Processor Wars: NVIDIA reveals a phantom fifth ARM Cortex-A9 processor core in Kal-El mobile processor IC. Guess why it's there?
September 21, 2011
NVIDIA has extended the path to many-core design by publishing a White Paper that reveals the existence of a fifth ARM Cortex-A9 processor core in the company’s previously discussed Kal-El mobile processor. This fifth processor core implements what the company is calling “variable symmetric multiprocessing” (vSMP) and it’s purpose is to provide extremely low-power operation during periods when the end product in an active standby mode—when it’s performing background tasks such as email and social media synchronization or running active widgets. As the NVIDIA White Paper states “Users generally do not care how fast the background tasks are processed, only that they happen and do not consume much battery life.”
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