21ic News Shanghai Infront Microelectronics Co., Ltd. officially released the industry's most cost-effective low-power Cortex-A5 dual-core multimedia processor iMAPx15 series at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), and exhibited a series based on the processor and another The industry's most comprehensive version of the Cortex-A5 dual-core low-power processor iMAPx820 series tablet solution and prototype.
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The launch of the iMAPx15 spearhead refers to a domestic single-core processor that has become popular in China's white-plated tablet industry. Infront, Microfilm wants to bring higher-performance, lower-power tablet PC chip platform to white-brand customers at the same price. Recapture the "city pool" that was seized in the single-core era.
In addition, tablets/MIDs (covering 7", 8", 9.7" from Chinese brands (such as the Blue Devils), multiple solution providers (such as Guanxi, Linghua, etc.) and ODM (such as Xichuang, Xiangde, etc.) , 10.1" various sizes), 7-inch large-screen mobile phone tablet, smart TV box, HDMI dougle and other mobile multimedia terminals and smart terminal new models in the Infront micro-display stand, attracting people, they are mostly based on Infront In mid-2012, the full-featured dual-core processor iMAPx820, in the same price range, these new mobile terminal products not only have the highest performance, low standby power consumption (long battery life) is a big selling point.
Figure 1: Infront of the booth of Infront Microelectronics at this CES.
Figure 2: Infront Micro partners with CES to showcase cost-effective dual-core tablet models in a variety of screen sizes.
Figure 3: A new concept product for the mobile phone tablet (Phonepad) based on the full-featured dual-core processor iMAPx210 debuted at CES.
Figure 4: Multifunction Mediabox (left) and HDMI Dougle (right) based on the full-featured dual-core processor iMAPx820.
The advantage of "a decade of grinding a sword"
As a professional integrated circuit design company, Infront Microelectronics is currently focusing on providing chips and total solutions for high-end consumer electronics such as mobile multimedia terminals, smart terminals, and high-definition video. Although the company is a "latecomer" in the advanced application processor chip market, it has achieved great success in less than three years after entering the market. For example, the sales of the iMAPx200 series processor launched in 2010 reached Nearly a million. In 2011, Infront Micro and ARM launched a deeper and broader cooperation with a series of ARM IP series licenses, including Cortex-A5, MPCore and Cortex-A9MPCore processors, as well as ARM Mali-300 and Mali-400 graphics processing. (GPU), aiming at the needs of next-generation consumer electronics, innovating and upgrading multimedia processor platforms.
In early 2012, the company developed the world's first full-featured Cortex-A5 dual-core 40nm low-power processor, the iMAPx820 series. In 2012, it shipped more than 2 million units at a price of $8.50 per unit. The iMAPx820 has the lowest standby power consumption compared to competing products, and has the most abundant interface to support a variety of different MID solutions. The following key features reflect the powerful performance of this series:
- 3 GPU dual-core Mali-400MP 3D GPU, 500*2MHz; independent 400MHz 2D GPU, hardware rotation / scalar
- 12 megapixel graphics processing unit, professional digital camera / digital camera effect
- GPS baseband function, support PND & MID combo (increased little cost)
- TV decoding function, support TV & MID combo (adding little cost)
- Security engine with DRM & content protection
- Full HD video/image compression (with PP function); full format full 1080P video decompression (with PP function)
- MIPI-DSI I/F supports 2K*2K LCD screen, IPAD display level; MIPI-CSI I/F supports up to 12 megapixel digital camera/digital camera
- Display processor dual display channel for better effects: simultaneous display of different content
- SATA 2.0 interface
- Dual camera channel for front and rear cameras to work simultaneously
Figure 5: Infront Micro in 2012 launched the most comprehensive 40nm low-power Cortex-A5 dual-core processor iMAPx820.
The above success is based on the accumulation of technology of Infront Microelectronics for many years. At present, the company has authorized and applied for a total of 25 patents, including 25 invention patents; 2 integrated circuit layouts; and 3 software copyrights.
On the other hand, it is due to the clear understanding of the market by Infront Microelectronics. Dr. Li Xingren, CEO of Infront Microelectronics, said: "China Mobile Terminal Manufacturing, such as the tablet, is in urgent need of entering a kind of benign competition. It can no longer be 'debt earned and squandered', so we are not eager to participate in the 'multi-core' war, but first Efforts to help customers improve their profitability, this is the original intention of the release of iMAPx15. Infront Micro hopes to help Chinese manufacturers to obtain more profit margins through a series of processor platforms and solutions that meet market needs but at lower cost. â€
"Dual core" is at the time, Cost-down is the last word
Dr. Li pointed out that higher performance, lower power consumption, and lower price are always the requirements of the tablet/MID market. Therefore, the processor platform and system solutions will be pushed toward multi-core and low-power consumption, but the cost-down will still be maintained. Only in this way can we be close to the actual situation of local manufacturers and help to improve the profitability of domestic flat panels.
However, unlike several major competitors advocating the concept of 4-core or even 8-core, Infront Micro believes that the dual-core processor platform is still the mainstream of the current market. It is too early to say that the four-core is popular, or even just in its infancy. According to the relevant research institutions for the 2012 domestic flat-panel market retail terminal monitoring data, we can know that the dual-core is about 20 times the number of 4-core retail, and the single-core is nearly 100 times. The fundamental reason is that the cost of the 4-core processor has made most domestic tablet manufacturers discouraged. For example, a 4-core processor platform recently introduced by a chip manufacturer has an offer of up to $20/piece.
Dr. Li stressed that this is an era of hardware surplus! For the Chinese tablet market, 2013 is a dual-core year, and 4-core products are expected to be shipped in large quantities until Q4, and the price/performance ratio is also a key indicator. "Industry Leaders Apple's current tablet products are based on dual-core processors, and we have not seen the company's plans for 4-core products," he said.
Both iMAPx15 and iMAPx820 are based on the ARM Cortex-A5 dual-core processor architecture. Dr. Li explained the reason for choosing the A5 core in Figure 3. "From a combination of computing performance (DMIPS performance), power consumption (mW/MHz and core footprint, and cost, we think the Cortex-A5 is currently the best processor core choice," he said.
However, Dr. Li also revealed that in 2013, Infront will also release the Cortex-A9 quad-core processor series that provides a powerful combination of performance/characteristics at a reasonable price to help customers develop competitive new generation consumer electronics products.
iMAPx15: The true terminator of a single-core processor
The latest CES iMAPx15 series processors are positioned as entry-level dual-core flat-panel processors using TSMC's 40nm LP low-power process, integrating high-performance dual-core ARM Cortex-A5MP (1.2*2GHz) and dual GPUs, single-core Mali -400 3D graphics processor @ 500MHz, independent 400MHz 2D graphics processor, hardware rotation / scalar, enough to meet the needs of entry-level dual-core tablets and MID applications, making mobile Internet terminal products manufacturers comparable to single-core platforms Costs quickly bring to market products with better performance, lower power consumption, and lighter weight.
iMAPx15 series processors support full HD video/image compression (with PP), full-format full 1080P video decompression (with PP) and better display processor with high performance 32-bit DDRx interface, dual The display channel can display different content at the same time. The processor family also supports two audio interfaces: 1. Compatible with TI/Qualcomm digital audio interface, support HD audio at no additional cost; 2. Compatible with traditional analog audio I/F. Its 256-bit ECC unit supports the widest range of NAND Flash, supporting SSD and other low-cost storage solutions.
Samples of the iMAPx15 series are available for $5.8/piece and offer a variety of Turn-key application system toolkits based on the Android operating system, including hardware development kits (SCH, PCB, Design Guide, Libs, BOM) ), software development kits (Source Code, Libs, Images, Configurable Items) and mass production kits (IUW, IUB, PCB TEST, OVERALL TEST), etc., involving applications such as tablets, netbooks, smart phones and smart TV boxes. It is reported that a number of brand and solution providers have been actively design-in, and have launched a series of product plans, which are expected to be shipped in large quantities soon.
With the introduction of iMAPx15, the status of the dual-core processor has been established!
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