STMicroelectronics Adopts ARM® Cortex-A9 MPCore Processor, in Addition to the Mali®-400 Graphics Processor for Set-Top-Box and Digital TV System-on-Chip (SoC) ICs

The Cortex-A9 MPCore processor provides ST with the scalable high performance required to enable the high-bandwidth broadband and broadcast content being streamed into homes, while significantly improving power efficiency when compared to alternative solutions. The adoption of ARM technology enables ST to build upon the expertise accumulated during its SoC development with its successful ST-40 processor, and also signals the company’s intention to base its next-generation range of HDTV SoCs on ARM technology. By adopting the Cortex-A9 MPCore processor for home-entertainment markets, ST is also able to access the comprehensive and expanding software ecosystem around the Cortex-A9 MPCore processor, including Adobe® Flash® technology and leading web browsers such as Opera, to provide compelling multimedia performance. ST has also licensed the ARM Mali-400 MP multicore scalable graphics processing unit (GPU) technology to meet the growing demand for exciting new graphical user interfaces and the needs of increasingly sophisticated web-based services. The Mali-400 GPU enables ST to provide ‘1080p’ 3D user interfaces conforming to the Khronos OpenGL ES 2.0 API (Application Programming Interface), and helps deliver the seamless composition of graphics and video for the best possible user experience from the next wave of web-based interactive services…

Cortex-A9 MPCore

Mali-400 MP
(Pictures: ARM)