By While most multi-core processors group together sets of identical cores to provide enhanced computing power (a model that has worked fine for PCs), ARM has developed a new approach dubbed big.LITTLE processing. With mobile devices and power savings in mind, the concept pairs up the high-performance of the Cortex-A15 core with the power saving Cortex-A7. The result is a chip that can switch between the two depending on system needs.
This very concept may find its way into Samsung’s next update to their Exynos CPU. Taylor Wimberly of Android and Me has a great write up on the potential design of Samsung’s next processor update, which he speculates could look something like this:
“The most likely setup that Samsung would go with could be two high-performance Cortex-A15 cores around 1.8-2.0 GHz and two low-power Cortex-A7 cores at 1.2 GHz. Based on the proposed release schedule, this would be built on a 28nm process technology.”
The concept seems like a win-win for mobile users. Power and energy efficiency in a small package. Take the scenario up to four cores and we have a chipset that should easily maintain the Exynos’ reputation for being a top-tier mobile processor. You will want to head over to the source link below to read more about the future of Exynos. It’s a must for anyone interested in the components that power our smartphones.
[via Android and Me]
Okay this is all good and everything but when will the OS catch up to these monsters? :)
i’m not that old (29), but damn i can still remember when 1.0Ghz desktop was the new kid on the block.
That’s funny, because I’m 29 also, and remember being really excited about my first computer having a 488 mhz processor.
i was a little late to the computer biz in my early years. my first computer was a P1 that ran DOS6.0 and Win3.1. I remember saying to myself “who would ever use Windows?”
Ok, I’m starting to feel old at 37… especially since I remember getting my first ‘386 clocked at a whopping 25 MHz (wich was a major upgade from using my parent’s 4.77 MHz XT)
Overclocking my celeron 300a to 450mhz was a great moment in time.
i bet you have an eMachine!!
lol, not now – i’ve got my shuttle whirring away quite nicely. Want a revo so i can ‘hide’ it somewhere ;)
Yea, im not that old either (30) but remember when the 1Ghz came out thinking, “there’s no WAY I’ll ever need to use all THAT power.” heh, technology. I still remember buying my first hard drive. It was a 20 Gig for 120 bucks and I KNEW I would never come close to filling it up. Now I’m rocking a 750, hoping it’ll do till I trust 2 Terabyte drives to be super stable.
all that pr0n, so little time?
When Ice Cream Sandwich gets released next month. But basically, current OS can benefit from this too. The lower powered cored will be running most of the time keeping battery consumption low, while the high-powered cores will kick in when demanding applications are run giving maximum performance.
Does not have to, could be hardware switch over depending CPU load. Just load registers and stack to the other core and switch CPUs.
@sc0rch3d, yeah I’m 30 and i remember when these “smartphones” were still running winnow 6.x
Ah the good old days
I remember when having a stylus was VERY important.
Wouldn’t this make the cost of a phone rise? If they could do this for the same price as a single CPU I’d be cool with it.
Samsung galaxy s3?
What I am wondering about is what type of gpu will they tie into it. Lets beat Apple on this front finally!!!
damn. i feel so lucky that im young! lol. i’m only 21.
I remember when my computer 386 only had a hard disc space of 40MB. That was a lot of space in those days. I am 33 years old now.
I hope they were smart enough to patent this before Apple does.
My first computer was a Tandy laptop. It was king of the hill with an NEC cpu at 8hz. Instead of two floppies it had a floppy and a hard drive…of 20 megabytes! The floppy was the “new” kind in a hard shell and 3.5 inches. It was 320k (they later standardized at 640). It was the size of a small suitcase. The screen flipped up because the fullsize keyboard was built in. This screen was a beautiful 2 color – blue with white text. There was a CGA out video port for 4 color gaming and spreadsheet graphing goodness! Man I loved that computer…