Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform Fully Unveiled
On the second day of the third Snapdragon Technology Summit, Qualcomm launched the latest generation of Snapdragon 8 series mobile platform - Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 855 Mobile Platform .
The platform is the world's first commercial mobile platform that fully supports multi-gigabit 5G connections, industry-leading artificial intelligence (AI) and immersive extended reality (XR), and will usher in a new era of mobile terminals for the next decade. Snapdragon 855 uses a new chip architecture and is built on a 7nm process technology, which will bring users long-lasting battery life and excellent experiences in imaging, audio, gaming and XR.
Alex Katouzian, senior vice president and general manager, mobile business unit, Qualcomm Technologies, said:
As operators are about to deploy 5G networks in early 2019, consumers will be the first to enjoy an extraordinary 5G user experience on mobile devices equipped with Snapdragon 855. We are very proud to share our technological innovations with the industry and be the first to bring 5G mobile technology to the world.
connect
With the Snapdragon X50 5G modem, the Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform can bring an extraordinary 5G experience to users around the world , while supporting the best multi-gigabit 4G connections through the integrated Snapdragon X24 LTE modem. With the Snapdragon X50, the platform can support both sub-6GHz and millimeter wave bands, bringing fast response and unprecedented speed. The multi-gigabit connections it supports are high speeds that were previously difficult to achieve in mobile communications. In the millimeter wave band, users will have the opportunity to enjoy an average performance improvement of up to 20 times over some existing commercial solutions, which can not only meet the current extreme demand for data transmission, but also become the basis for the next generation of immersive experiences such as multiplayer VR games, AR shopping, and real-time video collaboration.
Snapdragon 855 also provides powerful next-generation Wi-Fi performance through the Qualcomm® Wi-Fi 6-ready mobile platform , such as advanced features such as 8×8 detection mechanism, which can serve more terminals more efficiently (up to 2 times the efficiency compared to 4 x4 detection terminals), Target Wakeup Time (Target Wakeup Time) energy efficiency ratio is improved by up to 67%, and supports the latest WPA3 security. Through the Qualcomm® 60GHz Wi-Fi mobile platform, Snapdragon 855 also supports Wi-Fi connections in the millimeter wave band. This industry's first 802.11ay-based platform increases Wi-Fi speeds to an unprecedented 10Gbps and supports low latency comparable to wired networks.
Snapdragon 855 also enhances support for Qualcomm TrueWirelss™ Stereo Plus technology, optimizing the latency between the left and right earbuds while reducing power consumption to extend the usage time after each charge, thereby meeting the growing demand for true wireless products in the headphone market.
Performance Performance
Snapdragon 855 is designed to deliver industry-leading performance and energy efficiency. It features our most advanced Qualcomm® Kryo™ 485 CPU built on Arm Cortex technology, which delivers up to 45% performance improvement over the previous flagship platform . In addition, the new Qualcomm® Adreno™ 640 GPU delivers up to 20% faster graphics rendering than the previous generation , while continuing to maintain industry-leading energy efficiency per watt. Vulkan 1.1, High Dynamic Range (HDR), and Physically Based Rendering (PBR) supported by Adreno graphics will bring a new level of realistic gaming experience.
AI
The fourth-generation multi-core Qualcomm® AI Engine supported by Snapdragon 855 can achieve more than 7 trillion operations per second (7TOPs) , and the AI performance is 3 times higher than the previous generation flagship mobile platform. The new Qualcomm® Hexagon™ 690 processor includes a newly designed Hexagon Tensor Accelerator (HTA) and four Hexagon Vector eXtensions (HVX), which is twice the vector processing of the previous flagship product, and also adds a four-thread scalar core, which realizes proprietary and programmable AI acceleration. The AI acceleration brought by the hardware improvement of Adreno GPU includes a 50% improvement in arithmetic logic unit (ALU). At the same time, the new Kryo 485 CPU also adds new instructions that can further accelerate AI performance.
The fourth-generation Qualcomm AI Engine software suite can bring a series of improvements to the Qualcomm® Neural Processor SDK, Google Android NN-API, Hexagon NN and Qualcomm® Math Library. The optimization of a wider range of network accuracy and neural network categories can support terminal-side AI voice, photography, gaming and XR experiences. Currently, many of the above experiences can be achieved through Qualcomm Technologies' AI software partners and will be supported on the next generation of Snapdragon 855 terminals.
Qualcomm's software ecosystem partners are constantly expanding, and new partners include AISpeech, AnyVision, iFlytek, Elephant Sound, Nalbi, etc. They are making full use of the features of the fourth-generation Qualcomm AI Engine. In addition, through dedicated echo cancellation and noise suppression AI acceleration, Snapdragon 855 can bring more advanced terminal-side voice assistant solutions, so that users can talk to voice assistants at any time.
Filming
Snapdragon 855 sets a new standard for capturing stunning photos and videos. The new Qualcomm Spectra™ 380 ISP integrates a host of hardware-accelerated computer vision (CV) capabilities, enabling the world’s first CV-ISP to support cutting-edge computational photography and video capture capabilities while reducing power consumption by up to 4x . The CV-ISP includes hardware-based depth sensing, supporting real-time video capture, object classification, and object segmentation in 4K HDR@60fps. This means users can shoot a video and accurately replace a selected object or background in real time, all at 4K HDR resolution with over 1 billion colors.
Not only that, the new Qualcomm Spectra 380 ISP is also the first ISP to support HDR10+ video shooting, presenting more than 1 billion colors with excellent contrast and visual effects. In addition, in order to store these beautiful pictures more efficiently, Snapdragon 855 supports HELF encoding format hardware acceleration, reducing files by 50% for more efficient storage or transmission of user-generated content.
entertainment
Snapdragon 855 provides consumers with a newly upgraded entertainment platform that supports more realistic games, enhanced viewing experience, and higher performance XR experience.
-
Gaming: Snapdragon 855 is the first platform to support the new Snapdragon Elite Gaming experience. This experience includes true HDR (over 1 billion colors) cinematic color grading, film-grade tone mapping, demanding physically based rendering (PBR), and support for the Vulkan 1.1 graphics library. Even the most demanding games can run smoothly on Snapdragon 855 by leveraging custom algorithms designed to reduce frame drops by more than 90%. The multiplayer experience is also improved through reduced latency. The Snapdragon 855 platform provides users with lower latency, whether users choose the industry's first 5G, the industry's first 11ay-based 60GHz Wi-Fi, or using existing 802.11 standards with simple algorithmic enhancements. In addition, the audio experience is also improved with the new Qualcomm® aptX™ Adaptive audio codec and support for Qualcomm TrueWireless Stereo Plus. aptX Adaptive is designed to provide the ultimate wireless listening experience that combines stability, premium sound quality and significantly low latency for gaming and multimedia applications.
-
Movies: An enhanced cinematic experience will be commercially available on mobile devices for the first time with support for HDR10+ playback. Users will also be able to watch longer movies on a single charge thanks to the power efficiency of new hardware-accelerated H.265 and VP9 decoding.
-
XR: Snapdragon 855 also supports 8K resolution volumetric VR immersive video experience. In addition to many new features, it can bring absolute freedom to users - real-time, unfettered viewing experience, learning experience, entertainment experience and sharing dynamic experience, even breaking the visual boundary between the real and virtual worlds.
Snapdragon 855 is the first mobile platform to support Qualcomm® 3D Sonic Sensor , the world’s first commercial solution to support under-screen ultrasonic fingerprint recognition, and the only mobile solution that can accurately identify fingerprints through different types of stains. In addition, this solution supports slim and avant-garde product designs while providing higher security and accuracy.
Commercial devices equipped with the Snapdragon 855 mobile platform are expected to begin shipping in the first half of 2019. Snapdragon 855 will power the next generation of flagship devices and open up a more immersive and connected user experience for the world over the next decade.
——————
Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 855 Mobile Platform features include:
Qualcomm® AI Engine
-
Qualcomm® Hexagon™ 690 processor
-
Qualcomm® Adreno™ 640 GPU
-
Qualcomm® Kryo™ 485 CPU
connect
-
Snapdragon X24 LTE modem, supporting LTE Category 20
-
Snapdragon X50 5G modem (for 5G terminals)
-
Qualcomm Wi-Fi 6-ready mobile platform: 802.11ax-ready, 802.11ac Wave 2, and 802.11a/b/g/n
-
Qualcomm 60 GHz Wi-Fi Mobile Platform: Supports 802.11ay and 802.11ad
-
Bluetooth version: 5.0
-
Bluetooth transmission speed: 2 Mbps
-
Dual-frequency GNSS supports high-precision positioning
Qualcomm Spectra™ 380 ISP
-
Dual 14-bit computer vision ISP (CV-ISP); 22MP @ 30fps parallel dual camera; 48MP @ 30fps single camera
-
Hardware computer vision capabilities, including object detection and tracking (histogram of oriented gradients, Harris corner detection, normalized cross-correlation, linear classification, and optical flow), and stereo depth processing
-
Advanced HDR solutions, including enhanced zzHDR, triple-exposure Quad Color Filter Array (QCFA) HDR
-
4K 60 HDR video recording (HRD10, HDR10+ and HLG) with portrait mode (bokeh), 10-bit color depth, Rec 2020 color gamut
-
Hardware multi-frame noise reduction (MFNR) for snapshots, motion-compensated temporal filtering (MCTF) for videos
-
Hardware Image Stabilization Solutions in Camera Subsystems
-
New modular ISP design supports greater flexibility in image pipeline output, including RAW and YUV pixel domains
-
High frame rate slow motion video recording (720p @480fps)
-
HEIF photo shooting and HEVC (H.265) video shooting
Audio
-
Qualcomm Aqstic™ audio technology
-
Qualcomm® aptX™, including classic aptX, aptX HD and aptX adaptive
-
Qualcomm TrueWireless™ Stereo Plus
Qualcomm® Adreno™ 640 Vision Subsystem
-
Adreno 640 GPU
-
Support for Vulkan 1.1 API
-
HDR gaming (10-bit color depth, Rec 2020 color gamut)
-
Physically Based Rendering (PBR)
-
API: Supports OpenGL ES 3.2, OpenCL 2.0 FP, and Vulkan 1.1
-
Highest terminal side display: Supports up to 4K HDR display
-
Maximum external display: Supports up to two 4K HDR displays
-
Hardware-accelerated H.265 and VP9 decoding
-
HDR playback encoder supports HDR10+, HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision
-
Volumetric VR video playback
-
8K 360 VR video playback
Qualcomm® Kryo ™ 485 CPU
-
A super core with a main frequency of up to 2.84GHz
-
Three performance cores, clocked up to 2.42GHz
-
Four efficiency cores, clocked up to 1.80GHz
-
64-bit architecture
Process
-
7nm process technology
Qualcomm® Hexagon™ 690 processor
-
Security processing capabilities
-
Four-threaded scalar core
-
Four Qualcomm® Hexagon™ Vector eXtensions (HVX) cores
-
Qualcomm® Hexagon™ Tensor Accelerator
-
Qualcomm® Hexagon™ Voice Assistant
-
Qualcomm All-Ways Aware™ technology
Safety
-
Qualcomm® Biometric Authentication Suite: Fingerprint, Qualcomm® Iris Authentication, Voice, Face, Qualcomm® Secure Processing Unit for mobile payments
-
Qualcomm 3D Sonic Sensor
Qualcomm® Quick Charge™ 4+ technology
Memory
-
Memory speed: 2133MHz
-
Memory type: 4x16-bit, LPDDR4x
Click to read the original article and get more information about the Snapdragon Technology Summit .