Samsung announces Exynos 7 Dual 7270 SoC for wearables. With the system-on-chip's LTE integration, untethered calls and data may be in the horizon.

The South Korean electronics manufacturer says that among mobile application processor (AP), the Exynos 7270 is the first one that is designed to wearable devices built on 14-nanometer (nm) FinFET technology. Moreover, it's also the first of its class that sports LTE modem integration.

"Designed on our state-of-the-art process technology, this AP offers great power savings, 4G LTE modem and full connectivity solution integration, as well as innovative packaging technology optimized for wearable devices," says Samsung Electronics vice president of system LSI marketing Ben K. Hur.

The VP went on to describe the Exynos 7270 as a "ground-breaking solution," which offers design flexibility and better energy usage, among others, for wearables to overcome their current limitations.

Better Power Efficiency

According to Samsung, the Exynos 7 Dual 7270 has a couple of Cortex-A53 cores that maximizes the 14nm process technology and improves power efficiency by 20 percent compared with prior SoCs, which were designed on 28nm. Needless to say, the less power-hungry chip is good for battery longevity.

Untethered, Standalone Wearable Devices

With a Cat.4 LTE 2CA modem integration, wearables that will sport the Exynos 7270 can function as standalone devices that connects to cellular services for calls and internet. Of course, the 7270 also comes with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for tethering to another device. The new wearable chip also supports FM radio, as well as services that needs real-time geo-data using a GPS (GNSS) receiver.

Note that there are currently some wearables with LTE connectivity. A good example is the LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition LTE smartwatch.

Slimmer Wearables

Better power efficiency is not the only thing that Exynos 7270 brings to wearables. It's also more compact. With the 14nm FinFET process and Samsung's packaging technology, the SoC houses the power management IC, along with the DRAM, NAND flash memory and AP chips, in a form factor that has 30 percent less height than what the previous Samsung SoC generation utilized.

Note that the 7270 still occupies a 100-square-millimeter area just like its predecessors but with the reduced height, wearable manufacturers can certainly produce slimmer, less bulky devices. The other option is to keep the current wearable thickness and use the freed up space for more sensors or even a bigger battery, which would be welcomed by many.

In hopes of hastening the new SoC's development, Samsung released a developer platform made up of the Exynos 7 Dual 7270 and a number of sensors, including NFC. The reference platform is now available to both customers and device manufacturers.

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