Linux 5.12 – Main Changes, Arm, MIPS and RISC-V Architectures

Linux 5.12

Linux 5.12 release was expected last Sunday, but Linus Torvalds decided to release one more release candidate, namely Linux 5.12-RC8, to “make sure things are all settled down“, so the latest Linux kernel is now expected this weekend.  Tihs should not yield any significant changes, so we can check what’s new in Linux 5.12, notably with regards to Arm, MIPS, and RISC-V architectures often used in SoC’s found in embedded systems. Around two months ago, the release of Linux 5.11 added support for Intel’s software guard extensions (SGX) and Platform Monitoring Technology (PMT), AMD “Van Gogh” and “Dimgrey cavefish” graphics processors, MIPI I3C host controller interfaces, and much more. Some interesting changes in Linux 5.12 include: Added support for ACRN hypervisor designed for IoT & embedded devices Added support for Playstation DualSense & Nintendo 64 game controllers, as well as Nintendo 64 data cartridges Dynamic thermal power management via a […]

Samsung Exynos 2100 5G mobile SoC offers Cortex-X1 core, LPDDR5 memory and more

Samsung Exynos 2100

Following the introduction of Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G premium processor last December, Samsung has now unveiled the Exynos 2100 5G mobile SoC with many of the same features and specifications. The new 5G processor notable features a similar eight-core design with one Cortex-X1 core, three Cortex-A78 cores, and four low-power Cortex-A55 cores, 26 TOPS of AI computing, support for 4K UHD displays, as well as a 5G modem built into the chip. Samsung Exynos 2100 key features and specifications: SoC – Octa-core processor with Single-core Cortex-X1 @ up to 2.9GHz Triple-core Cortex-A78 @ up to 2.8GHz Quad-core Cortex-A55 @ up to 2.2GHz GPU – Mali-G78 MP14 AI Accelerator – 26 TOPS triple NPU Memory – LPDDR5 (51.2GB/s) Storage – UFS 3.1 Display – 4K/WQUXGA @ 120Hz max, QHD+ @ 144Hz max; HDR10+ support Cellular Modem 5G NR Sub-6GHz 5.1Gbps (DL) /1.92 Gbps (UL) 5G NR mmWave 7.35Gbps (DL) /3.67 Gbps […]

Samsung Exynos 1080 Octa-core Cortex-A78/A55 5G SoC includes Mali-G78 GPU

Arm Cortex-A78 CPU core and Mali-G78 GPU were announced in March 2020, and yesterday we covered the first Cortex-A78 processor with MediaTek MT8195 that should feature a Mali-G57 GPU. But today, Samsung has announced the first SoC to combine both Cortex-A78 cores with Mali-G78 GPU. Exynos 1080 octa-core processor also includes a 5G NR modem, supports for LPDDR5 memory, UFS 3.1 storage, and manufactured with a 5nm process. Samsung Exynos 1080 key features and specifications: CPU Single-core Cortex-A78 @ 2.8 GHz Triple-core Cortex-A78 @ 2.6 GHz Quad-core Cortex-A55 @ 2.0 GHz GPU – Mali-G78 MP10 AI Accelerators – Neural processing unit (NPU) and Digital Signal Processor (DSP) Memory – LPDDR5 / LPDDR4x Storage – UFS v3.1 Display – WQHD+ @ 90Hz; FHD+ @ 144Hz; HDR10+ Camera – Single-camera Up to 200MP, dual-camera 32MP+32MP Video – 4K 60fps encoding and decoding with HEVC(H.265)/H.264/VP8/VP9 (10-bit only with HEVC & VP9) Connectivity Cellular […]

Linux 5.8 Release – Main Changes, Arm, MIPS, and RISC-V Architectures

Linux 5.8 Release

Linus Torvalds has just released Linux 5.8: So I considered making an rc8 all the way to the last minute, but decided it’s not just worth waiting another week when there aren’t  any big looming worries around. Because despite the merge window having been very large, there really hasn’t been anything scary going on in the release candidates. Yeah, we had some annoying noise with header file dependencies this week, but that’s not a new annoyance, and it’s also not the kind of subtle bug that keeps me up at night worrying about it. It did reinforce how nice it would be if we had some kind of tooling support to break nasty header file dependencies automatically, but if wishes were horses.. Maybe some day we’ll have some kind of SAT-solver for symbol dependencies that can handle all our different architectures and configurations, but right now it’s just a manual […]

Samsung Exynos 880 SoC Targets Mid-Range 5G Smartphones

Samsung Exynos 880

5G used to be reserved for premium smartphones, but with processors such as Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G and Huawei/Hisilicon Kirin 820, 5G cellular connectivity is also coming to mid-range smartphones. Samsung Exynos 880 brings another option to the mid-range 5G handsets market. The octa-core Cortex-A77/A55 mobile processor comes with a Mali-G76 GPU, an NPU and a DSP for on-chip AI acceleration, and supports 5G downloads up to 3.55 Gbps, uploads up to 1.38 Gbps. Samsung Exynos 880 specification: CPU – Dual-core Cortex-A77 processor @ 2.0GHz, hexa-core Cortex-A55 processor @ 1.8 GHz GPU – Arm Mali-G76 MP5 On-Device AI – Neural processing unit (NPU) and digital signal processor (DSP) System Memory Type – LPDDR4x Storage I/F – UFS 2.1, eMMC 5.1 Display – Up to Full HD+ (2520×1080) resolution Camera – Single-camera up to 64MP, Dual-camera up to 20MP+20MP Video – 4K UHD 30fps encoding and decoding with HEVC/H.265, H.264, and VP9 […]

Samsung Exynos 990 SoC, 5G Exynos Modem 5123 Leverage 7nm-EUV Process

Samsung Exynos 990

Samsung Electronics has announced two silicon products manufactured using a 7-nm process and extreme ultra-violet (EUV) technology with namely Exynos 990 mobile processor for premium smartphones, and 5G Exynos Modem 5123. Samsung Exynos 990 Preliminary specifications: CPU – Octa-core, tri-cluster CPU structure 2x Exynos M5 custom cores 2x high-performance Cortex-A76 cores 4x power-efficient Cortex-A55 cores GPU – Arm Mali-G77MP11 GPU with Valhall architecture AI Accelerators – Dual-core neural processing unit (NPU) and digital signal processor (DSP) that can perform over 10 TOPS Memory I/F – LPDDR5 data rates of up to 5,500 Mbit/s Display – 120Hz refresh-rate display driver Camera – Up to 108MP in total thanks to an ISP that supports up to 6x image sensors with concurrent processing of three Media – 8K30 / 4K120 encode & decode of H.265/HEVC, H.264, VP9 The GPU is said to improve graphic performance or power efficiency by up to 20 percent, […]

Linux on DeX Won’t Be Available on Android 10 as Samsung Scraps the Initiative

Linux on Dex

Desktop mobile convergence was talked a lot a few years with the hope that smartphones would eventually be used as a phone while on the go, and an efficient desktop or laptop replacement at the office or the home. Canonical was heavily involved in making convergence happen with Ubuntu Touch, but over two years ago they eventually had to drop all development efforts focusing on IoT and the Cloud instead. Samsung came up with its own Linux on Galaxy offering in 2017, which officially launched as Linux on Dex beta nearly a year ago, and allowed users, mostly developers, to run a Linux Desktop while their Samsung Android smartphone was connected to a monitor. Linux on Dex is Dead This looked promising, but Android Police reports some beta users received an email from Samsung explaining that the beta program had ended and that Linux on DeX will not be supported […]

Samsung Exynos 9611 SoC Targets AI Powered Smartphones with a Pro-grade Camera

Samsung Exynos 9611

Silicon vendors are all launching new mobile processors with “advanced AI capabilities”, and Samsung has just announced another one of those processors with Exynos 9611 that upgrades on Exynos 9610 introduced last year. The company claims “the Exynos 9611 mobile processor brings intelligent performance for the next-generation experiences from artificial intelligent applications to pro-grade camera”, but I’m actually unable to find any differences between the two processors, except the Cortex-A53 cluster’s  maximum frequency has been boosted to 1.7 GHz instead of 1.6 GHz, and possibly support for 64MP single cameras. Exynos 9611 key features and specifications: CPU – Up to 2.3GHz quad-core Cortex-A73 cluster and up to 1.7GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 cluster. GPU – Mali-G72 MP3 Memory – LPDDR4x Storage – UFS 2.1, eMMC 5.1 Display – Up to WQXGA (2560×1600) Camera – 24MP single camera (up to 64MP),  16+16MP dual camera Video – 4K UHD 120fps encoding and decoding with […]

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