The launch of Kirin 920 marked a turning point in the history of HiSilicon. It was the first time that the semiconductor industry Huawei managed almost to compete with its competitors. And she did not clearly intend to let the gap widen again in 2015.
Huawei gave us some nice surprises in 2014 and its semiconductor branch (HiSilicon) is for many. She finally caught much of the delay over its competitors with Kirin 92x, chipset capable of competing with the best of his time, and Kirin 620, first chipset 64-bit. Still had to combine the two, power and 64-bit. And that’s what she should do this year, as has just confirmed a roadmap recovered by GizmoChina.
Kirin 930 last husked
It describes three new 900 series chipsets, all expected before the end of the year. And 2015 promises to be a very good year for HiSilicon. We already know the first in the list, name at least. This is the Kirin 930, quoted at the presentation of the MediaPad X2 it animates. We also know that equip the Huawei P8, future flagship of Huawei, but ultimately quite a few things on the chipset itself. Disappointment, the main novelty since the Kirin 925 seems to be the transition to 64-bit.
The document confirms that it is based on an octa-core CPU based on ARM big.LITTLE Cortex-A53 and Cortex-A57. The maximum frequency is 2 GHz. It should be accompanied by a co-i3 processor, for managing motion sensors, and a Mali-T628 for graphics. The chipset is compatible LPDDR3 on two channels to the RAM and LTE Cat. 6 BT 4.0 LE and dual band Wi-Fi for connectivity. It also takes care of the sensors up to 32 megapixels and video encoding up to 1080p.
The Cortex-A72 built from the mid-year
Then comes the Kirin 940 and that’s when the real fun begins, especially with the integration of four Cortex-A72 to replace the Cortex-A57 in the octa-core ARM big.LITTLE configuration. Guarantee of improved performance (Cortex-A15 x 3.5 according MRA). The frequency spends more than 2.2 GHz. It should also be discharged from the management of the motion sensors but also connectivity’s and security ensured by a new i7 coprocessor. GPU Mali-T860 complements the range.
The radius of compatibility, the Kirin 940 accepts RAM LPDDR4 (latest) on two channels, cameras up to 32 megapixels (2x), video encoding up to 4K. It is also compatible LTE Cat. 7 Wi-Fi MU-MIMO ac, BT 4.2 Smart, USB 3.0 and NFC. Availability is unfortunately not waited 3 third quarter. And it will take the following happen to see the most promising of Kirin, whose number is 950.
First chipset supporting LTE Cat. 10
It relies on the same basis as the Kirin 940 while providing some improvements. CPU frequency to 2.4 GHz, the GPU is replaced by the more powerful Mali-T880, the maximum supported resolution is changed to 42 megapixel photo sensor and integrated LTE modem is compatible Cat. 10.
Rest now knows in which smartphones will meet both these chipsets. The next Mate is a good candidate. We just might be able to get a first glimpse of the next Nexus. Suffice to say that we look forward to entering the second half of the year to see what Huawei has really booked.