Nvidia--best known for graphics processors for visually intensive applications--has been counting on its mobile chip, dubbed Tegra, to help offset dwindling revenue in its graphics chipset business. The Santa Clara, Calif., company has been successful in getting the processor into mobile devices and earlier this year unveiled plans for a quad-core chip, code-named "Kal-El."

Mike Rayfield, general manager of Nvidia's mobile business, said Kal-El has five cores, allowing it to consume less power than dual-core chips from rivals Qualcomm and Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN), as well as Nvidia's Tegra 2 chip currently in devices like the Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. (MMI) Xoom.

"Anything any dual core can do...I do it better with lower power in my quad core," Rayfield said in an interview. "It really did come into a lower power envelope than a dual core and much higher peak performance."

Devices, even when sitting unused on a desk, are still running certain applications and are consuming energy. The fifth core in Kal-El is a super low-power version of the other cores, running tasks that don't need a lot of computing power, Rayfield said. Increasing the number of processors in a chip boosts the performance of the semiconductor.

The fifth core was made in a different process technology than the others, he said. Its transistors, which are the basis of chips, aren't as fast as those in the other cores, but that reduces the amount of current being leaked and lowers energy consumption.

"The other cores are high-speed cores," Rayfield said. "They burn more power, but you only turn them on when you need them...If that fifth processor turns on and burns even less power than anything else, then your average power for the use case goes down."

The mobile chip market has become highly competitive, with companies such as giant Intel Corp. (INTC) racing to get a piece of the action. Qualcomm, Texas Instruments and Nvidia have largely dominated the market, supplying components used in most Google Inc. (GOOG) Android devices and other products. Nvidia hopes Kal-El--the first quad-core chip available--will give it a lead over its rivals, particularly in tablets.

While Nvidia has said there are 53 smartphones shipping with Tegra and that it holds about 70% of the Android tablet market, it has yet to see a strong boost in revenue from the mobile chip. Huang originally forecast flat sales of Tegra in the third quarter, though he later said mobile processor sales should grow sequentially.

Kal-El--which will be manufactured at 40 nanometers, or billionths of a meter--also has a 12-core graphics processor with three times the graphics performance of Tegra 2. Rayfield said a 28 nanometer version of its mobile chip will be available next year, and Nvidia is working to integrate wireless baseband technology with its processor. The company hasn't yet determined an official name for Kal-El.

Tablets using Kal-El should be available in time for the holiday season, while smartphones will likely show up later this year or early in 2012.

By: DocMemory
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