Back in February, Nvidia announced at the Mobile World Conference their quad-core processor Kal-El. The processor is the spiritual sucessor of the Tegra 2 dual core chips. The Tegra chips are currently used in a number of tablets and smartphones. Nvidia didn't tell that there is indeed a fifth core present in their processor.
However, the fifth core will not performing like AND with the other four. The fifth core is called the "Companion" core. It will just handle low power processes and background computing while the four cores handle the majority of the apps and workload. Below is the official description from Nvidia's white paper.
"The Companion core is used primarily when the mobile device is in active standby and performing background tasks such as Email syncs, Twitter updates, Facebook updates etc. It is also used for applications that do not require significant CPU processing power, such as streaming audio, offline audio, and both online or offline video playback."
The fifth core is only on duty when the device is idle or not stressed enough to need help from the other cores. The other four cores remain low power during such event. The companion core was made so that the device will be energy efficient and save battery life.
The Kal-El APU is believed to be marketed as Tegra 3. It is expected to be released this year and will power tablets. The smartphones with quad-core chips is set early 2012.
Source: Netbookcheck
Additional power-saving features of Kal-El compared to current competitors are detailed in the Nvidia source below.
Kal-El has Fifth Core is a post from: Eee PC
Link to post: Kal-El has Fifth Core - from: Eee PC | No comments | © Admarket, 2011.
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