Samsung Electronics has started to mass-produce application processor (AP), which is an integrated chip that integrates modem function into a Silicon Die, that will be loaded into Galaxy S7 (tentative). Samsung also loaded its own CPU core and by doing so, it is up to a level where it can compete against Qualcomm (design) and Intel (production) in system semiconductor field.
According to industries on the 10th, Samsung Electronics’ System LSI Business Department recently finished its test on AP for Exynos 8 series (development code: Jungfrau) and has started to mass-produce it. It is predicted that this AP will be loaded into Smartphone Galaxy S7 that will be released sometime early 2016. Samsung Electronics’ Wireless Business Department is currently mediating proportion of choosing Exynos8 and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 internally.
Exynos 8 series will be produced from 14-NANO FinFET processing and its greatest characteristic is that it combines modem functions into a single chip. Although Samsung Electronics has been delivering average and inexpensive modem integrated APs to its customers since last year, this is the first time when it integrated modem functions into a premium AP.
This is Samsung Electronics’ plan to compete against Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820. A reason why Samsung Electronics’ Wireless Business Department loaded Exynos 7420, which does not have modem functions, into Galaxy S6 and Note 5 is because corresponding product was only product that was produced from 14-NANO processing in industry.
Snapdragon 820 that will be officially announced shortly will also be produced from 14-NANO processing. Because this product is combined with modem functions, Samsung Electronics’ System LSI Business Department had to put in modem functions into its next premium AP. If AP and modem functions are integrated as one, design of Smartphones can be simplified and area of a board where chip is mounted on can be reduced.
Modem that is built in Exynos 8 series supports CA (Carrier Aggregation) LTE. Snapdragon 820 has LTE modem that supports CAT12 download (Maximum of 600 Mbps). It is heard that modem functions that are equivalent to this will be loaded into Exynos 8 series.
Exynos 8 series also has Samsung Electronics’ 64-bit ARMv8 Architecture-based CPU Core (development code: Mongoose). Although Samsung Electronics had been receiving Coretechs A Series CPU Core from British Semiconductor IP business called ARM and load it into AP, it has started to load its own core starting from this product. Samsung Electronics’ CPU Core, which took more than 2 years to develop, focuses on high performance level and control of electricity consumption in multi-core environment.
This product is based on 8 cores. Samsung Electronics’ System LSI is saying that while its basic processing speed is higher than Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 (2.2 GHz), it minimizes electricity consumption.
“Currently only Qualcomm and Apple have their own ARM Mobile CPU Core. Considering a fact that Texas Instruments, ST Ericsson, and Broadcom all gave up on AP business due to weak modem technologies while Qualcomm is the only one that has premium modem integrated AP, it can be seen that Samsung Electronics’ competitive edge in design of system semiconductor has reached world-class level” said Professor Park Woo Chan of Sejong University’s Computer Engineering Department.
Experts believe that because Samsung Electronics has a competitive edge in production that can compete against Intel, it will be able to secure a position that is relatively advantageous for Samsung Electronics.
Staff Reporter Han, Jooyeop | powerusr@etnews.com