Samsung Announces New Exynos Chip Based on ARM Cortex-15 Architecture
Exynos 5250 clocks in at 2 GHz and was built based on 32-nm high-k metal gate technology. According to Samsung, the new chips are capable of processing 14 billion instructions per second, and their performance is nearly double that of the current Cortex-A9-based dual core Exynos processor, which clocks in at 1.5 GHz.
"The ARM Cortex-A15 brings unparalleled performance to our Exynos processor family and the exploding mobile marketplace," said Dojun Rhee, vice president of System LSI marketing, Device Solutions, Samsung Electronics in a statement.
As seen with most processors based on ARM’s low-power architecture, energy efficiency is one of Exynos 5250’s biggest draws. Samsung took strides of its own to ensure it, too, including an embedded DisplayPort (eDP) interface compliant with panel self-refresh technology (PSR) applied to a timing controller (T-CON). This embedded technology allows static images to be refreshed from the frame buffer memory within the T-CON, rather than the regular, more power-hungry display refresh by the app processor.
In other words, the chip expends less energy during refreshes of static web pages or e-books.
What’s more, the Exynos 5250 can drive up to a 2560 x 1600 (WQXGA) display, creating reading images so sharp, they are "equivalent to real paper," Samsung said. 3D graphics processing also makes the new chip ideal for gaming, user-interfacing, and stereoscopic 3D playback.
"Designers need an application processor platform that delivers full high definition multimedia capabilities, fast processing speed and high performance graphics to meet end users' expectation for a connected life on the go," Rhee said. "The advanced low-power, high-performance processor technology of the new Exynos 5250 continues to deliver an unprecedented level of performance for users to enjoy a completely new mobile experience."
The Exynos 5250 is currently sampling with customers and is scheduled for production in the Q2 of 2012.