Rockchip RK6321 Dual Core Cortex A5 SoC Targets Wearables with WiFi, Bluetooth, 3G and GPS

Rockchip and Intel started to work on a platform called XMM6321 last year. It featured a dual Core Cortex A5 processor, 3G connectivity, WiFi, and GPS, which was aimed at entry level 3G smartphones and tablets. Fast forward to 2015, Rockchip showcased their RK6321 processor at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair, with very similar specifications compared to XMM6321, but instead it targets wearables such as smartwatches, or children and elderly tracker.

So I’ m not quite sure whether Intel XMM6321 and Rockchip RK6321 are the same processor with a different name, or Rochchip tweaked RK6321 specifically for wearables.

Key features of Rockchip RK6321 processor:

• CPU – Two Cortex A5 cores up to 1GHz with 32KB L1 D-cache, 32KB L1 I-cache, and 512KB L2 cache
• GPU – Supports OpenGL ES 2.0
• Memory and Storage I/F – 16-bit LP-DDR2 SDRAM, 8-bit  eMMC, 16-bit NAND
• Display I/F – MIPI DSI up to FWVGA resolution (854×480)
• Video / Camera
  • 1080p video playback
  • 720p30 video recording
  • MIPI CSI-2 interface for 8MP YUV/RAW camera
  • 2MP front camera I/F
• Cellular Connectivity
  • 3GPP Rel-9 HSPA 21/5.8 Mbps, 3G/2G dual-SIM dual-standby dual hot-swap with DvP (what is that?)
  • 3G quad-band, 2G quad band SCPA (Single Carrier Power Amplifier), or separate PX’s DCXO (Digitally Controlled Oscillators) support
  • Infineon / Intel solution
• Connectivity – 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, FM radio, and A-GPS, GPS, GLONASS

Current solutions run Android 4.4.4 with a smartwatch specific user interface, and Rockchip does not plan support for Android 5.x, “as it’s mainly a 64-bit operating systems, and Android Kitkat does the job” (paraphrase). The company also released some power consumption number as shown in the tablet below, but I’m not quite sure how they compare to competing solution such as Mediatek MT2501.

Charbax interviewed the company at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair, where Rockchip showcased some RK6321 based trackers and smartwatches, as well as a development kit.

The factory price of the smartwatch in the video above, which includes WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, and 3G connectivity, is said to be $49. There’s no product page on Rockchip website, but eventually it should be listed with other Rockchip processors.

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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