C. Scott Brown / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Qualcomm is engaged on a brand new wearable chip, the “SW6100”, additionally referred to as “aspena”
- The processor isn’t primarily based on any earlier Qualcomm product, not like its earlier wearable chips
- The specs embrace 1x Arm Cortex-A78 + 4x Arm Cortex-A55, an LPDDR5X RAM controller, all constructed on a TSMC course of node
Put on OS smartwatches have been in a little bit of a standstill these days. After releasing Snapdragon W5/+ Gen 1 in 2022, Qualcomm hasn’t given the platform any consideration, with solely Samsung persevering with to develop new chips for wearables. Google smartwatches, for instance, have been caught on the identical Qualcomm platform for 3 years now. There was some discuss attainable RISC-V-based SoCs in addition to next-generation chips for some time now, however with none concrete particulars.
That’s, till now. Android Authority has seen credible proof that Qualcomm is engaged on a brand new wearables platform and a few of its specs. If it does see the sunshine of day, it may give the following era of Put on OS wearables a much-needed efficiency leap.
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Kamila Wojciechowska / Android Authority
Qualcomm Snapdragon Put on 4100 reference design from my assortment
Traditionally, Qualcomm’s put on chips haven’t acquired the identical consideration to element as its smartphone fashions. They’re typically present smartphone chips with minor modifications, and a few are additionally constructed on a more recent course of node. In truth, a few of the earlier reference designs Qualcomm supplies to OEMs use unmodified smartphone chips! After all, some work nonetheless goes into them (like optimizing sensor hubs and wi-fi), however a completely bespoke design has by no means been a precedence for Qualcomm. The one totally customized a part of the platform was the exterior coprocessor chips, however even these have been constructed within the least expensive manner attainable, using numerous off-the-shelf IP.
For instance, Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1’s QCC5100 coprocessor makes use of an Arm-designed Ethos ML core, Cadence’s HiFi 5 DSP and Suppose Silicon’s Nema|pico 2.5D GPU, though Qualcomm has its personal cores to do all of those capabilities and scaling them down to be used in a coprocessor is completely attainable.
I compiled a desk of Qualcomm’s previous wearable chips, in addition to the smartphone chips I assume they’re primarily based on:
| Wearable chip | Primarily based on |
|---|---|
|
Put on 2100 | Put on 2500 | Put on 3100 |
Snapdragon 210 |
|
Put on 4100 |
Snapdragon 429 |
|
W5 Gen 1 | W5+ Gen 1 |
QCS2290 (IoT chip) |
It seems to be like Qualcomm may begin taking the class extra significantly now, although. Primarily based on the knowledge we seen, a brand new chip referred to as SW6100, codenamed Aspen, is at present within the testing section at Qualcomm. We don’t know what the brand new chip might be referred to as, however my guess is that it’s going to both be W5 Gen 2 or W6 Gen 1.
We additionally discovered fairly a bit about it — first, it’s primarily based on a TSMC course of node. Sadly, we don’t know which particular one it’s. Regardless of the case, it ought to enhance the platform’s effectivity, as Samsung course of nodes are at present behind in that space. Moreover, the RAM controller was upgraded to assist LPDDR5X (whereas W5 Gen 1 solely supported LPDDR4), which ought to give a small however non-negligible battery life enhance. There’s additionally the QCC6100 coprocessor, which we sadly don’t know something about simply but.
Qualcomm may lastly give its wearable platform the efficiency enhance it desperately wants.
We additionally discovered the CPU core configuration — 1x Arm Cortex-A78 + 4x Arm Cortex-A55. This could symbolize a big improve over the earlier era. Going from Cortex-A53 cores (first launched in 2012, by the best way) to a a lot newer Cortex-A55 cluster with a further large core like Cortex-A78 ought to enhance efficiency. Surprisingly, Qualcomm isn’t the one one placing that config right into a wearable chip, because the Samsung Exynos W1000 makes use of the very same one.
After all, these cores are nonetheless dated, and it will be good to see one thing newer in a watch sometime, however they’re nonetheless an enormous enchancment over the earlier generations. Hopefully, it was a calculated resolution to supply higher effectivity as a substitute of additional efficiency that’s most likely not wanted in a watch anyway.
What’s attention-grabbing is that Qualcomm was working with Google to carry RISC-V put on chips to the market. This leak means that’s not occurring anytime quickly, if ever. The Cortex-A78 core in SW6100 can also be shocking — there are nearly no licensable RISC-V cores which can be that highly effective, so it is going to be intriguing to see how Qualcomm handles that.
We don’t know when the brand new chip might be launched, but when it does attain manufacturing, we may see it in Put on OS smartwatches in 2026.
