Nvidia has debuted the the Tegra 4i processor, which can best be described as a fully integrated 4G LTE mobile SoC.
According to company rep Phil Carmack, the chip is significantly faster yet half the size of its nearest competitor.
Previously codenamed “Project Grey,” the Tegra 4i processor boasts 60 custom NVIDIA GPU cores; a quad-core CPU based on ARM’s newest and most efficient core – the R4 Cortex-A9 CPU- plus a fifth battery saver core; and a version of the NVIDIA i500 LTE modem optimized for integration.
“The Tegra 4i is an extremely power efficient, compact, high- performance mobile processor that enables smartphone performance and capability previously available only in expensive super phones,” Carmack explained.
“We are delivering for the first time a single, integrated processor that powers all the major functions of a smartphone. Tegra 4i phones will provide amazing computing power, world-class phone capabilities, and exceptionally long battery life.”
Carmack also noted that Tegra 4i’s new 2.3 GHz CPU was jointly designed by ARM and Nvidia, with the latter company considering it the most efficient, highest performance CPU core on the market.
“Utilizing the same architecture as Tegra 4’s GPU, Tegra 4i features five times the number of GPU cores of Tegra 3 for high-quality, console-quality gaming experiences and full 1080p HD displays,” he said.
“It also integrates an optimized version of the NVIDIA i500 software-defined radio modem which provides LTE capabilities, and makes networking upgradability and scalability fast and easy.”
In addition, Tegra 4i mobile processor’s camera capabilities includes the Chimera Computational Photography Architecture recently announced for the Tegra 4 lineup. This facilitates a number of advanced features, including the always-on high dynamic range (HDR) capabilities, first tap to track functionality and first panoramic photos with HDR.
And last, but certainly not least, Nvidia introduced its reference smartphone platform code-named “Phoenix” for the Tegra 4i processor. Essentially, Phoenix is a blueprint that phone makers can reference in designing and building future Tegra 4i smartphones to help get them to market quicker.
