Marvell is a company that primarily focuses on integrated silicon solutions, and is not to be confused with the comic book and related media publisher, Marvel. Now we have word that Marvell has announced the latest addition to the Armada family of application processors, the Marvell Armada 618, for next-gen HD-capable smartphones. The Armada processors offer PC-class performance, integrated 1080p full-HD encode and decode, as well as exceptional 3D graphics. This makes it possible for a rich multimedia and gaming experience with extremely low power requirements.
“Featuring a gigahertz CPU, 1080p full-HD video, 3D graphics, the industry’s fastest LP-DDR, and optimized power for longer battery life, Marvell’s Armada 618 application processor represents a dramatic leap forward in high-end, multimedia smartphones,” Ms. Weili Dai, Marvell’s Co-founder and Vice President and General Manager of Marvell Semiconductor’s Consumer and Computing Business Unit, remarked. “Importantly, the Armada 600 series of application processors gives our customers a common platform solution to build multiple products and formats for the always-on consumer–scaling from smartphones to eReaders to tablets without compromising either the multimedia performance or the battery life.”
The Marvell Armada 618 is based on a Marvell-designed ARM v7 compatible CPU, offering gigahertz-class performance in a 12×12 mm package. It can use LP-DDR1 or LP-DDR2 memory up to 533 MHz, a display controller capable of up to 4 simultaneous displays at up to 2Kx2K resolution, and an extremely robust security subsystem.
The Armada 618 also features a powerful 3D graphics engine which supports DirectX rendering up to 45 million triangles per second. It supports Linux, Android, Windows Mobile and full Adobe Flash. The Marvell Armada 618 will be showcased at the ongoing Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, and is currently sampling to early customers.