Samsung Electronics has announced its new wearable processor, the Exynos W920. The new processor integrates an LTE modem, and is built with an advanced 5nm extreme ultra-violet (EUV) process node.
The Exynos W920 packs two Arm Cortex-A55 cores and an Arm Mali-G68 GPU that boasts improved CPU performance around 20% and 10 times better graphics performance than its predecessor, according to the vendor. With upgraded cores and improved performance, the Exynos W920 enables faster application launches and more interactive 3D graphical user interface (GUI) on a device's qHD (960×540) display, Samsung said.
The Exynos W920 is made using fan-out panel level packaging (FO-PLP). The technology incorporates the Exynos W920, power management IC, LPDDR4 and embedded multimedia card (eMMC) in the same package using system-in-package-embedded package-on-package (SiP-ePoP) configuration. The processor's compact size allows smartwatches to house larger batteries or don sleeker designs, the company indicated.
Always-on-display (AOD) for wearables, especially for smartwatches, is a widely adopted feature as it makes it effortless to take a quick look at the time, notifications, missed calls and more without the need to wake the watch up from sleep mode. Rather than powering up the main CPU, the W920 activates a dedicated low-power display processor, the Cortex-M55, reducing display power consumption under AOD mode compared to its previous Exynos model, Samsung said.
The Exynos W920 is embedded with a 4G LTE Cat.4 modem as well as a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) L1 for tracking speed, distance and elevation during outdoor activities, the company indicated.
The Exynos W920 supports a new unified wearable platform Samsung built jointly with Google, and will be first applied to the upcoming Galaxy Watch model, according to Samsung.
