Cortex-A5 boosts performance, saves power
1 min read
ARM has expanded its range of processor cores with the introduction of the Cortex-A5 MPCore processor, the smallest multicore processor the company has yet produced.
Available as an area and power efficient uniprocessor or with up to four processor cores, the Cortex-A5 is said to deliver the performance and power scalability required to deliver internet connectivity to devices ranging from ultra low cost handsets to consumer and industrial products.
"The Cortex-A5 processor signals an acceleration in the future of internet connectivity," said Eric Schorn, pictured, vp of marketing for ARM's processor division. "The Cortex-A5 processor scales from ultra low cost handsets and lifestyle internet devices all the way to consumer, embedded, and industrial devices – anything that can be connected to the internet. We are truly delivering the internet everywhere."
As a single core, the Cortex-A5 provides a migration path from the ARM926EJ-S and ARM1176JZ-S processors. Better performance than the ARM1176JZ-S processor, but in the silicon footprint of the ARM926EJ-S, means the Cortex-A5 is nearly twice as power efficient as its predecessors.
This performance is further enhanced by the Cortex-A5 multicore processor which utses ARM's MPCore technology.
The Cortex-A5 processor, which features TrustZone security technology and a NEON multimedia processing engine, is application compatible with the Cortex-A8 and Cortex-A9 processors.
