Keywords: virtual reality, chips

Virtual Reality (Virtual Reality), hereinafter referred to as VR technology, also known as lingjinghutong technology or artificial environment, is using the computer simulation to create a three-dimensional Virtual world, to provide users simulation about senses such as vision, hearing, touch, let users as illustrates its general, timely, there is no limit to observe things in three dimensions.

Have been proposed for the first time in the early 1960 s, the means with the help of a computer system and the sensor technology to generate a 3 d environment, create a new state of human-computer interaction, by directing the user all the senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, etc.), more real, immersive experience.

Foreign market research firm Canalys, according to the 2016 global VR headsets shipments are expected to reach 6.3 million units, 40% of them will be sold in China, the global VR hardware and software of the output value up to $6.7 billion, will grow to $2020 in 70 billion, the industry will usher in explosive growth.

Now including Facebook, Alphabet (Google), Microsoft, SONY, samsung, Intel, qualcomm, NVIDIA and AMD, almost all the IT industry giants are moving in the field of virtual reality. This means that the emergence of the VR devices become activated the key industry. From the upstream chip, panel manufacturers, equipment manufacturers, the middle and downstream of the content and service providers have good prospects. VR will bring manufacturers a new IT market, will also bring a user within easy reach of the new world.

VR core chip is as follows:

1, qualcomm Xiao dragon 820

As the industry's most well-known chip suppliers, qualcomm chip is undoubtedly the most popular. Xiao dragon adopted 820 qualcomm 64 architecture of autonomous design, adopted four Kryo core, the highest frequency of 2.2 GHz, using 14 nm samsung FinFET craft production, support rapid charging 3.0 technology, graphics chip for Adreno carrying 530, DSP digital signal processor as the Hexagon 680, adopted new Spectra in image processing capability of 14 - bit double ISP processor, highest can support 28 million pixels / 30 FPS, throughput can reach 1.2 GPix/SEC (1.2 billion pixels) per second.

Xiao dragon 820 support dual channel memory LPDDR4-1866, support for eMMC 5.1, UFS2.0 (Gear3), SD (UH S - I), 3.0 support USB 3.0 input and output, and support the general loan compression technology.

2, mediatek Helio x30

Helio X30, will be launched in mid - 2016 the formal specification aspects in addition to continue to ten core (six A72 plus four A53), memory from LPDDR3 will also upgrade to support LPDDR4, and join the storage standard it at a high speed. Recently have official said again, "Helio X30" will be changed to 10 nm process, by TSMC, scheduled to deliver to the customer by the end of new products, production early next year.

Helio X30 is equipped with four response to severe task architecture A72 core (frequency of 2.5 GHz). In addition, it also is equipped with two main frequency 2.0 GHz architecture A72 core, two main frequency 1.5 GHz architecture (A53 core and two main frequency of 1.0 GHz core architecture A35. At the same time, Helio X30 will also integrated the latest ARM Mali - T880 graphics. Helio X30 through the way of inserted into the phone, will support 2 k x 2 k resolution VR virtual reality technology.

3, samsung Exynos8890

Flagship samsung's website officially released a new generation of processors Exynos 8890, 14 mm FinFET LPP craft manufacture, eight big core. The LITTLE architectural design, the first big core using the four independent customization (code "Mongoose" Mongoose) + four Cortex A53 small core, a semi-autonomous architecture. Compared to the last generation Exynos 7420, performance increase by more than 30%, power consumption reduced by 10%.

GPU is absolute, and huawei chose Mali - T880 kirin 950, but the suffix "MP12", opened the 12 core (complete 16), there are significantly improve performance. By contrast, kirin 950 only four core. Compared with the previous generation Mali - T760 GPU, Mali - T880 performance increased by 1.8 times and 40% increase of energy efficiency. Native 10 support high fidelity color 4 k, according to fully support the current and next generation API. Baseband aspects like Xiao dragon 820, support the 12 / the 13 standards, theory of download speed up to 600 MBPS, upload 150 MBPS.

Xynos 8890 GPU architecture of the chip is samsung's first independent design, with four big Mongoose independent architecture core, four small core A53 male version of architecture, although it is not low, but it seems that Mali - T880 MP12 such performance is abnormal obviously, was essentially and made Mali - T760 MP12 about, may be not optimization in place.

4, stmicroelectronics STM32 microcontroller

It is said that samsung Gear VR virtual reality hardware devices using the master control chip is stmicroelectronics microcontrollers 32 f401 A5009V0 TW 435, namely STM32F4 series STM32 32 - bit ARM architecture (M4 micro control unit.

Based on ARM architecture (M4 STM32F4 series MCU adopts the stmicroelectronics NVM technology and ART accelerator, under the working frequency of up to 180 MHz through flash memory to perform the processing performance of 225 DMIPS / 608 CoreMark, it is all based on architecture (M of kernel microcontroller products achieved the highest benchmark test scores.

5, red core micro Rockchip RK3288 / RK3399

RK3399 CPU USES the big size is LITTLE nuclear structure, double architecture A72 large nuclear + 4 architecture (A53 small nuclear structure, integers, floating point, memory, etc to make to the optimization, sharply in overall performance, power consumption, and the core area of three aspects are revolutionary improvement. RK3399 GPU USES the quad-core ARM of a new generation of high-end image processor Mali - T860, integrated more bandwidth compression technology: such as intelligent superposition, ASTC, local pixel storage, etc., also support for more graphics and computing interfaces, the overall performance is 45% more than the previous generation.

6, the whole technology H8 / A80

All science and technology in the field of VR reserves already a long time, I m science and technology's first Uranus one VR all-in-one adopts full tzu H8 chip package technology. All volunteers H8 eight core based on the latest leading TSMC 28 nm manufacturing process, adopts eight ARM architecture (A7 kernel, support 8 core 2.0 GHz high-speed running at the same time, at the same time with Imagination, strong PowerVR SGX544 image processing architecture, working frequency of up to 700 m or so.

Multimedia, H8 supports multiple formats 1080 p @ 60 FPS video codec, support for h. 265 / HEVC video processing, integration of 8 m ISP image signal processing architecture, can support 8 million megapixel camera. Display, H8 support HDMI, according to the 1080 p @ 60 FPS support HDCP V1.2 agreement, support HDMI CEC. In addition, H8 integrates QuanZhiXin generation color display technology, to further improve image quality. In fact, H8 chip was first applied in TV box.

7, infront electronic customized VR chip

Tencent micro miniStation console release, after dismantling the found prominently on the main chip with two Logo: Tencent, INFOTM.

INFOTM is "Shanghai infront microelectronics" company's English name, this is a professional IC design company, focus on mobile Internet terminal application processor chip research and development. Typical applications for tablets, smart phones, cameras and cameras; At the same time it also provide partners with a high level of integration involving system, software, the chip integrated solutions.

In that case, the custom chip should be commissioned by tencent infront microelectronics design, processing, and then the two sides jointly with Logo on the chip, form double a brand.

8, torch force/torch core (S900VR/V700 / V500)

Torch core were early into the market, the first is with duo without cooperation, but the product is delayed, so the overall delay the schedule. The torch core for VR market mainly include S900VR, V700 and V500.

9, Intel CherryTrail platform (Z8350 / Z8700)

In depends on VR devices of the host and the PC market, Intel has a great advantage. But in the portable VR all-in-one market, Intel scheme with relatively few people are. And useful as well as the main 14 nm CherryTrail platform.

14 nm Intel CherryTrail platform, but even in VR, hot also is very touching. Especially for Z8700 performance is stronger. Perhaps it is because of the cause of the fever, so she said its billion in VR all-in-one chose four nuclear Z8350 CherryTrail platforms.

10, NVIDIA (prototypes K1)

While NVIDIA has withdrawn from the mobile phone market, but its mobile processors are still exist, but also active in the handheld market, such as NVIDIA their shields of the game. Prototypes K1 as early as 2014 issued, but it is still a NVIDIA currently top mobile processors. For do the NVIDIA graphics card was born, the prototypes K1 on the graphics processor ability is very strong.

Prototypes K1 is one of the two versions, one is based on architecture (A15 four core 32-bit version of the architecture, the highest frequency of 2.3 GHz; Another is based on a 64 - bit ARMv8 dual-core Denver (Denver) CPU core architecture, the highest frequency of 2.5 GHz. Both processors was carrying 192 core Kepler GPU, support based on DirectX11.1 unreal engine 4 games, can let the mobile device to realize the PC game effects. Based on prototypes K1 powerful graphics processing power, has been adopted by some domestic VR all-in-one PC manufacturers prototypes K1 package (four nuclear architecture (A15 version). Such as Idealens VR all-in-one and palm reading's star wheel Viulux VR - X all-in-one.