AllWinner A33 Quad Core SoC is Pin-to-Pin Compatible with AllWinner A23

Allwinner has just announced a new quad cortex ARM Cortex A7 SoC for entry-level Android tablets. AllWinner A33  shares many of the features of AllWinner A23 dual core Cortex A7, including an ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU, and provides pin-to-pin compatibility, with the main difference being the upgrade from two to four Cortex A7 cores.

The company has already disclosed the main specifications of their new SoC:

• CPU – Quad core ARM Cortex A7 with 256 KB L1 Cache, 512KB L2 cache
• GPU – ARM Mali-400MP2 with support for OpenGL ES 2.0/VG 1.1 standards
• Memory
  • DDR3/DDR3L SDRAM controller
  • 8-bit NAND/eMMC flash controller
•  Video
  • Decoding – 1080p60 video playback for MPEG-1/2, MPEG 4 SP/ASP GMC, H.263, H.264, WMV9/VC-1, VP8, and more
  • Encoding – 1080p60 for H.264
  • Complies with RTSP, HTTP, HLS, RTMP, MMS streaming protocols
  • Supports OpenMAX API
• Display
  • 1 to 4 lane MIPI DSI up to 1280×800
  • RGB/CPU/LVDSLCD up to 1280×800
• Camera – Integrated paralell camera sensor interface with support for up to 5MP CMOS sensor, 8-bit YUV sensor
• Audio
  • Integrated Hi-Fi audio codec
  • 2x integrated differential analog mic amplifiers for headset and phone
  • “Talking Standby Mode” for ultra low power consumption during voice calls
• USB – USB OTG. USB Host, and HSIC
• Other I/Os – 3x PWM, 2x SPI, 4x TWI (I2C), 6x UART/RSB
• Misc – RTC, Security system for DRM
• PMIC – AXP223 with support for 21-channel power output, 2.1A charging. Complies with USB 3.0 supply standard

AllWinner A33 will support Android 4.4 and above, so no official multi-OS support like other higher-end AllWinner SoCs.

You may have noticed AllWinner A33 is provided in a BGA282 package, and AllWinner A23 in a BGA280 package, so we’ve got two extra pins there… It could mean you can’t simply replace A23 by A33 on exiting designs, but it should be possible to make a new board that supports both A23 and A33, just like it is done today with AllWinner A10 and A20.

AllWinner A33 is sampling now, and the company expects the first commercially available tablet based on the platform to be available in July.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.

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