TI grab pole position in ARM Eagle next-gen cores

Texas Instruments are the first company to sign up to ARM's new Cortex-A series processor core, ARM Eagle.  Launched at Computex 2010, Eagle takes its place at the high-end of ARM's portfolio, and will form the basis of TI's next-gen OMAP chipsets.

What's still unclear, though, are the full specifications of Eagle and when we can expect to see TI's first chipsets arrive on the market.  Considering the next Cortex A9 SoCs – such as Texas Instruments' OMAP4 chipsets – aren't set to debut until Q4 2010, with the first products in early 2011, it doesn't seem likely that Eagle will land until 2012.

Press Release:TI announced as the first licensee of the next generation ARM Cortex™-A series processor core

Integral involvement in core definition lays groundwork for breakthrough OMAP™ processor solutions on the horizon

DALLAS (August 9, 2010) – Building on its rich heritage of collaboration with ARM, Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) today confirmed that it was the first company to partner with ARM in the conception and definition of the next generation ARM® Cortex™-A series processor core (also known as "Eagle") to be announced later this year. TI intends to use the new processor to further strengthen and extend its future OMAP™ platform offerings. For more information on TI's OMAP family, please visit: www.ti.com/omapwireless.

TI formally engaged with ARM on this project in June 2009, establishing an advanced lead partnership. During this time, TI leveraged its low power, system-on-chip (SoC) platform expertise with ARM to advance the processor core's definition. This engagement accelerates TI's ability to get to market early with high-performance OMAP products based on the new ARM processor core, following up on its popular OMAP 4 platform that uses the powerful Cortex-A9 processor core. The partnership's efforts also reiterate TI's commitment to spearheading high-performance, low-power mobile advances.

TI aims to raise the bar in high-performance, power-efficient computing with upcoming OMAP platform solutions intended to radically transform devices while enriching the mobile lifestyle. Using its unique SmartReflex™ power and performance management technology, TI believes it can deliver SoCs with industry-leading low power consumption. As a result, TI OMAP platform solutions based on the new ARM processor core and SmartReflex will meet the mobile market's demand for intense performance capabilities and low power consumption. TI also believes that the new ARM processor core has the potential for broader market application across TI's product portfolio.

"Our position as ARM's advanced lead partner for its next-generation Cortex-A series processor core underscores TI's unwavering commitment to helping customers achieve success in the competitive mobile world," said Remi El-Ouazzane, vice president, OMAP platform business unit TI. "We are thrilled to know that our customers will be the first to leverage the new ARM processor core's far-reaching innovations via our industry-leading OMAP products. Successful mobile industry achievements revolve around the 'high-performance, low-power' mantra, and we believe the results of our collaborative effort echo the importance of this must-have balance."

"TI and ARM have a long history of collaboration and exchanging technical ideas to develop and define innovative technologies," said Mike Inglis, EVP and GM, ARM. "Together, we're finding new ways to bridge the gap between performance and power requirements, as is evident with our joint work on the next-generation Cortex-A series processor core's definition. We look forward to seeing TI come to market with game-changing solutions that place ARM's new processor core at the heart of tomorrow's consumer-focused smart mobile products."

TI's legacy with ARM began more than 15 years ago when, in 1993, TI and ARM embarked on their industry-changing partnership. TI has since shipped around 250 million OMAP processors, which contain ARM core processors. TI continues to leverage early engagement with ARM's technology development to quickly deliver advanced solutions in markets ranging from automotive to mobile. For more information about TI and ARM's successful innovation history, please visit this corresponding MobileMomentum blog post: www.ti.com/mobilemomentum.