Hasta La Gadget!

Thought Windows on ARM was snazzy? Have a gander at this. The outfit’s forthcoming ARMv8 architecture, the first ARM architecture to include a 64-bit instruction set, has just been detailed, with a goal to expand the reach of ARM processor-based solutions “into consumer and enterprise applications where extended virtual addressing and 64-bit data processing are required.” The ARMv8 architecture consists of two main execution states — AArch64 and AArch32 — and we’re apt to see the real benefits hit high-end servers first. The ARMv8 architecture specifications are available now to partners under license, with the company planning to disclose processors based on ARMv8 during 2012, with consumer and enterprise prototype systems expected in 2014. Head on past the break for ARM’s take, or meander to the source links for AppliedMicro’s gloating.

Continue reading ARMv8 detailed: 64-bit architecture, AppliedMicro first in line

ARMv8 detailed: 64-bit architecture, AppliedMicro first in line originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 17:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fancy a glimpse of the future? That little psychedelic beauty on the right is ARM’s brand new Cortex-A7 processor. Its spec sheet might not seem so colorful at first glance, because it doesn’t really do things any faster than existing high-end smartphone processors. However, this UK-based chip designer isn’t known for bumping its gums, so it pays to look a little deeper. For a start, the Cortex-A7 is built using a 28nm process that makes it five times smaller and more efficient than the current-gen Cortex-A8. It’s also cheap enough to power sub-$100 handsets, so we could be pulling GSII-like tricks on budget phones within a couple of years.

Is that it? Nope, there’s more: perhaps the most important feature of the A7 is that it can be combined with much higher-power cores like the Cortex-A15 side-by-side on the same chip. This allows a super-phone or tablet to switch between two totally different processing units depending on how much power is needed at the time. ARM calls this “Big.LITTLE” computing,” and a similar concept is already in use on NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 (aka Kal-El) SoC, which we’ll see imminently in the next Asus Transformer. However, the Tegra 3 uses five identical Cortex-A9 cores, whereas a device that mix-and-matches the A15 and A7 could potentially deliver higher highs and lower lows, giving you speed when you need it and amazing battery life when you don’t. How cute is that? Full PR after the break.

Continue reading ARM unveils Cortex-A7 processor, ‘big.LITTLE’ computing

ARM unveils Cortex-A7 processor, ‘big.LITTLE’ computing originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 07:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Somber news coming out of Palo Alto today, where Julius Blank, the man who helped found the groundbreaking chipmaker Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation, has passed away at the age of 86. The Manhattan-born Blank (pictured third from left, above) began his engineering career in 1952, when he joined AT&T’s Western Electric plant in New Jersey. As a member of the engineering group at the plant, Blank helped create phone technology that allowed users to dial long-distance numbers without going through an operator. It was also at Western Electric where he met fellow engineer Eugene Kleiner. In 1956, Blank and Kleiner left AT&T to work at the lab of Nobel Prize-winning physicist William B. Shockley, but departed just one year later (amid to start Fairchild, alongside a group of six other computer scientists that included future Intel Corporation founders Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore. At their new labs, Blank and his peers developed an inexpensive method for manufacturing silicon chips, earning them $1.5 million in capital from a single investor. As the only two with any manufacturing experience, Blank and Kleiner were charged with bringing the dream to fruition — a task that required them to build the chips from scratch, beginning with the machinery for growing silicon crystals. They succeeded, of course, and in 1969, Blank left Fairchild to start Xicor, a tech firm that Intersil would later buy for $529 million, in 2004. But his legacy will forever be linked to those early days at Fairchild, where, as Blank described in a 2008 interview, he and his colleagues were able to experience the unique thrill of “building something from nothing.” Julius Blank is survived by his two sons, Jeffrey and David, and two grandsons.

[Photo courtesy of Joan Seidel / AP 1999]

Julius Blank, chip-making pioneer and Fairchild co-founder, dies at 86 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 06:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve been hearing about Qualcomm‘s next generation of 2.5GHz processors for a few months now, but the company’s quad-core future has now become a little bit clearer. Speaking at the Innovation Qualcomm event in Istanbul yesterday, Senior Vice President of Product Management Cristiano Amon confirmed that the chipmaker’s S4 line of silicon will be shipped to manufacturers by the end of this year and should appear in consumer products by the beginning of 2012. Available in single-, dual- or quad-core models, the new, 28nm additions to the Snapdragon family will also support Adreno graphics, 3D and 1080p HD, in addition to 3G and LTE connectivity. If all goes according to schedule, then, we could see a slate of S4-equipped handsets at next year’s Mobile World Congress in February, though we’ll try to contain our excitement until we get a more specific launch date.

Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon roadmap, 2.5GHz CPUs coming early next year originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Sep 2011 10:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You’ve probably never heard of NetLogic Microsystems, but you can bet that its technologies may very well end up in your next smartphone, tablet or vehicle. Broadcom has just announced its intentions to pick up the aforesaid company for a cool $3.7 billion in cash, with the “definitive merger agreement” already approved by the boards of both. According to Broadcom, the deal will extend its portfolio with “a number of critical new product lines and technologies, including knowledge-based processors, multi-core embedded processors, and digital front-end processors,” and according to a televised CNBC interview with president and CEO Scott McGregor, he’s hoping to extend Broadcom’s reach in the automotive industry. His view? We’re getting dangerously close to streaming television (and more) to a serious quantity of motorcars, but beyond wild aspirations, there doesn’t seem to be too many hard plans being made public. The full release is hosted up after the break.

Continue reading Broadcom buys NetLogic Microsystems for $3.7b in cash, hopes to add more processors to lineup

Broadcom buys NetLogic Microsystems for $3.7b in cash, hopes to add more processors to lineup originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Sep 2011 10:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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