New 1 GHz AM37x Sitara(TM) ARM(R) Cortex(TM)-A8 MPUs from Texas Instruments offer design flexibility and compatibility, driving a variety of low-power, high-performance applications

Nearly 40 percent increase in ARM performance and twice the graphics performance allows picture-perfect graphics while reducing power consumption by up to 30 percent

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Texas Instruments

Jun 07, 2010, 01:34 ET

DALLAS, June 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Developers can now benefit from enhanced system response time, improved boot times and increased battery life with two new TI Sitara microprocessor units (MPUs), the AM3715 and AM3703 processors, with 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8. Introduced today by Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN), these MPUs are appropriate for a wide variety of applications, such as portable data terminals, portable medical equipment, home and building automation, navigation systems, smart displays and human machine interface (HMI) industrial applications. The AM3703 can be utilized for applications not requiring graphics. Offering double the graphics performance over previous Sitara devices, the AM3715 enables fluid, complex 3D rendering, picture-perfect visuals and increased graphical user interface (GUI) capabilities. Both the AM3715 and AM3703 offer a nearly 40 percent increase in ARM performance, and developers can increase application battery life with up to 30 percent decrease in power consumption compared to previous MPUs in the Sitara family.

Scalability within the Sitara ARM MPU product family, enabled by the AM3715 and AM3703 processors, allows for increased headroom to protect product investments for customization and product lifecycle enhancements. The AM37x MPUs are code compatible with TI's OMAP35x and Sitara AM35x line of processors. Pin-to-pin compatibility between the AM3715 and AM3703 enables designers to easily scale their end products to the defined performance requirements.

Linux® and Windows® Embedded CE software packages are provided with example applications, development environment and system utilities. These software packages provide existing customers and developers an easy software migration path while providing a scalable silicon hardware platform for product enhancements through the Sitara ARM MPUs and DaVinci™ video processors. The large community of open source developers for the BeagleBoard and BeagleBoard-xM (based on the Sitara AM37x MPU) from Digi-Key, third-party network offerings and TI-provided support resources also help make development easier for designers www.ti.com/am37xprlp.

AM37x key features and benefits:


Key Feature	Benefits
Available at 300 MHz, 600 MHz, 800 MHz and 1GHz performance levels.	Offers numerous operating points to meet power and performance budgets while maintaining pin for pin compatibility
1GHz Cortex-A8 with Neon co-processor, delivering 2000 DMIPs and offering 45 nm	Enables faster user interfaces, data access and web page downloads; enables highest levels of processor performance and low power consumption
PowerVR Graphics Core supports OpenGL ES 2.0 and renders 20 million polygons per second	Provides stunning 3D graphics for more eye-catching GUIs
Increased SDRAM Controller performance and 100 percent increase in L1 cache	Increased memory bandwidth provides increased multi processor performance and reduces latency
Robust peripheral set: USB HS Host x3, USB 2.0 OTG, MMC/SD card interface x3, 1.8V input/output and display subsystem with LCD controller and dual 10-bit DACs	Allows multiple connectivity options

Tools and software

Customers can start developing their designs today with the TMDXEVM3715 evaluation module (EVM) for $1,495. The software development kit includes a Linux kernel 2.6.32 board support package complete with Graphical User Interface, Graphics, Applications, demonstrations and development utilities. Windows® Embedded CE 6.0 board support package will also be available in 3Q10.

Pricing, availability:

The AM3715 and AM3703 MPUs are available for sampling and priced at USD $26 for the AM3715 and $22.50 for the AM3703 in 1,000 unit quantities (1ku) from TI and TI authorized dealers.

Find out more about TI's AM37x MPUs by visiting the links below:

Sitara AM37x home: www.ti.com/am37xprlp
AM3715product information: www.ti.com/am37xpr15pf
AM3703 product information: www.ti.com/am37xpr03pf
AM3715datasheet: www.ti.com/am37xpr15ds
AM3703 datasheet: www.ti.com/am37xpr03ds
AM37x evaluation module: www.ti.com/am37xprtf
AM37x video: www.ti.com/am37xprvid
TI's E2E community: www.ti.com/am37xprcommunity

About Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) helps customers solve problems and develop new electronics that make the world smarter, healthier, safer, greener and more fun. A global semiconductor company, TI innovates through design, sales and manufacturing operations in more than 30 countries. For more information, go to www.ti.com.

Trademarks

DaVinci and Sitara are trademarks of Texas Instruments. All other trademarks and registered trademarks belong to their respective owners.

SOURCE Texas Instruments