Samsung announced the Exynos 4 Quad, a 1.4GHz quad-core application processor built on 32nm HKMG (High-k Metal Gate) low-power process technology, and confirmed it would power their next Galaxy smartphone set to be announced in May.
The Exynos 4 Quad delivered twice the processing power of the previous 45nm dual-core Exynos while consuming 20% less power, achieved through per-core dynamic voltage and frequency scaling and hot-plug on/off switching for individual cores. The chip was pin-to-pin compatible with the prior-generation Exynos, allowing device makers to reuse existing board designs at no additional engineering cost.
Additional capabilities included a 1080p 30fps hardware video codec, an embedded image signal processor for camera functions, and HDMI 1.4 output. A companion power management IC, the S5M8767, with nine buck converters and 28 LDOs in a 5mm x 5mm package handled dynamic voltage scaling. Samsung noted the chip was also sampling to other major handset makers at the time of announcement.
