel CPU’s are likely to be in smartphones and ARM are likely to be in laptops. We could be looking at MeeGo and WebOS or something completely new. Google OS perhaps? Will Windows still be as dominant or will Android or IOS develop to become a truly productive operating system? I wonder if I’ll still be blogging?

Ti’s announcement.

ARM Products and Platforms Primer and Resource List for Mobile Internet Devices in 2010. (Updated)


This article is updated from Jan 2010. See below for history.

The ecosystem around ARM, its designs and licensee products can be difficult to understand so I’ve been researching the current status and have summarized the important products, brands and technologies in the article below. You’ll find details on all the important keywords and technologies, links to all the important CPUs and platforms, a reading list and some ‘tip’s’ for CES2010 which starts this week. All the information is based on my own knowledge and research so if you spot any errors, please be sure to let us all know in the comments. I know there are some CPU designers and ARM partners reading this site so again, if there’s anything that needs changing or adding, please help us all by adding a comment below.

armarch

Overview of processor architectures in current ARM products

For the purposes of this article I’m ignoring anything other than ARM v7 architecture CPUs. In my opinion and experience the previous (ARMv6, ARMv5) designs don’t provide the processing power needed for the quality web experience expected in  MIDs. Note: Tegra (current version 2009) is an ARM11 multi-core CPU  implementation based on ARMv6 architecture. I expect Nvidia to move to ARMv7 in their next Tegra product.

ARM v7 is a CPU architecture, not a CPU.

ARM V7 is a processor architecture. It’s a design that belongs to ARM and it can be used to build CPUs that can process around 2 Dhrystone MIPS/Mhz. (Wikipedia Dhrystone) That’s about 2000 DMIPs/Ghz which is not far from the processing power achieved by simple, non-hyperthreading Intel Atom cores also used in MIDs. DMIPs processor performance is not the only measurement of device speed but it’s a good starting point and is relevant to web rendering and web applications.

Processing power

In general, the architecture is being used to make CPUs and platforms running at between 600-1000Mhz (about 1200-2000 DMIPs) although there is one known implementation that has been tested at over 2Ghz. Power consumption per core is said to be around 300mw per 2000DMIPs using the latest manufacturing processes although this figure can vary greatly depending on implementation.

Remember that the CPU core takes only a small percentage of the power drain in a working device where the total in-use power budget including screen lighting, radios, audio, gpu, storage and DC components can span from 2W to 10W. (Texas instruments thinks that a 1W MID is possible though)

In comparison with the Intel Atom CPU the ARM v7 architecture can be used to make CPUs that consume about 1/3 1/5th of the power of an Intel Atom CPU for the same DMIPs computing power.

ARMv7 can also be used to make multi-core CPUs where up to 4 cores can be used to provide over 8000 DMIPS of computing power. (Assuming the software is built to handle multi-processing hardware)

(Further note: All these figures based on research, marketing figures, experience, testing and technical documents that I have read during this research.)

ARM does not manufacture CPUs.

The architecture created by ARM is used to do two things:

  • The architecture is used by ARM themselves to make a complete processor implementation which may include other ARM property. The CPU implementation is then licensed out to third parties who can either mass produce the CPU or build and manufacture complete computing platforms including graphics, sound, power, memory, etc. One example is the Ti OMAP 3 and 4-series platforms.
  • The architecture gets licensed out to third parties who make their own processors and platforms based on it. One example is the Qualcomm Snapdragon platform.

ARM have a number of processors that they’ve built using ARMv7 architecture and all fall under the ‘Cortex’ brand. There are real-time and highly embedded versions but the ‘A’ versions are the ones that interesting for general mobile computing tasks. ARM have three versions of the CPU. The A8 (currently in products), A9 (high end, multi-core capable due in products in 2010) and A5 (small, low-cost, due in products in late 2010) versions

Licensees.

When final products are completed by licensees you will often see them marketed under different brands. This is where it gets very confusing so I’ve listed most of the main players below along with notes and links to their various products and brands. Note that some ARM licensees are not made public and therefore no information is available.

ARM Cortex A8

ARM has 9 licencees. 8 are public.

Cortex A8 Product brief (PDF)

Licensee notes.

  • Ti OMAP 3 platforms 34xx 35xx 36xx  using Cortex A8 CPU core up to 800Mhz. Used in Nokia N900, Archos 5 devices for example.
  • Freescale iMX5 family of CPUs based on Cortex A8. Use in the Sharp Netwalker for example. iMX515 is focused at mobile internet and includes graphics co-processing.
  • Samsung. S5PC100 application processor includes the Cortex A8 CPU core (E.g. Odroid)
  • Samsung / Intrinsity Hummingbird A very specific implementation of the Cortex Core using a tightly defined manufacturing process.
  • Zii Labs ZMS08 Core of the ‘stem cell’ computing platform. (Q1 2010 volume shipment) 1Ghz implementation.
  • Matsushita (Panasonic) Details unknown.
  • PMC-Sierra (storage, switching, routing solutions) Details unknown.

Cortex A9 (Multi-core capable)

Cortex A9 Product information (PDF)

ARM has 9 licencees. 6 are public.

Licensee notes.

  • Ti OMAP Dual-core 44xx platform. Full production expected 2H 2010.
  • ST Electronics Cortex A8 licensee (set top boxes)
  • St Ericsson U8500 Dual Cortex A9/HSPA Modem platform. (Note Nokia and Symbian will be using this and it includes a Mali GPU and 1080p recording capability)
  • Broadcom (ARM news. No products announced yet.)
  • Nvidia Tegra 2 Dual-core
  • NEC Electronics. No information available.
  • Update: 28 Jan 2010. It appears that Apple may have licensed Cortex A9 for the iPad A4 CPU. (Source) Update: It’s ARMv7. Apples own implementation.

Cortex A9 MPCore Hard Macro 2Ghz implementation of Cortex A9 using specific TSMC silicon manufacturing process.

Cortex A5

Cortex A5 is a multi-core, low cost ARM V7 implementation previously known as Sparrow.

Link to ARM information

No known implementations at present.

Other ARM v7 implementations:

  • Qualcomm Snapdragon platform (QSD8x50) uses single core CPU (Scorpion) based on ARMv7 architecture.
  • Qualcomm QSD8672 dual core platform at up to 1.5Ghz.
  • Marvell Armada 500 / 510 platform (PDF product brief) Up to 1.2Ghz

Notes for CES 2010 (UPDATED)

Key platform announcements to watch out for at CES 2010. Expect demonstrator products planned for 2H 2010. (All Cortex A9)

  • Nvidia Tegra 2 Announced.
  • Ti OMAP 44xx No news.
  • St Ericsson U8500 Demonstrated by Movial on a set top box.

Expected in MIDs and smartbooks shipping in 1H 2010 on the following platforms. (Single core ARmv7 and Cortex A8 implementations.)

  • Freescale iMX5
  • Ti OMAP 3
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon
  • Nvidia Tegra
  • Zii Labs ZMS08

Product rumors / expectations: CES 2010.

Further reading:

Update: ARM presentation at CES.

I had a chat with ARM at CES and they followed up by sending me a PDF. Here’s one slide from that PDF that is directly relevant here. It lists ‘candidate’ platforms for Mobile Computing. We listed all of these platforms above but it’s good to know what ARM sees at potential platforms.

Click to Enlarge.

Note to PR agencies for ARM ecosystem partners. Put one twitter/web address in the comments and we’ll add it to the further reading list.

If you find the information useful for your work, please consider a small donation to help us continue the work. UMPCPortal is independent and funded purely through donations and advertising revenue.  Many thanks

Updated: 14th Jan 2010

Updated: 18th Jan 2010 (added ARM slide)

Updated: 28 Jan 2010 (added possible Apple licensee (for A4 processor) information.

Updated: 12 May 2010 with more product information

High-End Android Slider for $200! Inbrics M1


If Inbrics really can bring the M1 to market for $200 then we’re looking at a very good value MID/Phone but somehow I get the feeling that the mention of $200 was really a ‘CES Press Special’  i.e. whatever you say in Vegas, stays in Vegas!  The market could bear $300 for something like this so there’s no reason it would launch at such a low price.

inbricsm1mid

A capacitive 800×480 screen on Cortex with a full implementation of Android along with a nice design and that productivity-helping slider keyboard makes this a ‘must watch’ device. We would have like to have seen a larger screen for real high-end usage and we wonder how long this device will look ‘high-end’ considering the pace that new high-end smartphones are entering the market but it’s interesting all the same.

Here’s a video of the device at CES a few weeks ago.

Thanks to Netbooknews for ‘helping hands’ on this video.

6 WVGA Smartphones that Push The Mobile Web Envelope.


Finally, after years of waiting and wishing, I can finally say that there are smartphones on the market that offer fast, high quality internet experiences and offer the web-focused user a converged product on which they can do tasks that, until now, required a true mobile computer. In this article I take a look at 6 of the best.

6midphones

Read the full story

Live session. Archos and Sharp. Today at 2100 CEST.


arm-mids-live

Update: Thanks to the 800+ viewers we had on the live session. It’s great to have so much feedback on a live session. Video recordings are always available here.

On Friday evening at 1900 GMT (check your timezone here) JKK and I will be LIVE again.

For the first time ever it’s an ARM-only show featuring Cortex CPUs from Freescale and Texas Instruments. The Sharp Netwalker will be there and, if Mr DHL does his job, the Archos Internet Tablet (Android version) too.

We’ll be focusing on the Mobile Internet experience as usual but we’ll be giving a hardware overview, software overview (as much as we can given that these devices are brand new on the market) and trying to answer your questions.

The Sharp Netwalker is kindly provided to JKKmobile by Conics.net. The Archos Android Internet Tablet is kindly provided by you readers. (Please keep supporting our advertisers!) The session is unsponsored so bring beer and expect a no-holds-barred session.

Start time 1900 GMT. (Time in your location)

Live chat, audio and video

provided in the LIVE! page.

Bring your own food.

*1 About 50% chance right now on the Archos tablet. 1545 Tablet has just been delivered.

Session will be recorded.

Archos tablet information

Sharp Netwalker Information

Follow Chippy on  TwitterFollow Chippy on  YouTube

The most popular UMPCs on UMPCPortal

Acer C740
11.6" Intel Celeron 3205U
Acer Aspire Switch 10
10.1" Intel Atom Z3745
Acer Aspire E11 ES1
11.6" Intel Celeron N2840
Dell Latitude E7440
14.0" Intel Core i5-4200U
Acer TravelMate B113
11.6" Intel Core i3
Lenovo Ideapad Flex 10
10.1" Intel Celeron N2806
ASUS Zenbook UX305
13.3" Intel Core M 5Y10a
HP Elitebook 820 G2
12.5" Intel Core i5 5300U
Dell Chromebook 11
11.6" Intel Celeron 2955U
WiBrain B1H
4.8" VIA C7-M

Find ultra mobile PCs, Ultrabooks, Netbooks and handhelds PCs quickly using the following links: