CybserSecurity News

Tag: Qualcomm

  • Apple occupies nearly 80% of the Arm processor-based notebook market share

    Apple is accelerating the pace of transition from Intel x86 processors to self-developed chips, including MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac mini, which may get rid of Intel x86 processors faster than planned. Although there is only one M1 chip, for the time being, Apple will soon release a MacBook Pro model equipped with the new M1X.

    According to the research company Strategy Analytics, processors based on the Arm architecture occupy more and more markets, and Apple’s laptops are the main driving force, contributing a considerable part of the growth. Data show that 79% of notebooks based on Arm processors in 2021 will be Apple’s MacBook series. With the release of M1X and new MacBook Pro models, Apple will further increase its share.

    In addition, the revenue of notebook computers based on Arm architecture processors will more than triple in 2021, reaching $949 million. If compared by quantity, among the notebook computers on the market, shipments of Arm-based processors have more than tripled in 2021, accounting for more than 10% of the total notebook computer processor shipments.

    In addition to Apple, MediaTek ranks second with a market share of 18%. In the notebook computer market, its Arm architecture processors are mainly used in Chromebooks. It is a little bit surprising that Qualcomm, ranked third, with a market share of only 3%, and the gap with Apple may be further widened in the future. Although Qualcomm and Microsoft have established close ties, they still have not been able to achieve success in the laptop market until now.

  • Qualcomm introduces aptX Lossless audio technology

    At the beginning of this year, Qualcomm launched Snapdragon Sound, a solution combining hardware and software technology designed to create a seamless connection between terminals such as smartphones, wireless earbuds, and headsets. The audio technology is oriented to online music playback, voice calls, or wireless gaming scenarios, and Qualcomm hopes to provide consumers with the ultimate audio experience.

    Snapdragon Sound can support Bluetooth connection latency as low as 89 milliseconds and can support 24-bit 96kHz high-definition audio. The included Qualcomm Aqstic DAC supports up to 32-bit 384kHz PCM format, and ultra-low total harmonic distortion plus noise (THD+N) DSD format.

    After only about half a year, Qualcomm made improvements to Snapdragon Sound and announced the launch of Qualcomm aptX Lossless audio technology, and introduced it to Snapdragon Sound like a new feature. aptX Lossless is a new feature of aptX Adaptive technology, designed to provide CD-quality 16-bit 44.1kHz lossless audio through Bluetooth wireless connection technology. Qualcomm has introduced system-level audio solutions and optimized many wireless connections and key audio technologies, including aptX Adaptive.

    aptX Adaptive and Qualcomm Bluetooth High-Speed ​​Link can achieve the bandwidth requirement for continuous data transmission, and finally, achieve CD-quality lossless audio transmission through Bluetooth connection. Users can choose 16-bit 44.1kHz lossless audio or 24-bit 96kHz high-definition audio. At the same time, it can also be automatically detected. When the conditions for playing lossless audio are met, related audio technologies will work together to improve sound quality.

    Qualcomm said that it has done relevant market research before, showing that sound quality is the most important driving factor for users to purchase audio equipment. Chapman, vice president, and general manager, Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd says: “Over half of respondents are seeking either lossless or high-resolution audio quality, and a massive 64% saying that lossless audio quality is likely to influence their decision to purchase wireless earbuds. Currently, lossless audio is only supported on client devices such as phones, PCs, and tablets. By supporting lossless audio on next-gen earbuds and headphones, we’re providing our customers another way to deliver sound the way the artist intended, as well as a significant opportunity to differentiate and be among the first to develop products with this feature.”

  • Qualcomm will use NUVIA’s technology to develop its own CPU architecture

    At the beginning of this year, Qualcomm announced that it would acquire the start-up NUVIA for $1.4 billion to enhance its own CPU performance. NUVIA was founded in 2019 by Gerard Williams III, John Bruno, and Manu Gulati. They have worked in AMD, Apple, ARM, Broadcom, and Google and have decades of industry experience.

    NUVIA’s original goal was to build a processor based on the ARM architecture for the server. According to NUVIA’s simulation, in Geekbench 5, its Phoenix core can provide at least 50% higher peak performance than AMD Zen 2 architecture and Intel Sunny Cove core, while power consumption is only 1/3, which looks very competitive. The performance of the Phoenix core may also be better than the high-performance core of Apple A13, which means that it is better than the general Cortex A-series cores widely used in smartphones, tablets, and individual PCs.
    Qualcomm Snapdragon 895

    Recently, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon accepted an interview with Reuters, outlining Qualcomm’s intention to develop its own processor based on NUVIA technology. Qualcomm plans to launch chips with its own CPU architecture for notebook computers next year, but will not return to the data center market for the time being. Instead, Qualcomm will try to license the core based on the new architecture to other companies.Qualcomm tried to develop processors used in data centers many years ago and finally failed. Although the data center software ecosystem that is compatible with the ARM architecture has continued to develop in recent years, because ARM has provided Neoverse cores tailored specifically for data centers, the competition in this field has become more intense.

    Cristiano Amon also said that Qualcomm and ARM have had a cooperative relationship for many years. If ARM can develop a better CPU architecture than Qualcomm itself, then Qualcomm will always choose to obtain a license from ARM.

  • If Nvidia fails to acquire ARM, Qualcomm intends to establish a consortium to invest in ARM

    Last year, Nvidia announced that it would acquire ARM at a price of $40. This has caused a lot of repercussions in the industry. Industry giants including Microsoft, Google, and Qualcomm have expressed opposition and even called for the implementation of antitrust laws.

    ARM founder Hermann Hauser publicly expressed his opposition immediately after NVIDIA announced the acquisition of ARM. Graphcore, the British chip design company in which he participated in the investment, also submitted his opposition to the regulatory agency, the British Competition and Market Authority (CMA).

    UK government Nvidia ARM

    Although Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is still confident in the acquisition of ARM, he believes that the acquisition can be completed in 2022, and emphasizes the importance of maintaining ARM as an open platform, and reiterated his commitment to licensing. But in fact, this high-profile acquisition did not go well. Earlier, the British Minister of Digitalization, Culture, Media, and Sports Oliver Dowden issued a public interest intervention notice on Nvidia’s acquisition of ARM “on the grounds of national security.” Recently, NVIDIA has submitted an application to the Chinese regulatory agency to review its acquisition of the chip design company ARM at a price of $40 billion.

    According to HotHardware, the source quoted Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon in an interview saying:

    If Arm has an independent future, I think you will find there is a lot of interest from a lot of the companies within the ecosystem, including Qualcomm, to invest in Arm. We will definitely be open to it, and we have had discussions with other companies that feel the same way. That’s the reason it’s a logical conclusion for us, and for many other companies, that to invest in a strong and independent Arm is probably the best for everyone.

  • Nokia, Qualcomm, and UScellular set a world record for extended-range 5G millimeter wave

    Nokia, Qualcomm, and UScellular announced recently that the three parties have achieved a world record of millimeter-wave coverage at a communication distance of more than 10 kilometers using extended-range 5G millimeter-wave solutions under commercial networks.

    Snapdragon 778G 5G

    The field test was completed under the UScellular commercial network on Grand Island, Nebraska, based on the 28GHz (n261) frequency band, using Nokia AirScale millimeter-wave wireless base stations. The above three companies conducted joint tests in multiple locations for different scenarios, respectively measuring the communication distance, upload, and download throughput, and delay. In more than 10 kilometers, the average download speed is about 1Gbps, and the upload speed is close to 57Mbps. In addition, a download speed of approximately 750 Mbps is achieved at a communication distance of more than 11 kilometers.

    This important milestone shows that Nokia’s extended-range 5G millimeter wave solution and the first-generation Qualcomm fixed wireless access platform enable mobile operators such as UScellular to bridge the connection gap in areas where there was no Internet connection service or insufficient coverage before. 5G millimeter waves will help bridge the digital divide and provide the ultimate capacity in rural, suburban, and urban areas.

    Via: Yahoo!Finance

  • Intel and MediaTek collaborate to launch M.2 5G solutions

    Earlier Qualcomm announced the launch of the M.2 Qualcomm Snapdragon X65 5G modem, which allows hardware manufacturers to launch compatible devices.

    The reason for using the M.2 interface is that the current standard has matured and most devices have this interface, so it is more convenient if you want to install and use it.

    But it needs to be emphasized that Qualcomm’s modem does not support users to purchase and install it by themselves. On the contrary, it is sold to the manufacturer for matching in the design.

    Now Intel has launched a very similar product, and Intel has chosen to cooperate with chip manufacturer MediaTek to launch a 5G modem that also uses the M.2 interface.

    Intel’s solution this time is still used by notebook computer manufacturers, which is the same as Qualcomm and is not directly provided to consumers.

    The reason is that although the use of the M.2 interface can reduce the complexity of implementing a 5G network on a laptop, it still requires the manufacturer to provide a dedicated antenna.

    Therefore, if ordinary consumers buy this modem and install it directly, compatibility problems and poor network problems may result in a poor user experience. Intel stated in the press release that its network communication module uses the technology provided by MediaTek.

    Intel actually wanted to build a 5G network card through the M.2 interface. The company and MediaTek began to develop such products in 2019.

    It’s just that Qualcomm’s M.2 version of the X65 modem launched by Qualcomm is actually the same as Intel’s solution.

    And Qualcomm’s modems also support millimeter-wave networks, while Intel and MediaTek’s models do not, but it stands to reason that MediaTek’s prices will be cheaper.

    The first batch of manufacturers to adopt Intel solutions include Acer, Asus, and Hewlett-Packard. These manufacturers have already considered incorporating Intel modules into their designs.

    Of course, it is also possible that some manufacturers will adopt Qualcomm’s solutions on higher-end devices. After all, Qualcomm’s solutions are relatively wider in support.

    Products for ordinary consumers may use Intel’s solutions, so that end products can be more affordable to promote the adoption of such technologies.

    Via: TechCrunch

  • Intel is still the world’s largest semiconductor supplier

    According to the latest statistics from IC Insights, although Intel’s revenue declined in the first quarter, it is still the world’s largest chip supplier in terms of sales, surpassing Samsung and TSMC. Intel’s competitor, AMD increased substantially in the first quarter of 2021, and it is currently one of the top 15 semiconductor companies in the world.

    In the past few quarters, the demand for personal computers and chips has increased significantly. Therefore, the sales of the top 15 semiconductor companies in the first quarter of 2021 have increased by 21% year-on-year, which can be said to be a considerable increase. Intel led the market with $18.676 billion in sales, but its sales were down 4% from the first quarter of last year. Samsung followed closely with $16.152 billion, while TSMC ranked third with $12.911 billion.

    Samsung is the world’s largest supplier of NAND and DRAM memory and has been challenging Intel’s leading position for many years. If the price of memory rises sufficiently, Samsung may indeed surpass Intel, but this situation did not appear in the first quarter of 2021. TSMC also experienced a substantial increase in its sales last year and continued its strong momentum in the first quarter of 2021, and it is likely to continue for some time.

    AMD and MediaTek are two newcomers to the list. AMD benefited from the shipments of servers and high-performance desktop processors, in the first quarter sales reached $3.445 billion, an increase of 93% year-on-year, from the 18th to the 11th place. MediaTek ranked 16th in the first quarter of 2020. One year later, its sales reached $3.849 billion, a year-on-year increase of 90%, and it jumped to 10th place. It is also worth noting that Qualcomm and Nvidia also have more than 50% year-on-year growth in sales.

  • UMC reached a chip foundry agreement with Qualcomm for the next 6 years

    As the second-largest foundry in Taiwan, the gap between UMC and TSMC has been growing. However, in the past year or so, with the global spread of the coronavirus, demand in the semiconductor industry has been strong, and UMC’s recent bargaining and supply capabilities have also become stronger, and prices have increased many times in the past period of time.

    Prior to this, UMC has started large-scale investment in order to increase production capacity. Unlike other fabs, UMC focuses on mature process nodes while retaining the ability to upgrade advanced process nodes. In addition, UMC has reached capacity agreements with major chip companies for the next 6 years, adopting the capacity margin model, and paying a certain percentage of advance payment for the planned chip production in the future, so as to ensure the supply of basic production capacity within a few years. Through the binding of the interests of both parties, UMC has invested $3.6 billion to expand the production capacity of the Fab 12A fab in Tainan, Taiwan, which uses the 28nm process node.

    Snapdragon 860

    There are 8 chip design companies rumored to have reached an agreement with UMC. According to DigiTimes, this list includes companies such as Qualcomm and Samsung in addition to the previously exposed MediaTek and Realtek. Among them, Qualcomm is more special, because there is not much cooperation with UMC in the past, and the relationship is relatively ordinary. At the same time, this long-term agreement is different from Qualcomm’s regular replacement of foundries to reduce costs and increase bargaining power.

    Over the past year or so, Qualcomm has had a certain degree of impact on its earnings due to the supply of chips from different processes. According to industry rumors, Qualcomm’s orders with Samsung were lower than expected due to lower-than-expected yields, so it returned to TSMC to seek capacity, but TSMC’s capacity was fully loaded, and it needed to increase prices and wait. On the contrary, MediaTek is favored by many equipment manufacturers due to stable shipments, which puts a certain pressure on Qualcomm.

  • Qualcomm launches Snapdragon X65 5G M.2 modem

    Qualcomm recently announced the launch of the Qualcomm Snapdragon X65 5G modem based on the M.2 interface, which is equivalent to a pluggable network module.

    Currently, some laptops support pluggable and replaceable network cards, but it is not easy for users to upgrade their own network cards.

    Qualcomm’s new modem is based on the M.2 interface, which is much more convenient: many new notebook motherboards have reserved M.2 interfaces for connecting devices.

    This means that users can install and use the X65 modem after purchasing it by themselves, but Qualcomm also emphasizes that compatibility also depends on the notebook manufacturer.

    Qualcomm said that the Snapdragon X65 5G debug demodulator now supports wider millimeter wave coverage, allowing the device to obtain a faster and more stable network connection.

    Snapdragon X65 5G M.2
    Image: Qualcomm

    The company said that with the current remote work and higher mobility, data consumption is growing rapidly, so consumer demand for high-speed mobile network equipment is also increasing.

    The new M.2 version of the modem can be more convenient for notebook computer manufacturers to carry, allowing manufacturers to launch thin and light network devices with convenient network connections.

    The reference design version of the modem released this time provides manufacturers with design references to provide consumers with more 5G network equipment before the end of this year.

    It is worth noting that although the interface of this network device is compatible, it does not mean that all consumers can buy it and then install it to connect.

    Because the notebook computer has a complicated design that may affect the normal network connection, this may require equipment manufacturers to reserve basic architectures such as antennas.

  • Qualcomm announced the launch of the Snapdragon 778G 5G mobile platform

    At the Qualcomm 5G Technology Summit, Qualcomm officially launched the Snapdragon 778G 5G mobile platform, which aims to provide the most advanced mobile games and enhanced artificial intelligence implementations to provide a better experience. This SoC is slated to power upcoming high-tier smartphones from Honor, iQOO, Motorola, OPPO, Realme, and Xiaomi.

    Compared with the Samsung 5nm process used by the Snapdragon 780G, the Snapdragon 778G uses the TSMC 6nm process. As for why two products with similar performance and features were launched in a short period of time, Qualcomm said that due to the current tight supply of chips, it has affected all walks of life. Snapdragon 780G and Snapdragon 778G are produced by two different foundries, Samsung and TSMC, respectively, which can better meet the growing demand for high-performance mobile platforms from major global manufacturers.

    Snapdragon 778G 5G

    The Snapdragon 778G uses Qualcomm’s Kryo 670 architecture CPU and is equipped with a Cortex-A78 core clocked at 2.4GHz and three Cortex-A78 cores clocked at 2.2GHz, four Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 1.9GHz, GPU Adreno 624L, support for the new sixth-generation Qualcomm AI Engine, integrated Hexagon 770 DSP digital signal processor. It also supports the Elite Gaming game platform, Snapdragon Sound audio, etc. However, unlike the Snapdragon 780G that supports LPDDR4X memory, the Snapdragon 778G can support up to 16GB of LPDDR5-3200 memory. The Snapdragon 778G has a 40% performance improvement over the previous generation Snapdragon 768G.

    In terms of camera, the Snapdragon 778G continues to use the 14-bit Spectra 570 ISP, which can operate three camera sensors at the same time, single-camera up to 192 million pixels, dual camera up to 36 million + 22 million pixels, triple camera up to 22 million pixels, support 4K HDR10+ for video recording.

    In terms of network connection, it is equipped with a Snapdragon X53 modem and FastConnect 6700, the downlink rate of the sub 6GHz band is 3.3Gbps, Wi-Fi 6 rate is 3.6Gbps, and it supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 technologies.