Snapdragon . It is a family of mobile systems on a chip (SoC) from Qualcomm. Qualcomm regards Snapdragon as a “platform” for use on smartphones , tablets, and smartbook devices .
The original Snapdragon CPU, called the “Scorpion”, is Qualcomm’s own design. It has many similar features to the ARM Cortex-A8 core and is based on the ARMv7 instruction set, but in theory it has a much higher performance for multimedia type SIMD operations. The Scorpion’s successor, found in the Snapdragon S4 SoC, is called the Krait and has many similarities to the ARM Cortex-A15 CPU and is also based on the ARMv7 instruction set.
Most Snapdragon processors contain the circuitry to decode high definition (HD) video at 720p or 1080p resolution, depending on the SoC version. The Snapdragon SoCs (and other Qualcomm chips) integrate the Adreno series GPUs, which are also Qualcomm’s own design, using assets from AMD’s acquired company. As an example, the Adreno 225 GPU built into the Snapdragon S4 SoC includes support for DirectX 9 / Shader Model 3.0, making it compatible with Microsoft Windows 8.
All Snapdragon have one or more DSP called “Hexagons”, short QDSP5 or QDSP6 in the modem and multimedia parts. On the Snapdragon 200-800 series, one of the multimedia “hexagons” is programmable by users via SDK7 Multimedia “hexagons” are mostly used for audio encoding / decoding, newer SoCs have a hardware block called Venus for video encoding / decoding.
Snapdragon S4 Processor – Qualcomm MSM8225 Compared to the SoCs of many competitors, the Snapdragon have been the only ones that have had the modem for cellular communication in the matrix. That is, they do not require a separate external cellular modem on the PCB. Since the Snapdragon S4, most Snapdragon models also feature on-chip Wi-Fi , GPS / GLONASS, and Bluetooth . This integration reduces the complexity and cost of the executive project (for OEMs) It also has the advantage of benefiting from advances in the manufacturing process, for example 28nm in most SoCs starting from the Snapdragon S4, thus providing the modems and other dedicated circuits with lower consumption than external chips with higher manufacturing processes.
Summary
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- 1 Features
- 2 History
- 3 References
- 4 Source
characteristics
Its design responds to the needs of computer use in real time, anywhere, and with a battery life equivalent to one day. The most recent chip is the Snapdragon 835 Ultra HD and the Snapdragon 821, the latest being 64-bit processors. These include integrated HSPA +, GPS, bluetooth, high definition video recording and playback, Wi-Fi, and mobile TV technologies (MediaFLO, DVB-H, and ISDB-T).
The first MID to use 1 GHz Snapdragon was the Toshiba TG01 smartphone .
Qualcomm ensures that its architecture is capable of handling screens up to 12 “with a resolution of up to 1440×900 pixels (WSXGA).
History
- During Q4 2008, the first chips in the Snapdragon family, the QSD8650 and the QSD8250, became available.
- The 1 of Juneof 2010 , Qualcomm announced the MSM8x60 series of Snapdragon SoC’s.
- In Novemberof 2010 , Qualcomm announced the development roadmap for the next generation of SoC’s Snapdragon SoC, including the MSM8960, emphasizing the future improvement in performance CPU and GPU combining low battery consumption.
- The 5 of Januaryof 2011 a version of Microsoft Windows 7 was shown, being compiled for ARM SoC Snapdragon at the Consumer Electronics Show 2011.
- In Augustof 2011 , Qualcomm announced a plan to name their products simply (S1, S2, S3 and S4) and so the public could have easily accessible and understandable to the characteristics of Snapdragon processors. With this nomenclature, a higher number indicates a more modern generation of the SoC.
- The 7 of Januaryof 2013 , Qualcomm announced new series of SoC’s for 2013, Snapdragon 200, 400, 600 and 800. The name of the model easily describe the level you have: Play (200), Plus (400), Pro (600) and Prime (800), all being submodels of the Snapdragon S4 SoC.
