Arm announces Cortex-A76, Mali-G76, Mali-V76 IP

SoftBank-owned Arm has announced the launch of a new range of processor intellectual property (IP), the 76 family, which it claims offers considerable performance benefits over its predecessors.

Available in Cortex-A76 central processor, Mali-G76 graphics processor, and Mali-V76 video processor flavours, Arm's latest core IPs switch to what is claimed to be a shiny new microarchitecture which offers impressive performance gains compared to the company's previous generation equivalents. The Cortex-A76, to begin, is said to have a 35 percent performance uptick over last year's equivalent, while the Mali-G76 sits slightly lower at a still-high 30 percent year-on-year gain - 'the only compute architecture delivering these generation-over-generation gains', boasts Arm's Rene Haas.

'Our new client IP platform solution for 2019 has generated a level of excitement within our ecosystem which I have never seen during my my 5+ years at Arm thank to the possibilities it offers for increased productivity, immersive AR/VR and gaming, AI/ML, and UHD 8K viewing experiences on more devices,' Haas adds. 'Not to mention, this suite of premium IP perfectly complements our Project Trillium platform, further optimising machine learning and AI uses at the edge.'

Based on the company's DynamIQ technology, first unveiled in March last year, the Cortex-A76 offers a claimed 35 general-purpose performance gain and 30 percent efficiency gain over its direct predecessor, along with a claimed fourfold improvement in machine learning and artificial intelligence workload performance. The Mali-G76 graphics IP, which would normally be used alongside the Cortex-A76 in a system-on-chip (SoC), is claimed to offer enough performance for mobile virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) applications, while the Mali-V76 video co-processor IP supports 8K resolution decoding at 60 frames per second or four simultaneous 4K streams at 60 frames per second - expanding to 16 simultaneous streams of Full HD (1080p60) content, which Haas points out has potential for those building 4x4 video wall applications.

Thus far, Arm has not indicated when the first devices based on the new IP will be hitting the market.