ARM Cortex-A7 is 5x power efficient at
1/5th the size of the Cortex-A8
ARM has announced the ARM Cortex-A7 MPCore processor, which
is 5x the energy-efficiency and is one-fifth the size of
the Cortex-A8 processor, while providing significantly greater
performance. The Cortex-A7 processor enables design of less
than 100 US$ smart mobile devices, mainly targeting developing
market.
Cortex-A7 in pair with Cortex-A15 MPCore and by using what
ARM calls as Big.LITTLE processing allows devices to seamlessly
select the right processor for the right task, based on
performance requirements. Importantly, this dynamic selection
is transparent to the application software or middleware
running on the processors.
ARM Partners supporting these technologies include Broadcom,
Compal, Freescale, HiSilicon, LG Electronics, Linaro, OK
Labs, QNX, Redbend, Samsung, Sprint, ST-Ericsson and Texas
Instruments.
Cortex-A7 processor is designed for digital content creation
and consumption with power efficiency for extended battery
life.
The Cortex-A7 processor occupies less than 0.5mm2, using
28nm process technology, and provides compelling performance
in both single and multicore configurations. Used as a stand-alone
processor, the Cortex-A7 will deliver sub-$100 entry-level
smartphones in the 2013-2014 timeframe with an equivalent
level of processing performance to today's $500 high-end
smartphones, explains ARM.
The concept of Big.LITTLE processing is to combine two
different, but compatible processors within the same SoC
and allows the power management software to seamlessly select
the right processor, or multiple processors, for the right
task. The processors appear identical from an applications
software perspective but the power/energy is the variable.
The Cortex-A7 - runs the Operating System (OS) and applications
for basic always on, always connected tasks, such as social
media and audio playback.
For more information visit:
big.LITTLE processing: http://www.arm.com/products/processors/technologies/bigLITTLEprocessing.php
Cortex-A7: http://www.arm.com/products/processors/cortex-a/cortex-a7.php
