Going to battle with rivals, Marvell launched its eight-core 64-bit Armada mobile processor today.
The new chip will bring it into competition with rivals such as Qualcomm and Nvidia, and it shows that mobile devices will soon use the same kind of processors that form the foundation of data center computers and supercomputers. The Octa-Core 64-bit 5-Mode 4G LTE ARMADA Mobile PXA1936 System-on-Chip is targeted at high-end smartphones and tablets.
The chip uses the ARM Cortex A53 chip designs. Marvell said the new device is tuned for advanced graphics, security, high-performance imaging, and integrated sensor capabilities. It can handle five modes of wireless communication, including Time Division Long-Term Evolution (TD-LTE), Frequency Division Duplexing Long Term Evolution (FDD-LTE), Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA),Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) and Global Systems for Mobile (GSM). That makes it useful around the world.
“Mobile processors continue to innovate rapidly. In the smartphone market, I expect the biggest growth will be in low-cost phones using highly integrated processors. The 64-bit ARMADA Mobile PXA1936 extends Marvell’s success in this market with a higher-performance octo-core architecture,” said Linley Gwennap, principal analyst of The Linley Group, in a statement.
The chip will be available for smartphones and tablets in early 2015, and it is targeted at the Android Lollipop operating system. The eight-core Cortex operates at 1.5-gigahertz, and it supports a 1080p display, video encoding and decoding, an image processor for a 13-megapixel to 16-megapixel camera, enhanced security, and better power management. This kind of processor is as fast as a lot of computers out there, and it could be used to power devices with bigger screens and better-quality imagery.
Marvell is also launching a lower-cost quad-core 64-bit Armada mobile processor, dubbed the PXA1908. It operates at 1.2-gigahertz.
