Samsung Electronics has launched its first mobile processor that comes with integrated 5G connectivity — Samsung Exynos 980. The AI-powered Exynos 980 SoC is manufactured using an 8nm process and comes with eight CPU cores — two Cortex-A77 and six Cortex-A55, coupled with Mali G76 graphics processor.
The chipset combines a 5G modem and mobile application processor into one chip. This increases power efficiency and takes up less space within smartphones compared to older generation SoCs. The new SoC can support data transfer rates of 2.55Gbps in 5G connectivity for sub-6GHz spectrum and 1.0Gbps for 4G, allowing a rate of 3.55Gbps at dual connectivity, claims Samsung.
The company says that the neural processing unit (NPU) features elevated performances of up to 2.7 times compared to its predecessor and is built into the Exynos 980 to provide new levels of on-device intelligence.
The NPU also adds enhancements to applications such as secure user authentication, content filtering, mixed reality, intelligent camera, and more. Further, it packs high-performance image signal processor that can process up to 108-megapixel images, and can be synced up to five image sensors and run three of them simultaneously.
Exynos 980’s multi-format codec (MFC) supports encoding and decoding of 4K UHD video at 120 frames per second (fps) for an immersive multimedia experience. It also comes with HDR10+ support along with dynamic mapping.
It seems that this newly announced Exynos 980 SoC is the same which was in the news as Exynos 9630 with integrated 5G support. If that’s the case, this chipset could also end up powering smartphones from brands other than Samsung. The company says that it has already supplied samples of the new chip to a client and will begin production of the 5G-integrated chip later this year.
