Qualcomm entered the wearables market in 2016 with the launch of Snapdragon Wear 2100 quad-core Cortex A7 SoC, followed by other models all based on Cortex-A7 cores including the more recent Wear 3100 platform which also added a QCC1110 co-processor to extend battery life.
The company has now made the switch to 64-bit Arm with Snapdragon Wear 4100 and Wear 4100+ both featuring a quad-core Arm Cortex A53 processor and companion chips, but the latter adds QCC1100 Arm Cortex-M0 always-on (AON) co-processor to lower power consumption.
Snapdragon Wear 4100+ key features and specifications:
- SoC – Qualcomm SDM429w or SDA429w
- CPU – Quad-core Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.7 GHz
- GPU – Adreno A504 GPU up to 320 MHz with OpenGL ES 3.1 API support
- DSP – Dual Qualcomm Hexagon QDSP6 v56, dedicated MDSP for modem and GPS, and dedicated ADSP for Open Sensor Execution Environment (SEE) and audio
- Memory & Storage I/F – LPDDR3 up to 750 MHz, eMMC 5.1 flash (ePoP memory)
- Display – MIPI-DSI up to 1080p 30fps
- Peripherals – USB 2.0
- Process – 12nm technology
- AON co-processor – Qualcomm QCC1110
- CPU – Cortex-M0 microcontroller core
- Custom-designed SRAM
- Deep learning engine for custom workloads
- Display – SPI interface for display supporting up to 64K colors
- Various I/Os
- PMIC (See Power Management section)
- 21mm2 footprint
- Connectivity
- Bluetooth 5.0 via Qualcomm WCN3610 or WCN3980
- Bluetooth 4.2 via Qualcomm WCN3620 or WCN3660B
- 802.11a/b/g/n (2.4GHz) WiFi
- Integrated NFC with support from NXP
- Cellular
- Snapdragon X5 LTE Cat 4/3/1 Global Mode modem with support for LTE FDD, LTE TDD, 1x Adv, EV-DO Rev. A, TD-SCDMA; and GSM/EDGE
- Qualcomm WTR2965 modem nd GPS RF
- Qualcomm QPA4360, QSW8573, QET4101 Gallium Arsenide PAs
- Location
- Gen 8C Satellite: GPS, Glonass, Beidou, Galileo
- Terrestrial: Wi-Fi, Cellular
- Qualcomm Sensor Assisted Positioning for Wearables
- Audio & Voice – Qualcomm Voice Suite, Qualcomm Voice Noise Suppression and Echo Cancellation, Qualcomm Voice Activation, Qualcomm Aqstic audio codec, and speaker amplifier
- Security Features
- Qualcomm Processor Security feature
- Qualcomm Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) 4.0.5
- Power Management
- Wearable PMIC optimized for low power and high integration
- Battery charging, fuel gauge, and haptics driver functionality
Snapdragon Wear 4100+ supports Wear OS by Google, while Snapdragon Wear 4100 supports both Wear OS by Google and Android Open Source Project (AOSP). QCC1110 co-processor runs an unnamed RTOS.
Snapdragon Wear 4100+ is expected to deliver more than 85% faster performance compared to Snapdragon Wear 3100, and consume 25% less power. QCC1100 AON co-processor has been optimized to allow up to 64K colors instead of just 16 colors, and enables continuous heart rate monitoring, faster tilt-to-wake responsiveness, steps, alarms, timers, and haptics.
Next-generation imoo Z6 Ultra and Mobvoi Tic Watch Pro smartwatches will be powered by Snapdragon Wear 4100+, and start shipping in about one month. You may find additional information on the product page and/or press release.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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