Allwinner Technology
| Company type | Semiconductors |
|---|---|
| Industry | Fabless microprocessor |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | Integrated circuits |
Number of employees | 500 (2013) |
| Website | www.allwinnertech.com |
Allwinner Technology is a China-based fabless semiconductor company that designs mixed-signal SoCs and provides total system solution. Headquartered in Zhuhai, Guangdong the company currently employs about 500 people – 80% of which are engineers[citation needed]. It has a sales and technical support office in Shenzhen, China, and logistics operations in Hong Kong.
Product History
Since its founding in 2007, Allwinner has released more than fifteen processors that are much implemented in Android smartphones and tablets,[1] Android internet boxes / set-top boxes, video camera systems, car DVRs, and car media players.[2] In 2012, Allwinner processors makes the number one shipping processor for Android tablets worldwide.[3][4]
Launch History
2013.10
In October, 2013, Allwinner released its second dual-core A23, touted to be "The most efficient dual core processor" for tablets.[5] The A23 CPU frequency runs up to 1.5 GHz, and test data indicates that the power consumption of A23-powered tablet is rather low, music playback power consumption (offscreen) can be as low as 48mA;[6][7]
During the A23 product release conference, Allwinner also disclosed its upcoming octa core A80.[8][9]
2013.3
In March 2013, Allwinner launched its quad-core Phablet processor A31s.[10] Based on quad-core cortex-A7 CPU architecture, this processor allows 3G, 2G, LTE, WIFI, BT, FM, GPS, AGPS and NFC using a minimum of external components;
2012.12
In December 2012, Allwinner announced the availability of two ARM Cortex-A7 MPCore powered products, dual-core Allwinner A20 and quad-core Allwinner A31. The production started in September and is the first product using this SoC. It plans shipment in early 2013 like the Onda V972.[11] They are the first to make this ARM processor in mass production.
2011.7-2012.3
In 2011, the company became an ARM processor licencee,[12] and announced a series of ARM Cortex-A8 powered mobile application processors, including A10,A13,A10s and A12, which can now be found in lots of products like PC-on-a-stick, tablets, or media center and also used in free hardware projects like the Cubieboard motherboard;
2007~2011
From 2007 to 2011, Allwinner introduced its F-series processors, F10, F13, F18, F20, F1E200, F1C100, F20. This series runs Allwinner self-developed operating system Melis2.0, which is now mainly used in vehicle multimedia system, E-ink reader, Visual intercom system etc.
Product Roadmap
On Oct 10, 2013, Allwinner released its product roadmap in 2014&2015, indicating that octa-core and wearable processors are on the way.
Chipset Specs
The Allwinner SoC family includes A-series, which is intended for Android OS, and F-series, which is intended for the company's self-developed Melis operating system.
The A-Series; A10, A20 and A31 SoC's has a proprietary inhouse designed multimedia co-processing DSP (Digital Signal Processing) processor technology for hardware accelerated video, image, and audio decoding, called CedarX (with subprocssing called "CedarV" for video decoding and "CedarA" for audio decoding), able to decode 2160p 2D and 1080p 3D video. The main disadvantages with this CedarX technology and libraries is that Allwinner's own CedarX proprietary libraries have no clear usage license, so even if the source code for some versions is available the terms-of-use is unknown in open source software, and there is no glue code for any other multimedia frameworks on GNU/Linux systems that could be used as a middle-ware, like for example OpenMAX or VAAPI.
A-Series
| SoC | cores | CPU-Core | GPU | VPU | Video Decoder | Video Encoder | Package | Application | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A10 | 1 | Cortex-A8 | Mali-400 | CedarX | 2160p | H.264 1080p @ 30fps |
BGA441 19mm × 19mm 0.80mm Pitch |
Tablet, smart TV | Gooseberry, Cubieboard, MarsBoard |
| A10s | 1080p | H.264 1080p @ 30fps |
BGA336 14mm × 14mm 0.65mm Pitch |
HDMI Dongle | OLinuXino A10S | ||||
| A12 | 1080p | H.264 1080p @ 30fps |
BGA336 14mm × 14mm 0.65mm Pitch |
||||||
| A13 | 1080p | H.264 1080p @ 30fps |
eLQFP176 20mm × 20mm |
Tablet, E-reader | OLinuXino A13 | ||||
| A20[13] | 2 | Cortex-A7 | Mali-400MP2 | CedarX | 2160p | H.264 1080p @ 30fps |
BGA441 19mm × 19mm 0.80mm Pitch |
Tablet, smart TV | Vivaldi Tablet Cubieboard2, OLinuXino A20,MSI Primo 73, ampe a65, Apical M7098, RF M722JH, Bmorn K80, 10moons X6, Cubietruck, MarsBoard |
| A23 | 2 | Mali-400MP2 | 1080p | H.264 1080p@60fps | BGA280 14x14mm 0.80mm pitch | Tablet | |||
| A31 | 4 | PowerVR SGX544MP2 | CedarX | 4K×2K | H.264 1080p @ 60fps | BGA609 18mm × 18mm, 0.65mm Pitch | Tablet, Smartphone, smart TV | Readboy G50,Foxconn InFocus, Mele A1000G，Onda V972, Ployer MOMO19HD, Bmorn K23, Ampe A10 Flagship, Epudo ES1006Q | |
| A31s | 4 | PowerVR SGX544MP2 | 2160P | H.264 1080p @ 30fps | BGA460 18mm × 18mm, 0.80mm Pitch | Phablet,Tablet, smartphone, smart TV | MSI Primo81,Teclast P88s mini, Ainol Novo 9 Firewire,Apical M7853, Ployer momo mini,Gajah MD7019, JWD m785,MELE AHD10A04 | ||
| A80 Octa | 8 |
F-Series
| SoC | CPU | Memory | Video Decoder | Video Encoder | Package | OS | Application |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1C100 | ARM9 | SDR | 720p | N/A | LQFP128 | Melis 2.0 | Car MP5, Car Headrest, Visual Bombox, Visual Radio |
| F1E200 | DDR | 1080p | N/A | eLQFP128 | E-ink Reader, PMP | ||
| F10 | DDR | 1080p | N/A | LQFP176 | Multimedia Box, HD Player | ||
| F13 | DDR | 1080p | MPEG4 720p @ 30fps | LQFP176 | Car MP5 | ||
| F18 | DDR | 1080p | MPEG4 720p @ 30fps | LQFP216 | Visual Intercom System | ||
| F20 | DDR/DDR2 | 1080p | H.264 1080p @ 30fps | BGA400 | Car DVR, Multimedia Box, Mobile Karaoke |
Allwinner Processor Ecosystem
As a leading chipset vendor, Allwinner Technology cooperates with around ten IDHs based in Shenzhen, who develops solutions based on Allwinner processors. They are iNet Technology, Worldchip Digital Technology, Sochip Technology, Topwise Communication, ChipHD Technology, Highcharacter Science and Technology, WITS Technology, Ococci Technology, Next Huawen Technology, and Qi Hao Digital Technology.
Not only in the white-box market, Allwinner processors can also be found in many brand products, including MSI, ZTE, Skyworth, MeLE, Polaroid, Macromax,Archos,Texet, Onda, Ramos, Teclast, Ployer, Readboy, Noah, RF, Bmorn, Apical, etc.
See also
Notes and references
- ^ Lin, Eric. "Digitimes Research: China tablet SoC developers enjoy robust shipment growth in 2012". DigiTimes. DigiTimes Research. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
- ^ "Allwinner Technology Home Page".
- ^ "Digitimes Research: Tablet AP shipments to China to rise 53% in 3Q13". Digitimes. Retrieved Sep 23, 2013.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "London Calling: Did Allwinner outsell Intel, Qualcomm?". eetimes. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ [1] on Allwinnertech.com
- ^ "Allwinner introduces A23 dual core processor". Liliputing. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
- ^ "Allwinner Announces Stunning Specs for New 1.5GHz Dual Core A23 Processor". Allwinner. Retrieved Oct 11, 2013.
- ^ "Allwinner unveils Allwinner A80 Octa processor". Liliputing. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
- ^ "A80 Octa core BigLittle SoC from Allwinner will be ready in 2014". olimex. Retrieved Oct 1, 2013.
- ^ Allwinner launches quad-core CPU A31s for phablets on Liliputing.com
- ^ Onda V972 tablet features an Allwinner quad-core CPU, Retina-style display on Liliputing.com
- ^ ARM processor licencee on ARM.com
- ^ "Allwinner throws A20 dual-core and A31-quad-core processors into ARM fray". Engadget. Retrieved 22 December 2012.