mwc 2014 News - CNX Software - Embedded Systems News

March 3, 2014March 3, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

ARM Interview about Cortex A17 Processor [Video]

When ARM announced their new Cortex A17 core, I could not quite understand why they would release another core with performance and features somewhat similar to Cortex A12 and Cortex A15. Charbax interviewed Nandan Nayampally, ARM VP of Processor Marketing, at Mobile World Congress 2014 and everything is much more clear now. Cortex A17 is based on A12, but adds support for big.LITTLE processing support with Cortex A7, and further improves performance. In some work loads Cortex A17 can currently match Cortex A15 performance, and by 2015, Cortex A17 will have performance similar to A15, and replace it in mid range devices as it has a lower footprint and lower cost. High-end products will switch to 64-Bit with Cortex A53 or A57 next year. The interviewee did not say this explicitly but it could be many companies will simply skip Cortex A12, and directly use Cortex A17, just like Rockchip […]

February 26, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment

Marvell ARMADA Mobile PXA1928 SoC Features Four Cortex A53 Cores, Vivante GC5000 GPU, and LTE

So here we are with another 64-bit ARM SoC for mobile device thanks to Marvell ARMADA Mobile PXA1928 with four ARM Cortex A53 cores, Vivante GC5000 GPU, and a 5-mode modem with LTE TDD/FDD, HSPA+, TD-HSPA+, and EDGE. The SoC will be used in conjunction with the company’s Avastar 88W8887 802.11ac Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.0 + FM + Near Field Communication (NFC) single chip solution, as well as 88L2000 Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) hybrid location processor, and the new 88NV1088 eMMC 5.0 NAND Flash controller. Key features of Marvell ARMADA Mobile PXA1928 include: 5-Mode Cellular Modem Solution for LTE Cat 4, UMTS Release 7, TD-HSPA+ Release 8, and class 12 GSM/EDGE, and supports multi-radio, CSFB, and VoLTE voice solutions for LTE networks 3G/4G protocol stacks certified on major carrier networks and validated via extensive IOT, GCF and field trial testing Quad-core ARM Cortex A53MP Application Processor Subsystem Support for […]

February 26, 2014February 26, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Samsung Unveils Exynos 5 Octa 5422 and Exynos 5 Hexa 5260 SoCs

As expected, Samsung announced the Exynos 5 Hexa 5260 hexa-core processor and, the not-quite-expected Exynos 5 Octa 5422 octa-core processor at Mobile World Congress, both of which feature ARM’s big.LITTLE processing technology, and ARM Mali-T628 GPU. Still no news about their 64-bit processor. Exynos 5260 will feature two ARM Cortex A15 cores up to 1.7GHz, and four Cortex A7 cores up to 1.3GHz, with full support for HMP/GTS. Contrary to initial reports the new processor is not based on Mali-T624 (as shown in Antutu), but according to Samsung Exynos 5 Hexa page, it will instead use Mali-T628 just like in Exynos 5420 and 5422. This processor could end up with the best price/power consumption/peak performance combo, as few application are able to use more than 2 cores. The SoC also features an embedded Display Port (eDP) interface, and with a memory bandwidth up to 12.8GB/s, supports supports WQXGA (2560×1600) resolution. […]

February 24, 2014May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

AllWinner UltraOcta A80 big.LITTLE SoC Officially Announced, Includes PowerVR G6230 GPU

Allwinner has formally announced AllWinner UltraOcta A80 SoC at Mobile World Congress 2014. The SoC featurs four Cortex A15 and four Cortex A7 cores in big.LITTLE configuration as well as Imagination Technologies PowerVR G6230 GPU, and a VPU with H.265 and VP9 support. The processor will be used in tablets, OTT media players, notebook PCs, all-in-ones, and smart TVs. Key Features: Ultra low power, high performance 28nm UltraOcta SoC with heterogeneous eight-core CPU computing Ultra performance graphics – PowerVR G6230 GPU with two shader clusters and 64 FP32 ALU cores CoolFlex power management system – optimized big.LITTLE technology to dynamically activate energy-efficient or high performance processor cores based on computing workload Next generation video engine – 4K encode/decode, H.265, VP9 Triple-screen display support Imagination PowerVR G6230 Rogue GPU is said to embed power saving technologies such as PVRTC and PVRTC2 texture compression formats, PVRIC (lossless image compression) and PVRGC (lossless […]

February 24, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Intel Unveils Atom Z3460 & Z3480 (Merrifield) and Z3560 & Z3580 (Moorefield) Mobile SoCs

Intel has introduced four new SoCs part of Z34xx series (Merrifield) and Z35xx series (Moorefield) with Intel XMM LTE modems to be used in smartphones and tablets at Mobile World Congress 2014. The SoCs share the following specifications: Processor Z34xx series (Merrifield) – 2 cores/2 threads with out-of-order execution, maximum core frequency up to 2.13 GHz Z35xx series (Moorefield)- 4 cores/4 threads with out-of-order execution, maximum core frequency up to 2.33 GHz Graphics – Imagination PowerVR G6400 (Merrifield) or GC6430 (Moorefield) with OpenGL ES 3.0, OpenCL and RenderScript support Image Signal Processor (ISP) – 13 MP support hardware-capable; 8 MP enabled on Form Factor Device (FFD) Memory – LPDDR3 (COPoP); 2×32 bit, up to 4 GB; Merrifield: 533MHz max, Moorefield: 800 MHz max. Multi-Band, Multi-Mode LTE Modem – Intel XMM 7160 with support for up to 15 LTE bands, up to 150 Mbps download/50 Mbps upload speed. Z35xx series can […]

February 24, 2014February 24, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 9 Comments

Nokia Launches Nokia X Android Phones with Microsoft Services

After months of speculations and leaks, Nokia has formally announced Nokia X family of Android phones that instead of coming with Google services, comes with Microsoft services and user interface, as well as Nokia apps. Three phones has been announced, namely NokiaX, Nokia+ and NokiaXL. Let’s look at the specifications: SoC – Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual core @ 1 GHz System Memory – 512 MB RAM (Nokia X), or 768 MB RAM (Nokia X+/XL) Storage – 4GB NAND flash + micro SD card up to 32 GB Display Nokia X/X+ – 4″ IPS LCD touch screen – WVGA (800 x 480) Nokia XL – 5″ IPS LCD touch screen – WVGA (800 x 480) Connectivity – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 + HS Cellular Networking – GSM: 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 1900 MHz, WCDMA: 900 MHz, 2100 MHz. Dual (micro) SIM card slots. Camera Nokia X/X+ – 3MP […]

February 24, 2014February 24, 2014 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments

Qualcomm Announces Snapdragon 610 and 615 Quad and Octa Core ARM Cortex A53 SoC

MWC 2014 will apparently be the event where 64-bit ARM mobile SoCs are to be announced. After the official launch of Mediatek MT6732, and the soon-to-be-announced Samsung GH7, Qualcomm has unveiled two new ARMv8 processors, namely Snapdragon 610 (MSM8939) and Snapdragon 615 (MSM8936), respectively featuring 4 and 8 ARM Cortex A53 cores and targeting the mid-range of the market. Both processors will be manufactured using 28nm LP process technology, and features the new Adreno 405 GPU with support for OpenGL ES3.0, OpenCL, and DirectX 11.2 support, and up to 2560 x 1600 resolution, support H.265 video decoding, and integrates an LTE category 4 modem, as well as 802.11ac Wi-Fi via Qualcomm VIVE. Anandtech explains that “Snapdragon 615 is made up of two quad-core clusters, each optimized for a different operating point. One cluster is optimized for low power operation while the other cluster is optimized for high performance. This will likely […]

February 24, 2014May 29, 2017 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments

Firefox OS Smartphones, Tablets and Reference Designs at Mobile World Congress 2014

Beside the $25 smartphone, Mozilla has also announced a number of smartphones and tablets running Firefox OS during an event at Mobile World Congress 2014. The first devices such as ZTE Open featured a single core processor, the new models come with more powerful dual and quad core processors, mostly from Qualcomm, but also WonderMedia and AllWinner, together with better screen and features. Let’s have a look. ZTE Open C and Open II ZTE Open C smartphone features a 4″ display (800 x 480 resolution), powered by Qualcomm Snadragon 200 SoC @ 1.2 GHz, 512MB of RAM, a 2MP camera, as well as a 1,200mAh battery. Engadget has an hands-on video. ZTE Open II sports a 3.5″ (HVGA -> 480×320) display, with a dual core Snapdragon processor @ 1.2 GHz, 256 MB, 2GB flash, a 2MP camera, and a 1150 mh, according to CNet. It also supports 3G networks. Both […]