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ARM Cortex-A7

{{Short description|2011 computer microprocessor core}}

{{Infobox CPU

| name = ARM Cortex-A7

| image = Wiko Rainbow 4G - main printed circuit board - Mediatek MT6582V-8620.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Mediatek MT6582V

| produced-start = 2011

| produced-end =

| slowest = 520 MHz

| fastest = 2.3 GHz

| slow-unit =

| fast-unit =

| size-from =

| size-to =

| soldby =

| designfirm = ARM Holdings

| core1 =

| pack1 =

| brand1 =

| arch = ARMv7-A

| cpuid =

| code =

| numcores = 1–8

| l1cache = 8–64 KB/8–64 KB

| l2cache = Optional, up to 1 MB

| l3cache =

| application =

| predecessor = ARM Cortex-A5

| successor = ARM Cortex-A53

}}

The ARM Cortex-A7 MPCore is a 32-bit microprocessor core licensed by ARM Holdings implementing the ARMv7-A architecture announced in 2011.{{citation

|url=https://www.extremetech.com/computing/101081-arm-cortex-a7-offers-a-microdot-sized-glimpse-into-the-future-of-mobile-processors |title=ARM Cortex-A7 offers a microdot-sized glimpse into the future of mobile processors |author=Ryan Whitwam |publisher=ExtremeTech |date=2011-10-21}}

Overview

File:Raspberry-Pi-2-Bare-BR.jpg micro-computer.]]

{{Main|Comparison of ARMv7-A cores}}

It has two target applications; firstly as a smaller, simpler, and more power-efficient successor to the Cortex-A8. The other use is in the big.LITTLE architecture, combining one or more A7 cores with one or more Cortex-A15 cores into a heterogeneous system.{{cite web | url=http://www.arm.com/products/processors/technologies/biglittleprocessing.php | title=big.LITTLE Processing | publisher=ARM Holdings | access-date=2012-10-17 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022055646/http://www.arm.com/products/processors/technologies/bigLITTLEprocessing.php | archive-date=2012-10-22 | url-status=dead }} To do this it is fully feature-compatible with the A15.

Key features of the Cortex-A7 core are:

  • Partial dual-issue, in-order microarchitecture with an 8-stage pipeline{{cite web | url=http://www.anandtech.com/show/4991/arms-cortex-a7-bringing-cheaper-dualcore-more-power-efficient-highend-devices | title=ARM's Cortex A7: Bringing Cheaper Dual-Core & More Power Efficient High-End Devices | publisher=AnandTech | date=2011-10-19 | author=Anand Lal Shimpi | access-date=2012-10-17}}
  • NEON SIMD instruction set extension
  • VFPv4 Floating Point Unit
  • Thumb-2 instruction set encoding
  • Jazelle RCT
  • Hardware virtualization
  • Large Page Address Extensions (LPAE)
  • Integrated level 2 Cache (0–1 MB)
  • 1.9 DMIPS / MHz
  • Typical clock speed 1.5 GHz

Chips

Several system-on-chips (SoC) have implemented the Cortex-A7 core, including:

  • Allwinner A20 (dual-core A7 + Mali-400 MP2 GPU){{cite web | url=http://www.cnx-software.com/2012/12/09/allwinner-a31-and-a20-processors-details/ | title=AllWinner Publishes A31 and A20 Processors Details | publisher=CNXSoft | date=December 9, 2012 | access-date=2012-12-09 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121212052710/http://www.cnx-software.com/2012/12/09/allwinner-a31-and-a20-processors-details/ | archive-date=December 12, 2012 | url-status=dead }}
  • Allwinner A31 (quad-core A7 + PowerVR SGX544MP2 GPU){{cite web|url=http://www.allwinnertech.com/en/clq/processora/A31.html |title=A31 |publisher=Allwinner Technology |access-date=2016-02-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160221101940/http://www.allwinnertech.com/en/clq/processora/A31.html |archive-date=2016-02-21 }}
  • Allwinner A83T (octa-core A7 + PowerVR SGX544 GPU){{cite web | url=http://www.allwinnertech.com/en/clq/processora/AllwinnerA83T.html | title=A83T | publisher=Allwinner Technology | access-date=2016-02-18 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160210121052/http://www.allwinnertech.com/en/clq/processora/AllwinnerA83T.html | archive-date=2016-02-10 | url-status=dead }}
  • Allwinner [https://linux-sunxi.org/H3 H3](quad-core A7 + Mali-400 MP2 GPU){{cite web | url=http://www.allwinnertech.com/index.php?c=product&a=index&id=47 | title=H3 | publisher=Allwinner | access-date=2016-11-04}}
  • Broadcom BCM23550 quad-core HSPA+ Multimedia Processor{{cite web|url=http://www.broadcom.com/products/Cellular/3G-Baseband-Processors/BCM23550 |title=BCM23550 |publisher=Broadcom |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029004818/http://www.broadcom.com/products/Cellular/3G-Baseband-Processors/BCM23550 |archive-date=2013-10-29 }}
  • Broadcom BCM2836 (quad-core A7 + VideoCore IV GPU), designed specifically for Raspberry Pi 2{{cite web|last1=Upton|first1=Eben|title=Raspberry Pi 2 on sale now at $35|url=http://www.raspberrypi.org/raspberry-pi-2-on-sale/|publisher=Raspberry Pi Foundation|access-date=3 February 2015|archive-date=11 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411203545/https://www.raspberrypi.org/raspberry-pi-2-on-sale/|url-status=dead}}
  • Broadcom BCM6846 (dual-core A7) Broadband SoC{{cite web|last1=Zhang|first1=William|title=arm: bcmbca: add bcm6846 SoC support|url=https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20220525003236.2699-3-william.zhang@broadcom.com/t/}}
  • NXP Semiconductor (Formerly Freescale) QorIQ Layerscape LS1 (dual-core A7)
  • Freescale i.MX 6 UltraLite
  • HiSilicon K3V3, big.LITTLE architecture with dual-core Cortex-A7 and dual-core Cortex-A15. Use ARM Mali-T658 GPU.
  • Marvell PXA1088 (quad-core A7 + Vivante GC1000){{cite web|url=http://www.marvell.com/communication-processors/pxa1088/ |title=PXA1088 |publisher=Marvell Technology Group |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512222415/http://www.marvell.com/communication-processors/pxa1088/ |archive-date=2013-05-12 }}
  • Mediatek [https://www.mediatek.com/products/smartphones/mt6570 MT6570] (dual-core A7 + ARM Mali-400MP1 GPU)
  • Mediatek [https://www.mediatek.com/products/smartphones/mt6572 MT6572] (dual-core A7 + ARM Mali-400MP1 GPU)
  • Mediatek [https://www.mediatek.com/products/smartphones/mt6580 MT6580] (quad-core A7 + ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU)
  • Mediatek [https://www.mediatek.com/products/smartphones/mt6582 MT6582] (quad-core A7 + ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU)
  • Mediatek MT6589 (quad-core A7 + Imagination Technologies PowerVR SGX544 GPU)
  • Mediatek [https://www.mediatek.com/products/smartphones/mt6592 MT6592] (octa-core A7 + ARM Mali-450MP4 GPU)
  • Mstar MSB2531A ARM Cortex A7 32bit 800MHZ
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 and Snapdragon 400{{Broken anchor|date=2024-09-29|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Snapdragon (system on chip)#Snapdragon 400|reason= The anchor (Snapdragon 400) has been deleted.}} MSM8212 and MSM8612, MSM8226, MSM8626 and MSM8926 (quad core A7 + Adreno 305 GPU)
  • Samsung Exynos 5 Octa (5410), big.LITTLE architecture with quad-core Cortex-A7 and quad-core Cortex-A15. Use Imagination Technologies PowerVR SGX544MP3 GPU.
  • Samsung Exynos 5 Octa (5420), big.LITTLE architecture with quad-core Cortex-A7 and quad-core Cortex-A15. Use ARM Mali-T628MP6 GPU.
  • STMicroelectronics [https://www.st.com/en/microcontrollers-microprocessors/stm32mp135.html STM32MP13x] (single-core A7)
  • STMicroelectronics [https://www.st.com/en/microcontrollers-microprocessors/stm32mp157.html STM32MP15x] (dual-core A7 + M4 + Vivante GPU)
  • ASPEED [https://www.aspeedtech.com/server_ast2600/ AST2600] BMC (dual-core A7 + M4)

See also

{{Portal|Electronics}}

References

{{Reflist|2}}

External links

{{Commons category}}

;ARM Holdings

  • {{Official website|http://www.arm.com/products/processors/cortex-a/cortex-a7.php}}
  • [http://infocenter.arm.com/help/topic/com.arm.doc.subset.cortexa.cortexa7/index.html Cortex-A7 Technical Reference Manuals]

;Other

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20140904113143/http://hardwarebug.org/2014/05/15/cortex-a7-instruction-cycle-timings/ Cortex-A7 instruction cycle timings]

{{Application ARM-based chips}}

Category:ARM processors

Category:ARM Holdings IP cores