Latest Blogs and Commentary
TechInsights' Experiences of the 2021 Chip Shortage
Our views on contributing factors, how it has impacted our semiconductor reverse engineering this year, and looking to the future.
Latest Revelations on the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3
Qualcomm recently officially released the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 which is using 5LPE process technology and is therefore likely based on the Snapdragon 888 made with the Samsung 5LPE process. Based on their announcement and previous analyses, we have reached some key findings.
Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Sports 18-Bit ISP
In delivering the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, Qualcomm is upscaling smartphone cameras by adding native 18-bit processing. The new platform packs impressive upgrades across all sections, scoring double digit gains across each section.
Qualcomm Eyes Ultrathin PCs
Providing a big performance boost, the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 is suitable for some ultrathin Windows PCs, moving up from the 2-in-1 systems where Snapdragon serves today. The company also updated the Snapdragon 7c+.
Year in Review: Data Centers Spur New Architectures
The past year began with AMD and Intel introducing next-generation server processors. AI-accelerator vendors focused on delivering production-worthy versions of previously announced products, validated by MLPerf testing.
MediaTek Reenters Flagship Phones
After several attempts, MediaTek has delivered its first true flagship processor: the Dimensity 9000. The new smartphone chip features the latest CPU designs, a powerful GPU, and LPDDR5X support.
Ventana Develops RISC-V Chiplet
The startup has developed a custom high-performance RISC-V CPU that comes as a 16-core chiplet, making it easier for customers to design their own data-center processors.
Fitness wearable WHOOP 4.0 leverages a next-generation battery anode technology
The new fitness wearable WHOOP 4.0 leverages a next-generation battery anode technology, which has the potential to raise the bar in the very competitive fitness and health monitoring market where major players such as FitBit, Xiaomi, and Apple lead.
Whitepaper - Democratizing Chiplet-Based Processor Design
Chiplet-based designs promise reduced development costs and faster time to market, but they’ve been exclusive to large chip vendors. Now, the industry is building an ecosystem intended to enable designs combining third-party chiplets that employ different process nodes. At the same time, RISC-V is enabling greater CPU innovation through its open-source model. These trends create an opportunity for a RISC-V chiplet vendor. Ventana Micro Systems sponsored the creation of this white paper, but the opinions and analysis are those of the author.
Whitepaper - Bit-Accurate CD Audio From apX Lossless
Thanks to the development of Bluetooth audio technology, wireless streaming has largely replaced physical media, and smartphone users no longer need to struggle with tangled earphone wires. But to accommodate Bluetooth’s limited bandwidth, the industry adopted a variety of lossy compression techniques that sacrifice audio fidelity. This white paper describes the benefits of the aptX Lossless codec, which enables wireless Bluetooth earbuds and speakers to stream audio that’s bit accurate to the original CD recording. The Linley Group prepared this paper, which Qualcomm sponsored, but the opinions and analysis are those of the author.
NXP i.MX93 Adds AI to IoT Devices
The first i.MX9 processor will pack 64-bit CPUs, an MCU, and an AI accelerator to handle a range of IoT applications, including industrial control, smart home, smart city, and smart grid.
MediaTek Aims to Change Smart TVs
With its Pentonic 2000 processor, the TV-chip leader delivers impressive CPU, GPU, and AI-engine improvements to enable new capabilities such as bidirectional video and gaming without a console.
Centaur Trots Off Into the Sunset
After a 26-year run, Centaur Technology has reached the end of the trail. Glenn Henry’s processor-design team, known for its x86 expertise, has become part of Intel.
An examination of the 5G radio in Google Pixel 6 Pro
At the beginning of September we were pondering the rumors about a Samsung 5G modem that was predicted to show up on the US shores in the form of the 5G implementation solution for the yet to be released Google Pixel 6.
AMD CDNA2 Targets Supercomputers
AMD’s Instinct MI250 and MI250X GPUs deliver extreme floating-point performance through massive parallelism, targeting high-end scientific and government research with leading FP64 throughput.
Imagination CXT Fires Photons
At 1.3 billion rays per second, the Photon architecture in Imagination’s new PowerVR CXT RT3 GPU enables hardware-accelerated real-time ray tracing for the first time in mobile devices.
Kneron KL530 Targets Automotive
Kneron is targeting emerging computer-vision models with its KL530. The new SoC delivers 0.5 trillion INT8 operations per second (TOPS) and supports INT4 format for greater throughput.
eBook: The latest development trends in CMOS image sensors
CMOS image sensors (CIS) have continued to evolve in response to performance requirements of current applications of Smartphone Imaging, Security Surveillance, Biometrics, Automotive and Depth Sensing and Ranging.