Published in PC Hardware

OMAP 5 is quad-core 28nm in 2012

by on07 February 2011


Two cores 2GHz each and two slower
OMAP 4 is yet to ship in some devices, most likely after Mobile World congress next week in Barcelona, and Texas instruments has already dared to talk about 2H 2012 and OMAP 5 quad core platform.

A chap called Brian Carlson, TI's product manager for the 28nm OMAP 5 generation, has revealed a few bits and pieces about the new platform. The key element is that this is a quad-core 28nm processor for mobile phones and mobile computers (tablets) that has two ARM Cortex A15 cores capable of 2GHz each and two ARM M4 processors for low-power offload and real-time responsiveness. This combination should offer 2 two 3 times faster performance versus OMAP 4.

The next cool thing is the new PowerVR SGX544 graphics core that is supposed to be five times faster than OMAP 4 that we talked about. Of course this will mean really good gaming and support for a lot of 3D, even the glass less 3D and augmented reality. There is also support for larger screens. The new graphics is supposed to consume less power than the OMAP 4 but we will have to see about that.

IVA 3 HD multimedia accelerator can drive full HD 1080p at 60FPS or 3D HD 1080p at 30FPS, either of which sounds great. The camera interface goes as high as 24 Mpixel, or 12 Mpixel in 3D stereo mode. M-Shield technology should take care of projection and there are some hints of Near field communication called mobile wallet. Starting with Google Nexus S everyone wants to go there in the near future.

Videos with Brian are hinting DLP Pico projector support, gesture recognition as well as four display support, augmented 3D gaming, wireless video, 3D picture support, glass free 3D support, HD video teleconferencing, a lot of what we might even see in some advanced devices in 2011. Let’s not forget the support for HDMI 1.4a, USB 3.0, SATA 2.0 as well as SD 3.0.

Don’t worry, LTE and other multi modem high speed internet standards are there, too. Just imagine, a phone that can connect to three LCDs and a HDMI at the same time and can support four cameras (two at the front and two at the back). Of course it will support multiple operating systems.

The smartphone / tablet version of the OMAP 5 is called 5430 and it supports dual channel LP DDR2. It is a 14x14 mm chip with 980 balls. Let me remind you that this product goes after 28nm, Tegra 3 generation, just for your information. They even made a press release for the 2H 2012 chip. Looks cool doesn’t it.

You can see the product spec and the videos here.

Last modified on 07 February 2011
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