University of Turbat Introduction to Computer

Submitted By: Abdullah Karim

Submitted To: Sir Malik Jasim

Class: B.com 1st

Department: Commerce

Assignment No: 3rd

Date: 14 April 2014

APPLE PROCESSOR

The Apple A5 is a 32-bit system-on-a-chip designedBy Apple Inc. and manufactured by Samsung and is the successor to the Apple A4. The A5 commercially debuted with the release of Apple's iPad 2 tablet, and also powers the iPhone 4S, iPod Touch fifth generation, Apple TV third generation, and the iPad mini. This is consistent with how Apple debuted the A4 chip: first in the original iPad, followed by the iPhone 4, and then the iPod Touch (fourth generation). Apple claims that compared to its predecessor, the A4, the A5 CPU "can do twice the work" and the GPU has "up to nine times the graphics performance".

The A5 consists of a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore CPU with NEON SIMD accelerator and a dual core PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU. Apple lists the A5 to be clocked at 1 GHz on the iPad 2's technical specifications page, though it can dynamically adjust its frequency to save battery life. The unit used in the iPhone 4S is clocked at approximately 800 MHz. Apple has also included an image signal processor unit (ISP) that will do advanced image post-processing such as face detection, white balance and automatic image stabilizationand an "earSmart" unit from Audience for noise canceling.

When the A5 was first released, it was estimated at that time to cost 75% more than the previous generation, with the difference expected to diminish as production increased. As of August 2012, the A5 is manufactured at Samsung's Austin, Texas factory. Samsung invested $3.6 billion in the Austin facility to produce chips such as processors, and nearly all of that wing's output is dedicated to Apple components. Samsung has invested a further $4.2 billion at the Austin facility in order to transition to a 28 nm fabrication process by the second half of 2013.

The A5 part model numbers are: S5L8940 (45 nm version), S5L8942 (32 nm version) and S5L8947 (32 nm, single core version). A version of

the A5 with a wider memory subsystem and four graphic cores is called Apple A5X and is found in the third generation iPad.

Apple A5 (S5L8940)

Apple uses the first version of the A5 chip in the iPhone 4S, and iPad 2. The A5's manufacturing process is 45 nm and it has 122.2 mm2 of die areaIt is manufactured in a package on package (PoP) together with 512 MB of dual-channel LP-DDR2 DRAM.

Apple A5r2 (S5L8942)

Apple uses a second version of the A5 chip in the third generation Apple TV, announced on March 7, 2012, the iPod Touch fifth generation, the iPad mini and the 32 nm revision of the iPad 2. This chip is manufactured with a 32 nm fabrication process, with ID code S5L8942 and it has one core disabled in the Apple TV. The new A5 measures nearly 41% smaller than first-generation A5, coming in at 69.6 mm2 and manufactured in a package on package (PoP) together with 512 MB LPDDR2 DRAM.

Apple A5r3 (S5L8947)

In March 2013, Apple released an updated version of the third generation Apple TV (AppleTV3,2) containing a smaller, single core version of the A5 processor. Unlike the other A5 variants, this version of the A5 is not a package-on-package (PoP), having no stacked RAM. The chip is very small, just 37.8 mm2, but as the decrease in size is not due to a decrease in feature size (it is still on a 32 nm fabrication process), this indicates that this A5 revision is of a new design. Markings tell that it's named APL7498, and in software, the chip is called S5L8947.

Advanced Micro Devices Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Sunnyvale, California, United States, that develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. While initially it manufactured its own processors, the company became fabless after GlobalFoundries was spun off in 2009. AMD's main products include microprocessors, motherboard chipsets, embedded processors and graphics processors for servers, workstations and personal computers, and embedded systems applications.

AMD is the second-largest global supplier of microprocessors based on the x86 architecture and also one of the largest suppliers of graphics processing units. It also owns 8.6% of Spansion, a supplier of non-volatile flash memory.

AMD is the only significant rival to Intel in the central processor (CPU) market for (x86 based) personal computers. Since acquiring ATI in 2006, AMD and its competitor Nvidia have dominated the discrete graphics processor unit (GPU) market.

Corporate history

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) was founded on May 1, 1969, by a group of former executives from Fairchild Semiconductor, including Jerry Sanders III, Ed Turney, John Carey, Sven Simonsen, Jack Gifford and three members from Gifford's team, Frank Botte, Jim Giles, and Larry Stenger. The company began as a producer of logic chips, then entered the RAM chip business in 1975. That same year, it introduced a reverse-engineered clone of the Intel 8080 microprocessor. During this period, AMD also designed and produced a series of bit-slice processor

elements (Am2900, Am29116, Am293xx) which were used in various minicomputer designs.

During this time, AMD attempted to embrace the perceived shift towards RISC with their own AMD Am29000 (29k) processor, and also attempted to diversify into graphics and audio devices as well as EPROM memory. It had some success in the mid-1980s with the AMD7910 and AMD7911 "World Chip" FSK modem, one of the first multi-standard devices that covered both Bell and CCITT tones at up to 1200 baud half duplex or 300/300 full duplex. The 29k survived as an embedded processor and AMD spinoff Spansion continues to make flash memory. AMD decided to switch gears and concentrate solely on Intel-compatible microprocessors and flash memory, placing them in direct competition with Intel for x86-compatible processors and their flash memory secondary markets.

AMD announced the acquisition of ATI Technologies on July 24, 2006. AMD paid $4.3 billion in cash and 58 million shares of its stock, for a total of US$5.4 billion. The transaction completed on October 25, 2006. Since 2010, all of the company's graphics processing products have been marketed under the AMD brand name.

It was reported in December 2006 that AMD, along with its main rival in the graphics industry Nvidia, received subpoenas from the Justice Department regarding possible antitrust violations in the graphics card industry, including the act of fixing prices.

In October 2008, AMD announced plans to spin off manufacturing operations in the form of a multibillion-dollar joint venture with Advanced Technology Investment Co., an investment company formed by the government of Abu Dhabi. The new venture is called GlobalFoundries Inc.. This partnership will allow AMD to focus solely on chip design. The spin off was accompanied by the loss of approximately 1000 jobs, or about 10% of AMD's global workforce.

In August 2011, AMD announced that former Lenovo executive Rory Read would be joining the company as CEO, following Dirk Meyer.

AMD announced in November 2011 plans to lay off more than 10% (1400) of its employees from across all divisions worldwide. This action was to have completed by Q1 2012 with most exits before Christmas 2011. AMD announced in October 2012 plans to release an additional 15% of its workforce with an unspecified effective date to reduce costs in the face of declining sales revenue.

AMD acquired the low-power server manufacturer SeaMicro in early 2012 as part of a strategy to regain lost market share in the server chip market.