ARM Launches Its Smallest, Lowest Power Multicore Chip

The Cortex-A5 is intended for devices including Internet-enabled mobile phones and embedded systems.

ARM on Wednesday launched the Cortex-A5 processor, the chip designer's smallest and lowest power multicore processor for devices including Internet-enabled mobile phones and embedded systems.

The new chip, built with a 40-nanometer production process, offers about 20% more performance than the ARM11 in a third of the space. Compared to the ARM9, the Cortex-A5 delivers 80% more performance in a similar-size chip.

ARM, which licenses its technology to chip makers, says the new chip offers a "high-value migration path" for licensees currently using ARM9 26EJ-S and ARM11 76JZ-S processors. Among the targeted applications for the Cortex-A5 are smartphones, as well as low-cost handsets.

ARM chips dominate the mobile phone market today. Intel (NSDQ: INTC), however, is developing its Atom processor core for the market and expects the chip to be ready for a major push in 2011. Atom, which consumes far more power than ARM processors, dominates the netbook market today.

Depending on the application, the Coretex-A5 can be deployed as a single-core chip or up to a quad-core processor using ARM's multicore technology, called MPCore. That technology has been licensed by more than 15 semiconductor companies, includingBroadcom (NSDQ: BRCM), NEC Electronics, Nvidia, Renesas Technology, Toshiba and Sarnoff.

"The Cortex-A5 processor scales from ultra low cost handsets and lifestyle Internet devices all the way to consumer, embedded, and industrial devices -- anything that can be connected to the internet," Eric Schorn, VP of marketing for ARM's Processor Division, said in a statement. "We are truly delivering the Internet everywhere."

The Cortex-A5 is compatible with Cortex-A8 and Coretex-A9 processors, which means the new chip can be used with software already running on the older platforms. Those applications include Android, Adobe (NSDQ: ADBE) Flash, Java Platform Standard Edition, JavaFX, Linux, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) Windows Embedded, Symbian and Ubuntu.

While declining to name licensees, ARM officials said several companies are developing chips with Cortex-A5 and are expected to have products available next year.

Intel this year announced an agreement in which semiconductor manufacturer TSMC will deliver technology that will drive Atom into a broader set of gadgets, including smartphones. Intel needs TSMC because Intel does not have manufacturing capabilities for customizing a full set of technologies to fit the many different device designs for non-PCs, analsysts say.