Samsung starts sampling world’s first Cortex-A15

The new 32nm dual core processor clocks in at 2GHz.

Dec 1, 2011 by

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Samsung (SEO:005930) has started sampling a processor based on the latest microarchitecture, the A15, from ARM. The processor is fabbed using 32nm high-k metal gate low-power process technology.  The processor clocks in at 2GHz, but thanks to advances in the microarchitecture, it is roughly twice as powerful as an A9-based processor running at 1.5GHz.

Samsung has named its new chip the Exynos 5250.

Exynos 5250 is in reality a very powerful SoC that has embedded graphics with a maximum resolution of 2560 x 1600 (WQXGA) as well as an increased memory bandwidth of 2.8GB/s to support this resolution.

In addition the Exynos 5250 comes with an embedded DisplayPort as well as a variety of interfaces including SATA, UART, USB and external ports such as USB3.0, eMMC4.5 and eSD3.0.

“The ARM Cortex-A15 brings unparalleled performance to our Exynos processor family and the exploding mobile marketplace,” said Dojun Rhee, vice president of System LSI marketing for Device Solutions at Samsung Electronics. “Designers need an application processor platform that delivers full high definition multimedia capabilities, fast processing speed and high performance graphics to meet end users’ expectation for a connected life on the go. The advanced low-power, high-performance processor technology of the new Exynos 5250 continues to deliver an unprecedented level of performance for users to enjoy a completely new mobile experience.”

It is going to be interesting to see how it plays out between ARM and Intel now that we know that Intel has the ability to integrate analog CMOS in its 32nm chips as evidenced by a paper to be presented at ISSCC in February. Intel has also told SemiAccurate that they expect to be able to scale the analog part even further without any major roadblocks.S|A

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Mads Ølholm