Why ARM's Cortex-X1 cores likely for Samsung's Exynos 1000, possible future Pixel SoC too

[Redaktion]

Samsung is a likely candidate for ARM's new Cortex-X1 high-performance mobile SoC processing architecture based on some remarks made by the company buried in yesterday's ARM press announcement. With the company's custom Austin-based custom ARM design team scrapped, the new core is almost a certainty for the company's 2021 home grown high-end chipset.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Why-ARM-s-Cortex-X1-cores-likely-for-Samsung-s-Exynos-1000-possible-future-Pixel-SoC-too.466957.0.html

[S.Yu]

Yeah, X1 is still up for modifications, however minor (judging by Qualcomm in recent years) they might be

[jeremy]

Yeah, X1 is still up for modifications, however minor (judging by Qualcomm in recent years) they might be

I do agree, since regular arm application cores already allow for "customizations" with selectable cache sizes among  other minor things. Might not even need an architecture license, just a regular cortex license.

That being said, I think Qualcomm still maintain an architecture license or something similar to it, rather than just straight licensing the Cortex cores.

[Winston]

Qualcomm has enjoyed a competitive advantage developing its own custom in-house Kryo cores

That's untrue. Qualcomm ended development of custom Kryo cores in 2016, the 820/821 being the only chips to ever see it implemented. With the 835 in 2017, they moved to make customizations to the latest available ARM core, then the Cortex-A73 and A53, and brand it as Kryo Gold and Silver. The Kryo 475 branding, for example, is a reflection of this: 4 for 4th gen (CA76), 7 for a chip meant for Snapdragon 7xx processors, and the 5 is just there for revisions (there's usually a 470 and 475).