Samsung Electronics introduces the Exynos 2200

Rendering of Samsung Electronics' Exynos 2200 [SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS]

Samsung Electronics has started mass production of the Exynos 2200 high-end mobile application processor, the chipmaker's latest answer to the Qualcomm Snapdragon series.

The chipset, which is made utilizing 4-nanometer extreme ultraviolet (EUV) technology, is designed for 5G-enabled premium smartphone products. It will be used in the soon to-be-released Samsung Galaxy S22 at least in some markets, though the exact markets haven't been disclosed.

The graphics processing unit(GPU) in the Exynos 2200, branded as the Xclipse, has been jointly developed with Santa Clara, California's AMD. It allows for real-time ray tracing.

Ray tracing is a technique that simulates how light behaves in the real world and is considered essential to realistic and immersive graphics. Samsung Electronics said that the latest chipset is the industry's first mobile processor with a GPU that allows for ray tracing.

"With the Xclipse, our new mobile GPU built with RDNA 2 graphics technology from the industry leader AMD, the Exynos 2200 will redefine mobile gaming experience, aided by enhanced graphics and AI performance," said Park Yong-in, president, System LSI, Samsung Electronics.

"AMD RDNA 2 graphics architecture extends power-efficient, advanced graphics solutions to PCs, laptops, consoles, automobiles and now to mobile phones. Samsung¡¯s Xclipse GPU is the first result of multiple planned generations of AMD RDNA graphics in Exynos SoCs," said David Wang, senior vice president at AMD.

The newest Exynos is built upon the Armv9, central processing unit architecture developed by Cambridge, Britain's ARM. Samsung believes it will enhance Exynos 2200's ability to process machine learning and artificial intelligence-related functions.

"As one of the first processors to incorporate the new Armv9 CPU cores, Samsung's Exynos 2200 takes advantage of Arm's Total Compute strategy and key security features, like Memory Tagging Extension (MTE), to deliver the purpose-built compute and specialized processing needed to power future mobile experiences," Park said.

In processing images, the Exynos 2200 utilizes an image signal processor that supports camera resolutions of up to 200 megapixels. The processor can connect up to seven individual sensors and is able to process input from four simultaneously.

Samsung Electronics was set to announce the introduction of the Exynos 2200 on Jan. 11, but that was delayed. The company says that the schedule shift was due to the need to coordinate with clients and was not related to any production issues.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]