Samsung announce the Exynos 990 processor and next-generation Exynos Modem 5123 5G modem

As teased yesterday, Samsung announced a new set of mobile processors at its TechDays event today.

At the event, Samsung announced the Exynos 990 processor and Exynos Modem 5123 5G modem.

Both the Exynos 990 mobile processor and 5G Exynos Modem 5123 are created via advanced 7-nanometer (nm) process technology using extreme ultra-violet (EUV) to provide high performance and accelerated product development options for mobile manufacturers.

“Milestones in technological advancements are imminent all around us. Mobile 5G technology is opening new avenues for communication and connection, while AI is poised to become an everyday tool for people worldwide,” noted Inyup Kang, president of System LSI Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung’s Exynos 990 and Exynos Modem 5123 are perfectly adapted for high-volume 5G and AI applications, and are designed to help the world’s most ambitious enterprises, large and small, achieve their goals of bringing new capabilities to their markets .”

New levels of mobile gaming and other graphics-intensive operations are enabled by the Exynos 990’s inclusion of an embedded Arm Mali-G77 GPU, the first premium GPU based on the new Valhall architecture, which improves graphic performance or power efficiency by up to 20 percent. This comes in addition to an overall 20-percent performance boost from a powerful and flexible tri-cluster CPU structure that consists of two powerful custom cores, two high-performance Cortex-A76 cores and four power-efficient Cortex-A55 cores.

The Exynos 990 also makes on-device AI practical and useful, with a top-class dual-core neural processing unit (NPU) and improved digital signal processor (DSP) that can perform over ten-trillion operations (TOPs) per second.

The NPU enables localized AI in a smartphone or other mobile platform, allowing data to be processed on-device, rather than going through a network and a server, for added efficiency and security. This can also help enhance AI features such as facial recognition and scene detection for richer mobile experiences.

Next-generation mobile connectivity needs are addressed by the 5G Exynos Modem 5123, one of the first 5G modem chips manufactured using a 7nm EUV process. It supports virtually all networks, from 5G’s sub-6GHz and mmWave spectrums to 2G GSM/CDMA, 3G WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, HSPA and 4G LTE, with outstanding downlink speed across the board. In 5G, with up to 8-carrier aggregation (8CA), the modem delivers a maximum downlink speed of up to 5.1-gigabits per second (Gbps) in sub-6-gigahertz (GHz) and 7.35Gbps in mmWave, or up to 3.0Gbps in 4G networks by supporting higher-order 1024 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM).

The Exynos 990 complements these modem speeds with a very wide memory bandwidth that supports LPDDR5 data rates of up to 5,500 megabits per second (Mb/s). The processor also features a 120Hz refresh-rate display driver, which makes improves games by reducing screen tearing and enabling smoother animations even on devices with multiple displays, such as foldable phones. Also on board is an advanced image signal processor (ISP) that supports up to six individual image sensors with concurrent processing of three; this enables pro-grade photography, with resolution up to 108-megapixels.

The Exynos 990 and Exynos Modem 5123 are expected to begin mass production by the end of this year and will likely show up in the international Samsung Galaxy S11.

See Samsung’s full Exynos 990 spec sheet here.