ARM Cortex-A9

ARM Cortex-A9

MediaTek M6575
General information
Launched	2007
Designed by	ARM Holdings
Performance
Max. CPU clock rate	0.8 GHz  to 2 GHz
Cache
L1 cache	32 KB I, 32 KB D
L2 cache	128 KB–8 MB (configurable with L2sr1 cache controller)
Architecture and classification
Instruction set	ARMv7-A
Physical specifications
Cores	1–4
History
Predecessor	ARM Cortex-A8
Successor	ARM Cortex-A12

The ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore is a 32-bit multi-core processor that provides up to 4 cache-coherent cores, each implementing the ARM v7 architecture instruction set.^[1] It was introduced in 2007.^[2]

Features

Main article: Comparison of ARMv7-A cores

Key features of the Cortex-A9 core are:^[3]

• Out-of-order speculative issue superscalar execution 8-stage^[4] pipeline giving 8.50 DMIPS/MHz/core.
• NEON SIMD instruction set extension performing up to 16 operations per instruction (optional).
• High performance VFPv3 floating point unit doubling the performance of previous ARM FPUs (optional).
• Thumb-2 instruction set encoding reduces the size of programs with little impact on performance.
• TrustZone security extensions.
• Jazelle DBX support for Java execution.
• Jazelle RCT for JIT compilation.
• Program Trace Macrocell and CoreSight Design Kit for non-intrusive tracing of instruction execution.
• L2 cache controller (0–4 MB).
• Multi-core processing.

ARM states that the TSMC 40G hard macro implementation typically operates at 2 GHz; a single core (excluding caches) occupies less than 1.5 mm² when designed in a TSMC 65 nanometer (nm) generic process^[5] and can be clocked at speeds over 1 GHz, consuming less than 250 mW per core.^[2]

Chips

Several system on a chip (SoC) devices implement the Cortex-A9 core, including:

• Altera SoC FPGA^[6]
• AMLogic AML8726-M^[7]
• Apple A5, A5X
• Broadcom BCM11311 (Persona ICE)^[8]
• Calxeda EnergyCore ECX-1000^[9]
• Entropic EN7588,^[10] EN7530
• NXP Semiconductors (Formerly Freescale) QorIQ Layerscape LS1024A^[11]
• Freescale Semiconductor i.MX6^[12]
• HiSilicon K3V2 -Hi3620^[13]
• Marvell Avastar 88W8787, used in the Sony PlayStation Vita^[14][15]
• MediaTek MT6575^[16] (single core), MT6577^[17] (dual core)
• Mindspeed Technologies Mindspeed Comcerto 2000^[18][19][20]
• Nufront NuSmart 2816, 2816M, 115^[21]
• Nvidia Tegra 2 (without NEON extensions), Tegra 3 and Tegra 4i
• Trident Microsystems 847x/8x/9x SoC family^[22]
• Renesas Electronics RZ/A1H, M, L, LU Family
• Samsung Exynos 4210,^[23] 4212, 4412, 4415
• Rockchip RK3066,^[24] RK292x, RK31xx
• STMicroelectronics SPEAr1310,^[25] SPEAr1340^[26]
• ST-Ericsson Nova A9500, NovaThor U8500,^[27] NovaThor U9500^[28]
• Texas Instruments OMAP4 processors
• Texas Instruments Sitara AM437x^[29]
• WonderMedia WM8850, WM8950 and WM8980^[30]
• Xilinx Extensible Processing Platform^[31]
• ZiiLABS ZMS-20^[32]

Systems on a chip

Developer	Name	Cores	Process	NEON SIMD	Vector floating point unit	GPU
Altera	SoC FPGA	1–2	28 nm	Yes	VFPv3	optionally implemented in FPGA; TES Electronic Solutions D/AVE HD Archived 14 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine
Ambarella Inc.	S3L	1	28 nm	Yes	VFPv3	–
AMLogic	AML8726-M	1	65 nm	Yes	VFPv3	ARM Mali-400
AMLogic	AML8726-MX	2	40 nm	Yes	VFPv3	ARM Mali-400 MP2
AMLogic	AML8726-M8	4	28 nm	Yes	VFPv3	ARM Mali-450 MP6
Apple Inc.	A5	2	32 nm 45 nm	Yes	VFPv3	PowerVR SGX543MP2
Apple Inc.	A5X	2	45 nm	Yes	VFPv3	PowerVR SGX543MP4
Broadcom	BCM11311 (Persona ICE)	2	40 nm	?	?	Broadcom Videocore IV
Broadcom	BCM21654	1	40 nm	Yes	VFPv3	Broadcom Videocore IV
Broadcom	BCM21664T	2	40 nm	Yes	VFPv3	Broadcom Videocore IV
Calxeda	EnergyCore ECX-1000[9]	4	40 nm	Yes	VFPv3	–
ELVEES Multicore	1892VM14Ya	2	40 nm	Yes	VFPv3	ARM Mali-300
Freescale Semiconductor	i.MX6[33]	1–4	40 nm	Yes	VFPv3-D32	Vivante Corporation GPU IP cores[34]
HiSilicon	K3V2 (Hi3620)	4	40 nm	Yes	VFPv3	Vivante GC4000
Intel	Cyclone V	1–2	28 nm	Yes	VFPv3	-
LG Corp	LG L9	2	?	?	?	ARM Mali-400 MP4
Marvell	ARMADA 38x	1–2	28 nm	Yes	VFPv3	-
Marvell	PXA986	2	45 nm	Yes	VFPv3	PowerVR SGX540 / Vivante GC1000 (Galaxy Tab 3 7-inch)
Marvell	PXA988	2	45 nm	Yes	VFPv3	Vivante GC1000
MediaTek	MT6575	1	40 nm	Yes	VFPv3	PowerVR SGX531[16]
MediaTek	MT6577	2	40 nm	Yes	VFPv3	PowerVR SGX531[17]
Mindspeed Technologies	Comcerto 2000	2	?	Yes	?	–
Nufront	NuSmartTM 2816(NS2816)	2	?	Yes	VFPv3	ARM Mali-400[35]
Nufront	NuSmartTM 2816M (NS2816M)	2	?	Yes	VFPv3	ARM Mali-400
Nufront	NuSmartTM 115 (NS115)	2	?	Yes	VFPv3	ARM Mali-400
Nvidia	Tegra 2 series	2	40 nm	No	VFPv3-D16	GeForce ULP
Nvidia	Tegra 3 (Kal-El) series	4	40 nm	Yes	VFPv3	GeForce ULP
Renesas Electronics	[1]	?	?	?	?	–
Renesas Electronics	RZ/A1H[36]	1	various	Yes	VFPv3	WXGA 2D graphics 10MByte RAM SoC
Renesas Electronics	RZ/A1M[36]	1	various	Yes	VFPv3	WXGA 2D graphics 5MByte RAM SoC
Renesas Electronics	RZ/A1L[36]	1	various	Yes	VFPv3	WXGA 2D graphics 3MByte RAM SoC
Renesas Electronics	RZ/A1LU[36]	1	various	Yes	VFPv3	RZ/A1L plus Ethernet AVB support and a JPEG codec unit, 3MByte RAM SoC
Rockchip	RK2928	1	40 nm	?	?	ARM Mali-400
Rockchip	RK3066[24]	2	40 nm	Yes	VFPv3	ARM Mali-400 MP4
Rockchip	RK3128	2	?	Yes	VFPv3	ARM Mali-400 MP4
Rockchip	RK3188[37]	4	28 nm	Yes	VFPv3	ARM Mali-400 MP4
Samsung	Exynos 4 Dual (4210)	2	45 nm	Yes	VFPv3	ARM Mali-400 MP4
Samsung	Exynos 4 Dual (4212)	2	32 nm	Yes	VFPv3	ARM Mali-400 MP4
Samsung	Exynos 4 Quad (4412)	4	32 nm	Yes	VFPv3	ARM Mali-400 MP4
Samsung	Exynos 4 Quad (4415)	4	28 nm	Yes	VFPv3	ARM Mali-400 MP4
STMicroelectronics	SPEAr1310	?	?	No	VFPv3	–
STMicroelectronics	SPEAr1340	2	?	No	VFPv3-D16	ARM Mali-200[38]
ST-Ericsson	Nova A9500	2	45 nm	Yes	VFPv3	ARM Mali-400
ST-Ericsson	NovaThor U8500	2	45 nm	Yes	VFPv3	ARM Mali-400
ST-Ericsson	NovaThor U9500	2	45 nm	Yes	VFPv3	ARM Mali-400
Sony	PlayStation Vita	4	40 nm	Yes	VFPv3	PowerVR SGX543MP4+
Texas Instruments	Sitara AM437x	1	45 nm	Yes	VFPv3	SGX530 Graphics Engine
Texas Instruments	OMAP4430 OMAP4460	2	45 nm	Yes	VFPv3	PowerVR SGX540
Texas Instruments	OMAP4470	2	45 nm	Yes	VFPv3	PowerVR SGX544
Trident Microsystems	PNX8473[39]	1	?	?	?	PowerVR SGX531
Trident Microsystems	PNX8483[40]	1	?	?	?	PowerVR SGX531
Trident Microsystems	PNX8491[41]	1	?	?	?	PowerVR SGX531
WonderMedia	WM8850	1	40 nm	Yes	VFPv3	ARM Mali-400
WonderMedia	WM8880	2	40 nm	?	?	ARM Mali-400 MP2
WonderMedia	WM8950	1	40 nm	?	?	ARM Mali-400[30]
WonderMedia	WM8980	2	40 nm	?	?	ARM Mali-400 MP2
Xilinx	Zynq-7000[42]	2	28 nm	Yes	VFPv3	–
ZiiLABS	ZMS-20	?	?	Yes	VFPv3	ZiiLABS flexible Stemcell media processing

See also

• ARM architecture
• List of ARM cores
• List of applications of ARM cores
• Comparison of ARMv8-A cores
• JTAG

References

1. "ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore". Arm.com. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
2. "ARM spins multicore-enabled Cortex core - News - Linux for Devices". Archived from the original on 6 September 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
3. "Cortex-A9 Processor Specifications". ARM.
4. "White paper: The ARM Cortex-A9 Processors" (PDF). ARM. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 November 2014.
5. "Cortex-A9 Single Core Processor". Arm.com. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
6. SoC FPGA overview, Altera
7. IbhMobile Internet Devices, Amlogic, archived from the original on 4 May 2014
8. "BCM11311 - Persona ICE Application Processor". Broadcom.
9. "EnergyCore ECX-1000: Technical Specifications". Calxeda. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
10. "High Performance, Dual-Core IP Set-top Box SoC". Entropic. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
11. QorIQ® Layerscape 1024A Dual-Core Communications Processor, NXP Semiconductors
12. "Introducing the i.MX 6 Series". Freescale Semiconductor.
13. "HiSilicon Unveils Quad-Core Cortex A9 K3V2 Processor (Hi3620)". 27 February 2012.
14. Johnny Cullen (24 January 2011). "Sony outs tech specs for NGP". VG247. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
15. "Sony Playstation Vita Teardown & Product Analysis". TechInsights. Archived from the original on 18 August 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
16. "MediaTek - MT6575". MediaTek. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
17. "MediaTek - MT6577". MediaTek. Archived from the original on 13 January 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
18. Roy Rubenstein (9 October 2012). "An ARM based programmable processor is set to enable new communications products".
19. Kevin Trosian (8 January 2013). "Mindspeed to Showcase the Industry's First ARM Cortex A9-based Communications Processor with Integrated DPI at 2013 CES".
20. "MACOM to Showcase Newly Acquired Mindspeed Comcerto 2000 System-on-Chip (SoC) Processors at the 2014 International CES". 7 January 2014.
21. "Computer System Chip". Nufront. Archived from the original on 30 August 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
22. NXP to show the first fully integrated 45nm set top box soc based on ARM cortex - A9 processors
23. "Exynos 4210". samsung.com. 20 January 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
24. RK3066 Dual-Core Era is coming
25. SPEAr1310 Dual-core Cortex A9 embedded MPU for communications
26. SPEAr1340 Dual-core Cortex A9 embedded MPU for communications, archived from the original on 2 May 2012, retrieved 3 March 2012
27. ST-Ericsson NovaThor U8500, ST-Ericsson, archived from the original on 22 July 2013, retrieved 19 February 2011
28. ST-Ericsson NovaThor U9500, ST-Ericsson, archived from the original on 2 October 2011, retrieved 25 September 2011
29. "AM437x Sitara Processors".
30. "WonderMedia Announces PRIZM WM8950 with Android 4.0 Support". 19 May 2013. Archived from the original on 15 August 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
31. White Paper: Extensible Processing Platform (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 2 September 2011, retrieved 25 September 2011
32. ZiiLABS ZMS-20 Dual ARM Cortex A9 Media Processor, archived from the original on 25 September 2011, retrieved 26 September 2011
33. Introducing the i.MX 6 Series of Applications Processors (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2013, retrieved 25 September 2011
34. Vivante GPU IP Cores Power the Latest Freescale i.MX 6 Series of Application Processors, archived from the original on 20 November 2011, retrieved 25 September 2011
35. Nufront 2GHz ARM Cortex-A9 for Desktop, Laptop and Netbook – NuSmart 2816
36. RZ A1H Home, archived from the original on 22 December 2015, retrieved 21 December 2015
37. "Review of Rockchip RK3188 Quad-core chipset". 6 December 2012.
38. SPEAr family of embedded microprocessors (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 28 June 2011, retrieved 25 September 2011
39. PNX8473, archived from the original on 29 October 2013, retrieved 26 June 2013
40. PNX8483, archived from the original on 29 October 2013, retrieved 26 June 2013
41. Samsung Galaxy A9 sale in India today: Price in India, offers and features (2018), November 2018^{[permanent dead link‍]}
42. "Xilinx Zynq-7000 Extensible Processing Platform". Archived from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2012.

External links

ARM Holdings

• Official website
• ARM Cortex-A9 Technical Reference Manuals

Other

• White paper - The ARM Cortex-A9 Processors
• RISC vs. CISC in the mobile era
• TI OMAP4440 specs
• STMicroelectronics SPEAr1310 Data brief
• RM Cortex-A9
• Popular ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore & Multi-core processor videos, YouTube.
• ARM Assembly language