Marvell Armada mobile processors just launched

on 10/19/2009 02:13 PST

Marvell just launched a family of mobile application processors* called Armada aimed at mobile devices like handheld or portable computers (smarttops). The Family has 4 models named Armada 100, Armada 500, Armada 600 and Armada 1000. As you can guess each of them address a different segment depending on the performance, thermal and power requirements. Here are the highlights:

Armada 100: for low-intensity applications like printers, GPS, desktop phones etc…
Armada 500 and 600: handsets, MID. Supports 1080p decode, 3D graphics WUXGA resolution and runs at 1.2Ghz maximum.
Armada 1000: for set top boxes and possibly smart tops. We guess that this design requires more cooling. It is a dual-core CPU, can decode 1080p movies and has graphics acceleration.

All processors have been designed to be low-power and have plenty of in/out functions like USB, Ethernet, SATA, PCIe, Flashcard readers and so on. They are also compatible with popular memory sub-systems like DDR2 or DDR3.

*Application processors are also called “system on a chip”. That is equivalent of a PC motherboard with the processor, graphics processor and the IO chipset in a single chip.

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SoC SoC stands for 'system on a chip' or 'system on chip' which is a way to describe that a complete electronic system (like a computer) has been integrated on a single chip that includes processors, co-processors, memory, and all the associated data buses. To qualify as an SoC, all the sub-components must be cut from the same silicon die. To learn more about SoC, read SoC: The Force That Rules All Smartphones and Tablets

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