ARM, Globalfoundries outline 28nm SoC platform
ARM and Globalfoundries have released details on their upcoming system-on-a-chip platform, which they say will combine "PC-class performance" with the portability and longevity of smartphones.
The companies revealed the details on Monday at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Their system-on-a-chip (SoC) platform is based on ARM's Cortex-A9 processor and Globalfoundries' 28nm manufacturing process, and will be used in smartphones, tablets and smartbooks.
The 28nm manufacturing process will allow devices built on the platform to have 40 percent more computing performance, 30 percent less power consumption and 100 percent greater battery life than devices built using existing 45nm processes, the companies said.
ARM and Globalfoundries first announced their collaboration in October 2009, but Monday was the first time they indicated the improvements in performance, power consumption and battery life that their new platform would provide.
"The transition to the 28nm technology node will be an important inflection point for wireless technology," Globafoundries chief operating officer, Chia Song Hwee, said in a statement. "The success of the next generation of mobile products will be increasingly dependent on their ability to deliver PC-class performance, a highly integrated rich media experience and longer battery life."
Globalfoundries said it intends to start production on the new SoC in the second half of this year.