The Next Generation of XScale: Monahans Is Here!

[Nurhisham Hussein]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.marvell.com/press/pressNewsDisplay.do?releaseID=680' target='_blank'>http://www.marvell.com/press/pressN...o?releaseID=680</a><br /><br /></div><i>"The PXA3xx family of processors delivers improved performance and extended battery life, enabling advanced video and audio capabilities. Wireless Intel SpeedStep® with MusicMax technology provides intelligent power management, enabling varying power states so users can listen up to 30 hours of MP3s on their handsets without sacrificing battery life. Intel VideoMax technology in the PXA3xx family of application processors supports high-performance video capabilities, and will continue delivering improved resolution with future versions of the PXA3xx family of processors."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/hishamh-20061129-pxa300.jpg" /><br /><br />Marvell, who on November 8 completed the acquisition of Intel's cellular and application processor line (which includes the XScale processors widely used in Windows Mobile devices), have just unveiled their latest generation of mobile processors. The three new processors can be summarised as follows:<br /><br />•PXA320 (Monahans-P)- 1.2GHz scalable down to 806MHz, general applications processor;<br />•PXA310 (Monahans-LV) - multimedia processor, supposedly capable of 30fps H.264 playback in VGA resolutions; and<br />•PXA300 (Monahans-L) - the budget line<br /><br />Both -L and -LV variants can scale down to 624MHz. All three are available in sample form or are already shipping in volume - Marvell expects production to be in full swing by the first quarter of 2007, and the first devices sporting these processors should appear about the same time. Marvell's making a lot of promises here - faster processing, lower power consumption, and more transparent frequency scaling. Whichever of these advancements these processors happen to fulfill, this is a big leap forward, the first in over three years in terms of processing speed and power. Faster web-browsing, faster video (hopefully getting rid of the need to transcode video) - I sense lots of fun times ahead! :D<br /><br />Edit: Based on <a href="http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=365&pgno=0">peaz's link</a>, it looks like these babies show considerably advances in power consumption and processing speed. Also, the PXA320 is currently only available in 806MHz with hardware video acceleration, and the 310 (also with hardware video acceleration) and 300 are only available in 624MHz.

[JKingGrim]

I was about to say, didnt intel halt the mobile chip line. The I realized it was marvell. Did intel sell the technology to marvell? Who is Marvell anyway?

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Did intel sell the technology to marvell?

Yes they did, as I mentioned in the first line of my comment. The deal was signed about 5 months ago, and full completed three weeks back.

Who is Marvell anyway?

They're a semiconductor company with quite a few product lines, particularly application processors (wifi, network, etc, etc). Their main competitors as I understand it would be Qualcomm and Texas Instruments.

[blissfull]

does this mean we should hold off on buying any PDAs like HTC P3600 style since they are being outdated with slower cpu and battery life?

[Nurhisham Hussein]

does this mean we should hold off on buying any PDAs like HTC P3600 style since they are being outdated with slower cpu and battery life?

I really don't think so. First, while they say that the chips are shipping, we haven't heard anything about new devices that will carry them. That says to me that there's going to be quite a bit of lead time before you'll see anything in the PDA/PDA-phone space. Even if news about a new device with a Monahans chip is out tomorrow, that means at least another 3-6 months before we see the real thing on the streets. And I wouldn't term any of the current generation as 'obsolete' - if they do the job, they're still relevant.

[virain]

I guess by that time we will see WM Crossbow on new devices as well... Just thinking, 1.2 Mhz Processor, WM 6, More memory and 3G, sounds like a dream machine. :roll:

[phreaker18]

I guess by that time we will see WM Crossbow on new devices as well... Just thinking, 1.2 Mhz Processor, WM 6, More memory and 3G, sounds like a dream machine

man that'll be the day..... damn my mouth is wathering just as i imagine..... pretty impressive.... who am i kidding ...DAMN IMPRESSIVE :devilboy:

[xdev]

lot of new releases/upcoming releases seem to be using the samsung 400mhz chip.

i wish someone with some technical knowledge about processor design would write a review comparing the chips. would be a fun geeky read :mrgreen:

[bnycastro]

lot of new releases/upcoming releases seem to be using the samsung 400mhz chip.

i wish someone with some technical knowledge about processor design would write a review comparing the chips. would be a fun geeky read :mrgreen:I 2nd that :D

[peaz]

Just thought you guys would be interested. TechARP has posted a Tech Report of the Marvel's new XScale chip (http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=365&amp;pgno=0). Link here (http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=365&amp;pgno=0)

[Nurhisham Hussein]

peaz, thanks for the link, great article!

[blissfull]

I am not a tech person by any stretch of imagination but want to put this question on the board anyways cause I felt like it and please help me out on this you tech geeks.

Is there any remote possibilty that you can replace your original proccessor with this one when it does come out?

[ADBrown]

Is there any remote possibilty that you can replace your original proccessor with this one when it does come out?

No. These embedded processors require special machines to install or remove from a board, and even if you had that, it's incredibly unlikely that the size and pinout would be compatible with older processors.

[bnycastro]

Thanks Ken for the link :D

[bnycastro]

um another question if the P3XX [the higher end ones] have in-built hardware for graphics [the one for better VGA playback and display] do apps still need to be VGA aware/compatible?

[ADBrown]

um another question if the P3XX [the higher end ones] have in-built hardware for graphics [the one for better VGA playback and display] do apps still need to be VGA aware/compatible?

Yes. Even if a chip has specialized graphics capabilities (which I think aren't on-board with the fastest chip, if I read correctly) the application still has to support VGA.

[bnycastro]

I hope more manufacturers snap up these chips and make more VGA devices... the sooner the better of course so that developers/programmers can make their apps VGA aware as well [still have a boatload of apps that look crap on VGA]

[ricksfiona]

1.2Ghz? Man, that's faster than my brand new UMPC! WITH improved power efficiency? Man, we live in a great time!

[Nurhisham Hussein]

1.2Ghz? Man, that's faster than my brand new UMPC!

I hate to get into this debate again, but 1.2GHz with a RISC processor is not the same as 1.2GHz in an x86 processor, and is in fact much, much slower.

[ppcsurfr]

I hope more manufacturers snap up these chips and make more VGA devices... the sooner the better of course so that developers/programmers can make their apps VGA aware as well [still have a boatload of apps that look crap on VGA]

I don't think that would really impact the development for VGA aware apps... While the Monahans look promising under the new company that handles it, I'm not so sure about the efficiency of their chips as compared to Smasung processors.

[PDATek]

Another highlight of this new XScale CPU is the included 256k L2- cache and the support of DDR2- RAM.
The internal 768k- video/SRAM can be also used for hi- speed code execution.
I assume these features will improve the applications on future PDA's by factor 2x-3x :wink:

Apples new iPhone uses also this new XScale- CPU (PXA3xx or PXA9xx) 8O