smartphone gpus & processors

8/10/2019 Smartphone GPUs & Processors

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Making Sense of Smartphone Processors:

The Mobile CPU/GPU Guide

Smartphone manufacturers these days boast of their phones computer-like capabilities, fromdesktop-like internet browsing to HD video playback. They toss around spec sheets filledwith processor names like !"##, $orte% &, Snapdragon, Tegra, '"(, rmada, andmore. )hat do these all mean, and how do the various chips compare* Thats what were

going to take a look at today.

Introduction

'ver the last few months, the smartphone industry has seen an unpredecented focus onprocessing hardware. +or e%ample, pples une &, / launch of the i(hone 01S focusedprimarily on new hardware features, and that too, mostly on its processors, rather than ma2orsensor upgrades 3a 0. "( + camera and digital compass aside4. The 01S was touted asconsistently offering more than twice the performance of the first- and second-generationi(hones, yet offering the same or better battery life.


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"uch of the bu55 around HT$6s HD was due to its # 1H5 7ualcomm Snapdragon processor

Similarly, Toshibas T1#, HT$s HD, and HT$s 1oogle 8e%us 'ne were launched withmuch fanfare, with their key feature being a # 1H5 7ualcomm Snapdragon processor that wasalso claimed to provide a ma2or performance boost. Separately, )indows "obile giant HT$found itself in the midst of a great controversy over missing drivers for hardware graphicsacceleration, along with slow general performance, in the platform it uses in much its lineuptoday, the 7ualcomm "S"9%% series.

"uch speculation and e%citement surrounds new smartphones featuring processors like7ualcomms Snapdragon, 8vidia Tegra:Tegra , T; '"( 0:


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'verview of a typical desktop computer

'ur story starts with the desktop ($, because smartphones are essentially pocket-si5edcomputers that have a few e%tra radios and operate in e%tremely confined conditions vis-a-vis

power consumption, heat output, etc. ($ consists primarily of a motherboard chipset3typically split into a >8orthbridge? that connects to the processor and memory 3;ntels (Southbridge? that connects to various peripheral buses, like ($;-A%press, BS=, etc. 3;ntels ;$H#!, for e%ample44, a central processing unit 3$(BC ;ntels$ore Duo, for e%ample4, application memory 3!"4, permanent storage 3hard drive or

solid-state disk4, a graphics processing unit 31(BC T;s !adeon HD@&/, for e%ample4, apower supply, and several peripherals connected to the ($; or ($;-A%press buses 3a built-insound chipset or an add-on )i-+i card, for e%ample4.

;nside the pple i(hone 01S - the Samsung applications processor 3in black4 encompasses the$(B, 1(B, sound chipset, and more the baseband processor 3also in black4 handles cellularcommunication.

Smartphones also have all of these components, e%cept with much more integration E a fewmain chips can often encompass the $(B, 1(B, other speciali5ed coprocessors, motherboard

buses, memory controller, F$D controller, sound chipset, $"'S camera interface, on-board

memory, and several peripheral devices 3such as $ell, )ifi, and =luetooth radios4. The>applications processor? is the chip responsible for general processing 3something like a $(B
http://www.techautos.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/iPhone3GSblockDiag.jpg


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G motherboard chipset4 and may have several other functions built into it. The >basebandprocessor? is responsible for cellular wireless communications.

Wheres m! "uad#core iPhone $ith $ater cooling%

So if smartphones are so similar to ($s, thenwhy dont we see, say, an %& $(B like $ore Duo in a smartphone today* The answer isthat $ore Duo simply consumes far too much power and produces far too much heat than isacceptable in a phone. typical desktop $ore Duo $(B can consume up to @) andreIuires an active cooling system to keep it from overheating. Aven ;ntels tom chipconsumes


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()idia Tegra

8vidia6s Tegra (J@ $hipset, found in "icrosoft6s KuneHD

Smartphone chipsets use different approaches to integration. 'ne of the key selling points of

8vidias Tegra chipset, for instance, is that its applications processor has several small,speciali5ed processors built into it, each meant for particular tasks. "any chipsets are madethis way, but Tegra has more dedicated co-processors than most. )hile 8vidia has used asomewhat deceptive marketing techniIue of calling Tegra a 9-core processor 3it only has onegeneral-purpose !"## processor4, this approach does give two advantages. +irst, sincededicated processors are handling a number of tasks, the general-purpose core is freed up tohandle user tasks. "ore importantly, 8vidia has designed Tegra to aggressively cut powerconsumption by turning off parts of the processor that arent being used. +or instance, if aKune HD is playing music with its screen off, why power anything but the audio processorand whatevers needed to get the song file from storage*


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Tegra ;; solves most of the first-generation chip6s issues, such as relatively weak generalprocessing power 3due to the first model6s aging !"## $(B core4

(erformance-wise, the first-generation Tegra is a bit of a mi%ed bag. s well see below, itsgraphics performance is top-notch, e%ceeding that of any smartphone on the market. Let itsgeneral performance is held back by the aging, single !"## $(B at "H5. )hileTegras speciali5ed hardware and ability to aggressively manage power consumption bycutting power to coprocessors means that its well-suited to a media player like "icrosoftsKune HD, its not great for smartphones, which tend to need general processing power morethan multimedia capabilities. 8vidia did show faster versions of Tegra, intended for devices

larger than smartphones, but the (J@ chip in the Kune HD is the only one that actuallyever shipped.

Tegra solves most of the first-gen chips problems. AIuipped with a dual-core !" $orte%/ $(B, its at least four times faster than Tegra # for general processing. 1(B performanceis said to be about twice as fast too, while power consumption remains similar. 8vidia has asolid all-around platform this time, but Iuestions remain as to whether itll be able to produceenough chips to feed smartphone makers. lso, Tegra still does not integrate a radio chipset,which could put it at a competitive disadvantage for smartphones as compared to, say,7ualcomms Snapdragon chips, which have the radio basebands built-in.

Mobile CPU *)er)ie$

)eve compiled an overview of most of the ma2or mobile processor families on the markettoday 3chips that have not yet shipped in production are italici5ed4M
http://www.techautos.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Tegra2logo.jpg


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&'M )s+ Intel


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Faptops began to outsell desktop ($s some time ago, and mobile phones are among the mostubiIuitous devices around. Smartphones are now pushing outwards in two directionsM on onehand, theyre trickling downwards in price, replacing high-end featurephones near the N#mark, and on the other, theyre pushing upward into the territory of ;ntel tom-powerednetbooks or mobile internet devices 3";Ds4. fter all, if people use netbooks primarily for

browsing the internet, checking email, and watching online videos, then what separatesnetbooks from high-end smartphones besides screen si5e*

;t should be interesting to watch ;ntel compete with the whole array of !" licensees in thecoming years. 'ver billion !" chips are shipped every yearC orders of magnitude greaterthan ;ntels tom shipments. ;ntels betting that a shrunken tom will give it powerconsumption comparable to !"s offerings yet greater processing power and mostsignificantly, the %& architecture 3meaning compatibility with e%isting desktop applicationsand ($ 'Ses like )indows J(:94.

,alo in -our Pocket% . ,its Mobile

8e%t, well take a look at mobile graphics processing units 31(Bs4. The role of a 1(B is

primarily to provide hardware acceleration for 0D graphics applications like games, $D,etc., but in recent years, it has also become responsible for drawing the main user interface indesktop 'Ses 3more on that later4. +irst up, a comparison of current and upcoming mobile1(Bs, with some non-mobile chips tossed in for referenceM


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Wh! is the GPU rele)ant if Im not pla!ing games on m! phone%

'n most modern smartphone platforms 3i(hone 'S, ndroid, (alm )eb'S, with )indows"obile as a notable e%ception4, the 'S user interface itself is composited, meaning it isrendered by the 1(B. This makes the interface feel a lot smoother than doing B; displaycalculations on the already resource-constrained $(B.

'n the desktop, "ac 'S J introduced many consumers to a 1(B-composited desktop, andon the ($ side, )indows Oista:9Ps ero interface provides similar functionality. )indowsJ(, even on a very fast desktop rig, generally never feels Iuite as smooth while, say, movingaround windows, as )indows 9 or Oista running ero. +or the same reason, )indows"obile .%, which uses a similar rendering mode 31D;4 as J( and lacks a 1(B-compositeddesktop, is going to feel laggy or rough compared to 1(B-composited B;s.

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