Samsung ships 45nm ARM chip for mobile devices

Samsung claims that its 45nm ARM chips boost performance and reduce costs

Samsung Electronics has introduced the latest in its line of ARM-based application processors for mobile devices, with built-in hardware for graphics acceleration. The chip is aimed at devices such as satellite navigation kit running Windows CE and Linux.

Sampling now and set to ship in volume in the third quarter of 2009, the S5P6440 is Samsung's first ARM11 application processor produced with its low-power 45nm manufacturing process.

The new chip is based on an ARM1176 core running at either 533MHz or 667MHz, and features 2D acceleration hardware that is compliant with the OpenVG graphics programming standard.

The chip offers high performance at low power, and is a cost-effective solution for consumer electronics hardware, Samsung said.

Features such as the hardware OpenVG graphics acceleration mean that the S5P6440 can deliver a performance boost, while reducing the overall cost of devices built around them, according to the firm.

The chip has an integrated Dram controller that supports both mobile DDR and the lower cost DDR2 memory components, plus an integrated display serial interface that links directly to LCD screens using a minimal number of pins.

Samsung's S5P6440 application processor supports all major high-level operating systems, including Windows CE and Linux.