Imagination Technologies announced a MIPS “Warrior” family of 32/64-bit processors designed for everything from high-end networking equipment to Android tablets, and also announced updates to its embedded-focused MIPS Aptiv 32-bit processor line. The Warrior IP will feature multi-core hardware virtualization and multi-threading, MIPS SIMD architecture, and Imagination’s security framework.
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Modulixtech announced a development board based on a Texas Instruments AM1705 ARM9 system-on-chip, supported by ready-to-run ports of Buildroot embedded Linux and the U-Boot bootloader. The EVB1L board provides Ethernet, serial, USB, and MMC/SD expansion, is implemented on a 158 x 100mm Eurocard form factor, provides PC/104-style expansion, and consumes less than 2 Watts.
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Broadcom announced a system-on-chip designed for network attached storage (NAS) devices and 802.11ac routers, supported by a Linux development kit. The StrataGX BCM5862x Series combines a single- or dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor with a Cortex-R5 based “FlexSPARX” ARM core designed to accelerate storage performance, and features a cryptographic accelerator and dual 6Gbps SATA interfaces.
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Several Android tablets running on Intel Clover Trail+ Atom processors broke cover at Computex Taiwan. Intel’s dual-core, 1.6GHz Atom Z2560 is fueling a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 tablet, as well as Asus’s 6-inch Fonepad Note and 10-inch MemoPad FHD10 tablets, while Asus also unveiled a hybrid 11.6-inch Transformer Book Trio, combining an Android slate based on a 2GHz dual-core Atom Z2580 with a keyboard dock running Windows 8 on an Intel Haswell processor.
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ARM announced a 28nm-fabricated Cortex-A12 processor design claimed to offer 40 percent higher performance than the Cortex-A9, while drawing the same power. The Cortex-A12 is paired with a power-efficient Mali-T622 GPU and Mali-V500 video coprocessor, and supports hybrid Big.Little SoC configurations in partnership with the Cortex-A7.
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Intel has released new information on its more power-efficient next generation “Haswell” family of Core processors. Quad-core Core i7 Haswell CPUs will offer 15W TDP power consumption, down from 20W on similar Ivy Bridge processors, resulting in up to 9.1 hours of HD playback, while future tablet-ready dual-core parts could lower power consumption by up to 50 percent, to 7W TDP.
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Bsquare announced an Android 4.2 Mobile Development Platform (MDP) based on Qualcomm’s new 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 (MSM8974) SoC featuring four ARM Krait 400 CPU cores plus an Adreno 330 GPU. The Snapdragon 800 MDP is available in both 11.6-inch tablet and 4.3-inch smartphone versions, and features surround sound, USB 3.0, and 802.11ac WiFi for up to 1.3Gbps streaming rates.
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MediaTek announced its first quad-core system-on-chip aimed at “affordable” Android tablets. The MT8125 integrates four 1.5GHz Cortex-A7 cores with Imagination Technologies’ PowerVR Series5XT GPU, enabling 1080p video recording, 1920 x 1200 resolution, and a 13 MP camera, and offers integrated 3G HSPA+, 2G EDGE, and WiFi communications options.
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Linux crept up slightly in the EE Times 2013 Embedded Market Study, representing 34 percent of current projects while Android showed the greatest growth, jumping to 16 percent, for a total of 50 percent for Linux-based platforms. Meanwhile, ARM processors continue to attract more embedded developers.
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Texas Instruments (TI) introduced a development kit for designs based on the TI OMAP5432 SOC (system-on-chip), which integrates dual 1.5GHz ARM Cortex-A15 MPCore CPUs. The OMAP5432 EVM (evaluation module) targets high performance, graphically oriented, low power embedded applications such as human-machine interfaces, portable data terminals, digital signage, and medical monitoring devices.
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AMD has taken the brunt of the slowdown of x86 PCs and the rise of ARM-based mobile devices, according to IC Insights, which estimates the chipmaker fell 21 percent to fourth place in 2012 global microprocessor sales. Intel dropped 1 percent in the rankings while Samsung’s and Apple’s Samsung-built processors combined for the greatest growth, with their ARM processor sales rising 78 percent, says the research firm.
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Leaked benchmarks purport to show a widely rumored Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 tablet running Android 4.2.2 at record rates on Intel’s new Clover Trail+ architecture Atom Z2560 SOC (system-on-chip). Meanwhile, Intel released a set of host development tools called Beacon Mountain for developing Android apps on both x86 and ARM platforms.
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QuickLogic has released Android 4.1.2 support for its custom Parallel Camera Interface (CAM I/F) chip for TI’s Sitara AM335x ARM Cortex-A8 SOC (system-on-chip). The new support, which comes in addition to earlier Linux support, adds Android compatibility to the BeagleBone’s 3.1-megapixel Camera Cape.
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Lenovo’s Android-based K900, the first phone to use Intel’s dual-core 2GHz “Clover Trail+” Atom Z2580 system-on-chip, began shipping in China, and ZTE announced a Z2580-based, 4.5-inch “Grand X2 In” aimed at Europe. Yet, Atom-based Android phones won’t truly shine until Intel’s “Merrifield” SOC arrives in early 2014 using Intel’s 28nm, Tri-Gate “Silvermont” architecture.
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[Updated May 15, 2013] — Texas Instruments (TI) announced an evaluation kit for its next-generation digital-light-processing (DLP) chipset, offering much higher resolution and brightness than its predecessor. The DLP LightCrafter 4500 is aimed at 3D imaging applications such as machine vision, quality control, dental and retinal scanning, spectrometers, augmented reality devices, and 3D printers.
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Marvell announced a new member of its Linux-ready Armada 300 line of system-on-chips (SOCs) designed for a wide variety of networking applications. The Armada 375 is equipped with a dual-core Cortex-A9 processor clocked at either 800MHz or 1GHz, and offers gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0, SATA 2.0, and PCI Express connectivity.
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Broadcom is sampling a system-on-chip (SOC) aimed at control-plane and edge-networking devices. The StrataGX BCM58525 is equipped with a dual-core 1.2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, and features a packet-buffer subsystem, gigabit Ethernet PHY, cryptographic and programmable packet-handling accelerators, and a Linux development kit.
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MediaTek has already received orders for over one million units of a dual-core Cortex-A7 processor it announced May 2, says DigiTimes. Designed for affordable Android smartphones with up to qHD (960×540) displays, the 28nm-fabricated MT6572 SOC (system-on-chip) augments its dual 1.2GHz cores with integrated radios for WiFi, Bluetooth, FM, and GPS functions, as well as an HSPA+/TD-SCDMA baseband.
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In this guest column, Linaro CEO George Grey examines the expanding ARM ecosystem, discusses emerging and “disruptive” market opportunities for ARM technology, and highlights Linaro’s recent ARM Linux software development progress, working group formation, and membership growth.
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Intel announced its long-awaited Silvermont overhaul of the Intel Atom core, based on 22nm-fabricated, Tri-Gate 3D transistors. Aimed primarily at smartphones and tablets, the Silvermont supports up to eight cores per SOC (system-on-chip) and promises to offer about 3x the peak performance of the current Atoms or up to 5x their power efficiency.
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