ST-Ericsson, a specialist in wireless platforms and semiconductors, has announced its new Nova application processors, its new Thor advanced modems and its range of NovaThor complete integrated platform solutions.
“By offering the most advanced application processors combined with our latest generation of thin HSPA+ and LTE modems, ST-Ericsson is setting new performance standards for our industry.” said Gilles Delfassy, president and CEO of ST-Ericsson. “Our approach will accelerate innovation in the smartphone and tablet markets enabling consumers to experience human-machine interfaces based on gesture, voice and image recognition, 3D cameras and life-like augmented reality.”
ST-Ericsson’s NovaThor platforms, based on a scalable architecture, combine application engines, modems and connectivity chipsets into fully-integrated and tested solutions, which device manufacturers can use to quickly roll out a new wave of advanced smartphones and tablets with trailblazing multimedia capabilities across all segments.
At the high end, the NovaThor platforms offer device makers the opportunity to bring leading-edge smartphones to market swiftly by combining
ST-Ericsson’s very latest modems and application processors. In the mainstream smartphone segment, manufacturers can benefit by using ST-Ericsson’s highly-integrated platforms, in which modems and application processors are built into a single piece of silicon, to produce compact and affordable devices. The scalable architecture enables reuse of manufacturers’ R&D investment across the entire range of their smartphone and tablet portfolios.
ST-Ericsson today announced three new application processors, the Nova A9600, A9540, A9500 together with two next generation modems the Thor M7400 and M7300 as well as two additions to its complete highly integrated smartphone platforms the NovaThor T5008 and U4500.
ST-Ericsson’s new Nova A9600 brings over 200 percent more mobile computing performance compared to the U8500 platform. It features the industry’s best and most efficient low-power implementation known today of a dual ARM® Cortex- A15 MPCore(TM) with each core running up to 2.5GHz thanks to very innovative power saving techniques to be disclosed later this year.
“As the selection of advanced smartphones and tablets increases we see the need for a wider range of performance points to be addressed,” said Mike Inglis, EVP and general manager of the ARM Processor Division, “This announcement shows the performance that can be achieved by combining the Cortex-A15 processor with integrated LTE modems.”
The Nova A9600 will be the first platform announced to incorporate Imagination Technologies next generation of graphics processors, codenamed “Rogue”, which will set a new performance bar for GPUs at mobile power consumption levels. The Nova A9600 will bring more than a 20-fold improvement in graphics performance compared with the U8500 platform.
“POWERVR Series6, codenamed ‘Rogue’, moves the goalposts in terms of graphics performance and efficiency at low power consumption for next generation mobile.” said Hossein Yassaie, CEO of Imagination Technologies. “We are delighted to be working with ST-Ericsson on such a groundbreaking product.”
The Nova A9600 will also be able to play full HD video at 120 frames per second, supporting professional camcorder-quality recording in 3D, as well as high definition videoconferencing and tele-presence.
ST-Ericsson also unveiled the Nova A9540, a dual-core ARM Cortex- A9-based processor, with each core operating at up to1.8 GHz, and the Nova A9500, a dual-core ARM Cortex- A9-based processor, running at 1.2 GHz. The Nova A9540 delivers a four times improvement in graphics performance compared with the current generation, while the A9500 delivers state-of-the-art graphic capabilities on mobile devices.
ST-Ericsson’s new Thor modems, the Thor M7400 and the Thor M7300, support the latest LTE and HSPA+ dual carrier technologies, while preserving backward compatibility with existing 3G/2G networks, in a small and highly-integrated radio solution that supports up to eight LTE/WCDMA/GSM frequency bands. These modems enable the development of truly global smartphones, tablets and many other mobile broadband-enabled devices.
The Thor modems and Nova application processors will be offered as combined NovaThor solutions which match the most advanced application processors with the latest modem technologies. Finally ST-Ericsson introduced the NovaThor T5008 and U4500 platforms which combine application processor and modem in a single die delivering all the benefits of integration, including size, power and bill-of-material advantages.