Last week, we announced the OMAP4470 processor and are thrilled with the industry’s response, including positive press from SlashGear, AnandTech and others. The processor delivers:

 

·         New features to the OMAP™ 4 family that complement the future OMAP 5 platform

·         A  unique, “smart multicore” architecture

·         Graphics performance that outshines competitive devices by 30-40%

·         Graphics synergy, with 2x more layered frames composition than competitive solutions

·         True HD record and playback (1080p 30fps) on various codec formats

 

As a TIer heavily involved in OMAP4470’s development, I wanted to share some additional thoughts.

 

The OMAP4470 processor in context of the OMAP platform strategy

 

We’re here to help our customers bring their devices to market first, with the best user experiences possible. To that end, TI scales intelligently, quickly and frequently to meet our customers’ product ramps. OMAP4470 brings capabilities required by customer devices today. And, while the recently announced OMAP 5 processors and OMAP4470 processors are both scheduled to sample in the second half of this year, the OMAP4470 is an upgrade based on existing silicon—meaning this product is expected to go into production about six months earlier than OMAP 5 processors.

 

The OMAP4470 delivers full software and pin-to-pin compatibility with previous OMAP 4 devices, enabling customers to rapidly deploy new products with the latest technologies, with minimum effort. OMAP4470 processor-based products will eventually coexist with OMAP 5 processor-based products, providing a portfolio of complementary products that allows customers to address various markets with a common software investment.

 

The ultimate user experience…that won’t drain battery life

 

Like its predecessors, the OMAP4470 echoes our promise to maximize user experiences while still maintaining mobile-friendly power levels. This is no easy feat, but our team will never compromise battery life for hyper performance – the need for both comes hand-in-hand. The OMAP4470 has a smart multicore architecture with two ARM® Cortex™-A9 cores  running up to 1.8 GHz each, two Cortex M3 cores for real-time power efficiency, and a new 2D graphics processor and enhanced 3D graphics with Imagination’s SGX544.

 

Last week, I was asked if we see the need for 1.8 GHz performance in smartphones. Based on extensive research and customer conversations, we believe that the OMA4470 processor is well-suited for smartphones, tablets, ultrathin computing devices and the like. The two A9s lift the performance and provide a similar power envelope even if the device is running at 1.8 GHz per core. Our smart, efficient architecture and power management techniques contain thermal dissipation and achieve maximum performance without draining the battery.

 

Stepping up graphics performance

 

The OMAP4470 processor was designed with Android and Windows 8 in mind. ARM-based computing, you ask? Yes. In fact, during Computex, Microsoft demonstrated an OMAP-based device running Windows 8, foreshadowing great things to come.  

 

With more advanced mobile and computing architectures comes the need for intensified graphics capabilities, which the OMAP4470 proudly touts.

 

Graphics measurement involves more than just triangles per second. So, we look beyond these numbers for a more holistic view. We perform in-house testing on commonly-used industry benchmarks that represent overall GPU performance.  Our testing shows the OMAP4430 outperforming the competition. With its major graphics and memory bandwidth improvements, we believe the OMAP4470 will continue this trend with 30-40% better performance compared to competitive devices available in the same timeframe.

 

Enabling sophisticated experiences on Full HD screens requires the perfect balance between 3D graphics, 2D graphics, display processing performance and memory bandwidth. This synergy is implemented on the OMAP4470 processor, enabling 2x more layered frames composition than competitive solutions.

 

OMAP4470 also builds on the OMAP4430 processor’s unique video performances.  OMAP4430 is one of the only applications processors to support true, full HD record and playback today. By “true” I mean 1080p 30fps on various codec formats such as H264 HP. This is thanks to the IVAHD video processor, and dual-channel memory architecture. OMAP4470 will raise the bar again, enabling 1080p Internet playback at 60fps as well a 1080p video conferencing.

 

What do you think about the OMAP4470 processor? Sound off in the comment section. We’d love to hear from you!

Anonymous
Parents
  • I have read in several places that the OMAP4470 is pin compatible with the OMAP4430, so... if I am careful with my heat gun, couldn't I pop the 4430 off a PandaBoard, replace it with a 4470 sample, and start developing with OpenCL (supported on the 4470 but not the 4430)?

Comment
  • I have read in several places that the OMAP4470 is pin compatible with the OMAP4430, so... if I am careful with my heat gun, couldn't I pop the 4430 off a PandaBoard, replace it with a 4470 sample, and start developing with OpenCL (supported on the 4470 but not the 4430)?

Children
No Data