As Apple worked on a design scheme to cram four times as many pixels on the iPad 3 display, the IT technology bellwether had no alternative but to double the graphic processing power of the A5X CPU to process tones of of extra pixels, compared with its predecessor A5 CPU.
The 2X jump in the number of graphic cores on the A5X CPU is a clear testimony to how rapidly GPUs, or graphic processing units are outshining CPUs on a SOC design, as mobile computing environment is increasingly getting video-centric, featuring 3D and full HD capabilities.
But, the proliferation of GPUs in the SOC design also helps partly explain why Imagination Technologies Ltd, the U.K.-based silicon IP provider, has been prospering as a market leader in graphic core market for mobile phones and embedded devices.
According to market research firm Jon Peddie Research, Imagination commands about half of the GPU market for mobile and embedded solutions, outmaneuvering Qualcomm Inc., ARM Holdings , Nvidia Ltd., and Vivante.
Moreover, almost 80% of GPU IP core market are supplied by Imagination in what the company refers to as non-captive GPU core market.
More of silicon areas dedicated to GPU cores
At a press conference here held in Seoul, Hossein Yassaie, CEO with Imagination Technologies Ltd. said, “Graphics is huge market. We have seen very strong design wins for PowerVR graphics during the last 12 months from existing and new customers and plenty of progress in China, as well. “
True enough, graphics engine of today are performing much more than what traditional GPUs were doing. Graphic processing units, or GPUs were all about turning triangles, or polygons into pixels to display 2 D screen images in what’s called as 3D graphic image rendering. But, today, they are also very instrumental in processing images for running various video-centric applications like augmented reality and face-and gesture-recognition engines.
So, more of silicon area is being given to GPUs than CPU cores in SOC chip solutions.
To keep up with this trend, Imagination has taped out 4 member cores of its Series 6 PowerVR graphic core family, a sixth generation of PowerVR graphic technology codenamed as Rogue.
Imagination already released G62100 and G62400 PowerVR graphic cores in early this year, the first two GPU core members of its Series 6 GPU family.
2X performance
The two GPU cores is referred to by Imagination as the most optimally designed GPU cores to strike the best balance between power consumption and silicon area.
As demand for more performance-oriented GPU cores is on the rapid rise, however, the GPU core titan recently has added two more upgrade versions of Series 6 GPU core family –G6230 and G6430.
Based on TBDR, or tile based deferred rendering architecture, which is the most important ingredient of the Series 6 family, these two GPU cores minimize power and memory bandwidth.
As they also support PVRTC and PVRTC2 texture compression formats, the two upgraded versions are very instrumental in delivering the highest possible image quality with lowest application memory footprint as well as lowest SoC bandwidth. Their computing performance is outstanding, too, performing from 100 giga flops up to 1 tera flops.
The architecture of the Series 6 is a natural evolution of the 5th generation PowerVR. We focus on significant increase in processing density. The combination of significant increases in processing density, silicon technology and architectural enhancements can deliver up to 2X performance than our predecessor Series 5 family,” said Tony King Smith, vice president of marketing with Imagination.
More than 20 mobile and embedded devices are now being built around the Series 6 GPU family, according to the company.
Imagination doesn't thrive on GPU alone, however. PowerVR graphics cores are just one piece of its broad IP core portfolio. Although it is less known than PowerVR GPU family, Imagination’s PowerVR video encoder and decoder cores are being widely adopted across a range of applications markets from mobile streaming and download, smart TVs, digital cameras, wireless display.
More than 300 million units of PowerVR encoder and decoder IP cores have been licensed and shipped so far.
As a new generation of display technologies is now coming in droves, including 4K x 2k ultra high-definition and OLEDs, Imagination also unveiled Series 4 video encoder and decoder IP cores, which can support 10 bit of color depth.
Support 10 bit of color depth
Ensigma configurable and programmable communications and connectivity IP cores are another money spinner, as integrating communications IP cores into chips will be a next major step for silicon industry’s SOC chip design scheme. The Ensigma Series 4 receivers is a multi-standard broadcasting receiver that can support 15 different TV standards as well as all major analog and digital radio standards.
Its key feature is that it can be the same engine for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity solution including 802.11 a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0 v.
Multi-threading 32-bit Meta processor family is another sure-bet that Imagination believes will become a next generation of growth catalyst, as the power-efficient processor IP core will allow the company to erode into ARM Holdings’ long-held stronghold of CPU process core market.
Eventually, Imagination aims to remake itself as a total solution provider for SOC chips designs, as the company can offer most of key building blocks that make up SOC chips, including communications and radio processors, GPUs, CPUs and other software sets