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posted by martyb on Tuesday November 26 2019, @05:16PM   Printer-friendly

MediaTek Dimensity 1000 octa-core SoC promises 5G for the masses when it launches in 2020

The 5G SoC will support 90 Hz QHD displays, up to 16 GB of quad-channel LPDDR4x RAM, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1, hexa-core AI processor, download/upload speeds of up to 4.7/2.5 Gbps, and more with the promise of faster performance than the current Qualcomm Snapdragon 855.

While a handful of 5G smartphones are already available today, they are all prohibitively expensive. The Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, for example, currently retails for $1300 unlocked. MediaTek hopes to be the catalyst for 5G adoption next year by launching an all-in-one SoC solution that integrates an octa-core CPU, octa-core Mali-G77 MC9 GPU, hexa-core AI APU, and a 5G modem for more affordable smartphones.

Called the Dimensity 1000, the SoC will be the first in a series of SoCs with integrated support for 2G, 3G, 4G, and sub-6 GHz 5G networks. MediaTek is also claiming it to be the world's first SoC to support 5G dual-SIM for better worldwide appeal and versatility. While single-SIM smartphones are still prevalent in the U.S., most smartphones overseas tend to carry two SIM slots.

MediaTek's presentation shows that the SoC will support AOMedia Video 1 (AV1) hardware decoding at up to 4K60:

In addition to hardware video encoding and decoding at 4K 60FPS, the MediaTek Dimensity 1000 is the world's 1st mobile SoC with AV1 format support.

Also at AnandTech.

Related: MediaTek Announces 10-Core SoC for Phones and Tablets
MediaTek Helio X30: 10 Cores on a 10nm Process
Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855 SoC Will Optionally Enable 5G Connections with Added X50 Modem
Realtek RTD2983 SoC for 8K TVs: Supports AV1 Codec
Huawei: ARM Cortex-A77 Cores Would Shorten Battery Life (Dimensity 1000 includes 4x Arm Cortex-A77 cores)


Original Submission

Related Stories

MediaTek Announces 10-Core SoC for Phones and Tablets 15 comments

Forget octo-core big.LITTLE. What your next smartphone needs is a tri-cluster deca-core System-on-a-Chip (SoC) from MediaTek:

Right off the bat, MediaTek manages to raise eyebrows with what is the first 10 core System-on-a-Chip design. The 10 processor cores are arranged in a tri-cluster orientation, which is a new facet against a myriad of dual-cluster big.LITTLE heterogeneous CPU designs. The three clusters consist of a low power quad-core A53 cluster clocked at 1.4 GHz, a power/performance balanced quad-core A53 cluster at 2.0GHz, and an extreme performance dual-core A72 cluster clocked in at 2.5GHz. To achieve this tri-cluster design, MediaTek choose to employ a custom interconnect IP called the MediaTek Coherent System Interconnect (MCSI).

Contrary to what MediaTek presents as an "introduction of a Mid cluster", I like to see MediaTek's tri-cluster approach as an extension to the existing dual A53 cluster designs - where the added A72 cluster is truly optimized for only the highest frequencies. Indeed, we are told that the A72 cluster can reach up to 2.5GHz on a TSMC 20nm process. ARM aims similar clocks for the A72 but at only 14/16nm FinFET processes, so to see MediaTek go this high on 20nm is impressive, even if it's only a two-core cluster. It will be interesting to see how MediaTek chooses the lower frequency limits on each cluster, especially the A72 CPUs, or how these options will be presented to OEMs.

The [Helio] X20 samples in H2 2015 and devices with it are planned to be shipping in Q1 2016.

MediaTek Helio X30: 10 Cores on a 10nm Process 8 comments

MediaTek has released more details of an upcoming 10-core SoC:

MediaTek first unveiled the Helio X30—its next-generation high-end SoC—last fall, but today at Mobile World Congress the Taiwanese company announced its commercial availability. The Helio X30 is entering mass production and should make its debut inside a mobile device sometime in Q2 2017.

The Helio X30, like the Helio X20 family before it, incorporates 10 CPU cores arranged in a Max.Mid.Min tri-cluster configuration. Two of ARM's latest A73 CPU cores replace the two A72s in the Max cluster, which should improve performance and reduce power consumption. The Mid cluster still uses 4 A53 cores, but they receive a 10% frequency boost relative to the top-of-the-line Helio X27. In the X30's Min cluster we find the first implementation of ARM's most-efficient A-series core. The A35 consumes 32% less power than the A53 it replaces (same process/frequency), while delivering 80%-100% of the performance, according to ARM. With a higher peak frequency of 1.9GHz, the X30's A35 cores should deliver about the same or better performance than the X20's A53 cores and still consume less power.

Also at Tom's Hardware, entitled "The 10nm Helio X30 May Be MediaTek's First Truly Competitive High-End Chip".

While some smartphone SoCs like the X30 are a bit of an exception due to cluster configurations, there are going to be many CPUs with 8+ cores sold in 2017. Some examples that come to mind: AMD's Ryzen 7 desktop CPUs, the AMD APUs in the Xbox One, PS4, and PS4 Pro (with 7 cores usable in these consoles), and other smartphone SoCs like the Exynos 7 Octa 7880, which uses equivalent cores rather than clusters. Will games and popular applications be able to exploit this newfound glut of cores?

Related: Samsung's Exynos 8895 to be the First 10nm Chip on the Market


Original Submission

Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855 SoC Will Optionally Enable 5G Connections with Added X50 Modem 13 comments

Qualcomm Tech Summit, Day 1: Announcing 5G Partnerships and Snapdragon 855

The third annual Qualcomm Tech Summit has just started, and the first announcements from Day One have been made. To start this event, Qualcomm President Cristano Amon is sharing the company's vision for 2019, primarily around 5G networks and 5G enabled devices. The Tech Summit has a few surprises in store over the next couple of days, including the upcoming announcement of the company's first 5G mobile platform, Snapdragon 855.

[...] The 855-MP consists of two chips, the Snapdragon 855 chipset paired with the X50 modem capable of 5G connections. Qualcomm states that this will be the first mobile platform to support multi-gigabit 5G, along with all the potential that 5G entails.

Also disclosed were some of the chipset targets: the S855, according to Qualcomm, will have industry leading AI inside the chip as well as hardware to accelerate 'extended reality', such as virtual reality and augmented reality. Inside the S855 is Qualcomm's 5th generation multi-core AI-engine, which Qualcomm states will offer up to 3 times the AI performance of the S845 model. Also quoted was that the new S855 includes a separate Computer Vision (CV) image signaling processor, which the company states is an industry first, and will help to enhance computational photography and video capture features. Qualcomm also mentioned gaming, promising next-level gaming experiences to the next generation of premium flagship devices.

From the pictures, it seems obvious that the Snapdragon 855 chipset by itself supports 4G wireless connectivity, and 5G is enabled through the use of the X50 modem as a separate addition. This will add PCB space in mobile devices that previously only used internal modems, reducing volume for other components (such as battery). One would suspect that OEMs intend to offer 5G on only premium devices to begin with, which are often on the larger side of the mobile ecosystem to begin with[sic].

Snapdragon X50 5G NR modem.

Also at The Verge.

See also: Moto 5G Mod at Snapdragon Summit: Lots of Antennas, and S855 Inside?

Related: Intel Speeds Up Rollout of 5G Modems


Original Submission

Realtek RTD2983 SoC for 8K TVs: Supports AV1 Codec 8 comments

Realtek Demonstrates RTD2893: A Platform for 8K Ultra HD TVs

Just like with any other major transitions, the shift to 8K Ultra HD TVs will require not only new display panels (and even new display technologies), new cables, and new media, but also new codecs as well as new SoCs. To this end, Realtek demonstrated its first platform for 8K televisions and Ultra HD set-top-boxes/players at Computex.

Realtek's RTD2983 SoC can support decoding 8K resolution videos encoded using the AV1, HEVC, and VP9 codecs. The chip can process all HDR formats, reduce noise, upscale, and perform all the other functions common for processors for televisions and digital media players. The RTD2983 has PCIe and USB 3.0 interfaces, it can receive data via an HDMI 2.1 48 Gbps interface, and transmit pixel data over Vby1 wires. One advantage the RTD2983 has is embedded memory, which eliminates necessity to use external DRAM devices, lowering the BOM costs for finished products.

Vby1 = V-by-One HS.

AOMedia Video 1 (AV1).

See also: Vimeo adds support for the royalty-free AV1 video codec

Related: A New Wave of 8K TVs is Coming
YouTube and Netflix Upload AV1-Encoded Videos for Testing
LG Announces its 2019 OLED TV Lineup, Plus an 8K Monstrosity
Intel Releases Open Source Encoder for AV1 Codec


Original Submission

Huawei: ARM Cortex-A77 Cores Would Shorten Battery Life 1 comment

Anonymous Coward writes:

https://www.phonearena.com/news/Why-the-Kirin-990-uses-the-Cortex-A76-and-not-the-A77_id118763

Just a couple of days ago, Huawei rolled out the Kirin 990 SoC. Designed by Huawei's HiSilicon unit and manufactured by TSMC using its 7nm+ EUV process, each chip contains 10.3 billion transistors and has an integrated 5G modem chip. The component will be powering the new Mate 30 line and the delay in releasing the foldable Mate X has allowed Huawei to stuff that device with its new chipset as well. Originally, the Kirin 980 SoC was designed into the niche device.

The Kirin 990 has eight CPU cores; four are powerful Cortex-A76 cores (with two running at a clock speed of 2.86GHz and the other two at 2.34GHz). And there are four Cortex-A55 cores with a clock speed of 1.9GHz for general housekeeping. The one question that many are asking is why Huawei didn't include ARM's latest and greatest Cortex-A77 core inside the Kirin 990. And when that question was asked of Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's consumer group, he gave some interesting responses according to GizChina. And no, it has nothing to do with the U.S. supply chain ban.

The Huawei executive said that since the performance of the Kirin 990 is "beyond the user's needs," trading additional power in exchange for a shorter battery life is not worth it according to Yu. Even though ARM says that the Cortex-A77 provides a 20% boost in performance with no additional power consumption, Huawei's testing contradicts ARM's claims.


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 26 2019, @05:32PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 26 2019, @05:32PM (#924992)

    Will this system on a SoC chip support DRM rights management?

  • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday November 26 2019, @06:22PM (2 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday November 26 2019, @06:22PM (#925006) Journal

    While a handful of 5G smartphones are already available today, they are all prohibitively expensive. The Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, for example, currently retails for $1300 unlocked.

    I am impressed by $1300 unlocked.

    I bet Apple can outdo that by at least $500 more.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 26 2019, @08:10PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 26 2019, @08:10PM (#925053)

    the cancer for your children is free! ++good!

  • (Score: 2) by Snotnose on Tuesday November 26 2019, @09:28PM (3 children)

    by Snotnose (1623) on Tuesday November 26 2019, @09:28PM (#925095)

    Last I heard (admittedly it's been a while) Mediatek didn't do CDMA, so these chips can only power GSM phones.

    --
    Why shouldn't we judge a book by it's cover? It's got the author, title, and a summary of what the book's about.
    • (Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Tuesday November 26 2019, @09:43PM (2 children)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Tuesday November 26 2019, @09:43PM (#925105) Journal

      https://i.mediatek.com/mediatek-5g [mediatek.com]

      Cellular Technologies: 2G / 3G / 4G / 5G Multi-Mode, 4G Carrier Aggregation (CA), 5G Carrier Aggregation (CA), CDMA2000 1x/EVDO Rev. A (SRLTE), EDGE, 4G FDD / TDD, 5G FDD / TDD, GSM, TD-SCDMA, WDCDMA

      Specific Functions: SA & NSA modes; SA Option2, NSA Option3 / 3a / 3x, NR TDD Band, NR FDD Band, DSS, NR DL 2CC, 200 MHz bandwidth, 4x4 MIMO, 256QAM NR UL 2CC, 2x2 MIMO, 256QAM VoNR / EPS fallback

      LTE Category: Cat-19 DL

      Peak Download Speed: 4.7Gbps

      Peak Upload Speed: 2.5Gbps

      Wi-Fi Antenna: 2T2R

      Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 6 (a/b/g/n/ac/ax)

      Bluetooth Version: 5.1

      FM Radio: Yes

      "TD-SCDMA, WDCDMA"

      I like the inclusion of FM radio, which is actually locked [soylentnews.org] or not present [soylentnews.org] in other SoCs.

      Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) is a feature I'm starting to look out for. Skipping from 802.11n to 802.11ax (router and devices) could see some improvements in range and signal quality.

      Simply listing Bluetooth 5.1 support [bluetooth.com] does not tell us if it supports the desirable optional [xda-developers.com] 4x range or 2x speed features.

      Oh yeah, you're the 20 years at Qualcomm man.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 26 2019, @11:11PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 26 2019, @11:11PM (#925146)

        Oh yeah, you're the 20 years at Qualcomm man.
        I am also a former '20 year man'. He is right. QCOM had a bit of a stumble a few years ago with an overheating issue. But since then they have nailed it. They have the chipsets to beat.

        That mediatek chip looks like it can go pretty much anywhere (has enough alphabet soup) and should be a decent competitor to qcom. If they can make enough of them and get enough ODM's to put it in their phones they should do OK. That last bit is the trick.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 27 2019, @04:08PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 27 2019, @04:08PM (#925370)

    that's awesome! now if only someone would care if i called them or they would call me. *sniff*
    i guess i'll just have to join the "big cloud society" under some banner name and dive in to feel ... social. i'll try and again. and again .. in 5 min ...

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