Renesas samples 45-nm ARM-based mobile processor

LONDON — Renesas Technology Europe has begun sampling the SH-Mobile APE4, a Cortex-A8 based processor targeted at mobile phone and mobile device implementations. The processor is implemented in a 45-nm process and can be operated at a clock frequency in excess of 1-GHz, Renesas said.

It includes the ability to process 1080 progressive-scan high-definition video recording and playback at 30 frames per second. To support 3-D graphics the device is equipped with a PowerVR SGX2 graphics engine, licensed from Imagination Technologies Group plc. The SH-Mobile APE4 also incorporates an audio subsystem that enables more than 100 hours of audio playback on a standard mobile phone battery.

For design flexibility and reduced system bill of materials, the SH-Mobile APE4 includes two USB 2.0 Host/Function modules, three SD host controllers with support and a 24-bit TFT color LCD controller supporting up to WXGA+ display sizes. Furthermore a PAL/NTSC encoder and an HDMI transmitter are integrated.

The SH-Mobile APE4 is packaged in a 0.4mm pitch, 12mm x 12mm BGA package that allows package-on-package vertical stacking of low power, multichip package (MCP) memory such as LP-DDR2, reducing the overall footprint of the memory and processor combination.

"With broadband wireless access like UMTS/HSPA or LTE, customers can have the internet at their fingertips wherever and whenever. Access to music, videos and games with mobile phones becomes as simple as it became on the PC a few years ago" says Carsten Wild, Marketing Manager Application Processor Platforms, Renesas Mobile Platform Center, in a statement. "Renesas has developed the Application Processor Engine, SH-Mobile APE4, as the first device in a new class of application processors to offer an entirely new user experience on mobile computers and to solve the conflicts around creating an exciting multimedia experience within the low power budget of mobile devices."

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