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Adreno is a graphics processing unit (GPU) typically used with Qualcomm's Snapdragon system-on-chip for gaming on mobile devices. It is the second most commonly used GPU on smartphones and tablets.[1] Some of the intellectual property for Adreno was originally developed by ATI, then sold to AMD in 2006 and acquired by Qualcomm in 2009. In 2012, Adreno was "trailing behind" some competing GPUs with its 200 series, but subsequently significant improvements were made in the 300 and 400 series. It now gets "high marks" for its performance.[1]

History

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In 2009 Qualcomm acquired intellectual property from AMD regarding its graphics processing unit (GPU) technology for $65 million. The intellectual property was originally developed by ATI Technologies and sold to AMD in 2006.[2] Qualcomm improved upon the technology, renamed it to Adreno, and used it in its Snapdragon system on chip products.[3] In 2011 Tom's Hardware said Qualcomm was improving the technology, but not much was known about what it was working on.[4] According to Electronic Engineering Times, in 2012 Adreno's performance was "trialing rivals". Qualcomm said its engineers were working on "bringing the Adreno platform up to speed."[5][6][7] That October, Qualcomm released the Adreno 320, which improved frames per second by three-to-four times over its predecessor. It was the first GPU that could toggle between two types of rendering.[8] The feature, called FlexRender, could switch between a Tile Based Renderer and a traditional one.[9]

In benchmark tests conducted by Tom's Hardware, the Adreno 320 had comparable performance to the Imagination SGX543MP4. Testing found that the Adreno 320 maintained a high frame rate even while performing intensive tasks, but did not perform as well in "tile-based deferred rendering".[10] Benchmark tests by AnandTech found that in many areas the performance of 320 was a two or three-fold increase over the Adreno 225.[11] Adreno 330 was introduced in mid-2013 and was primarily used for Android devices. A review in Notebook Check, said it was able to support high graphics settings on demanding games, though it also generated a lot of heat and battery usage in the process.[9]

The Adreno 420 was released in June 2014. It was the first Adreno product on Qualcomm's Adreno 400 architecture. The 400 architecture has graphics processing comparable to a desktop computer, because it supports Direct3D 11 and OpenGL ES 3.1.[12] According to Qualcomm, the 420 has 40 percent better performance and consumes 20 percent less power than the 320.[13] In independent benchmarks by Tom's Hardware, the 420 performed 6 to 64 percent better than the 320, depending on the benchmark used and the Snapdragon system on chip it was used in. The 420 was the top-performing GPU out of the products tested.[13] The Adreno 430 is used in the higher-end Snapdragon 810, while an Andreno 418 is used in the Snapdragon 808.[14]

Origins as Imageon

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Some of the intellectual property of Adreno originated as the ImageOn line by ATI Technologies. Imageon was first introduced in 2002 with the Imageon 100 and was originally for personal digital assistants (PDAs).[15] The first Imageon product for cell phones was the 2250.[16] In March 2005, ATI released a family of multimedia chips with the Imageon 2282 and Imageon 2182, which were optimized for cameras and music playing on mobile devices.[17] The 2380 and 2388 were introduced in 2006. They were able to record video in numerous formats and process 5-megapixal images from a digital camera.[18]

In February 2007, Imageon introduced a family of processors including the Imageon 2298, 2294, and 2192.[19] The 2294 and 2298 could process images of 12 megapixels, whereas the 2192 for mainstream phones were capable of doing up to 3.1 megapixels.[20] That same year Imageon released the 238x chip, which was specialized for gaming.[21] At the 2008 Mobile World Congress AMD introduced the Imageon D160 designed for mobile television, the AMD Imageon M210 processor for audio and the Imageon A250 application processor.[22][23]

References

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  1. ^ a b Merritt, Rick (January 14, 2014). "AMD Extends Graphics Lead Over Intel". Electronic Engineering Times. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  2. ^ Crothers, Brooke (January 20, 2009). "Qualcomm grabs AMD handheld, graphics tech". Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  3. ^ John Dill; Rae Earnshaw; David Kasik; John Vince; Pak Chung Wong (April 17, 2012). Expanding the Frontiers of Visual Analytics and Visualization. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 389–. ISBN 978-1-4471-2804-5.
  4. ^ Ku, Andrew (August 9, 2011). "HP TouchPad Review: A Tablet For Productivity?". Tom's Hardware.
  5. ^ Barak, Sylvie (July 31, 2012). "AMD, who will buy?". Electronic Engineering Times. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  6. ^ Barak, Sulvie (March 1, 2012). "Qualcomm not worried about mobile graphics competition". Electronic Engineering Times. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  7. ^ Barak, Sylvie (December 14, 2011). "Qualcomm becomes Imagination Technologies licensee". Electronic Engineeering Times. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  8. ^ Peddie, Jon (October 28, 2013). "Computer Graphics: Power-Efficient Rendering". Electronic Engineering Times. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  9. ^ a b "Qualcomm Adreno 330". Notebook Check. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  10. ^ Ku, Andrew (October 10, 2012). "Snapdragon S4 Pro: Krait and Adreno 320, Benchmarked". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  11. ^ Shimpi, Anand; Klug, Brian (July 24, 2012). "Qualcomm's Quad-Core Snapdragon S4 (APQ8064/Adreno 320) Performance Preview". AnAndTech. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  12. ^ Smith, Ryan (June 23, 2014). "Google I/O: Qualcomm Celebrates Launch of Adreno 420 GPU for Android Gaming". AnAndTech. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  13. ^ a b Humrick, Matt (July 31, 2014). "Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 Performance Preview". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  14. ^ Fogarty, Kevin (April 8, 2014). "Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 & 808 Chips Boost Network Capabilities". Electronic Engineering Times. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  15. ^ Kren, Lawrence (April 4, 2002). "Tapping Wireless' Potential". Machine Design.
  16. ^ "ATI Technologies unplugs". Electronic Engineering Times. October 27, 2003. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  17. ^ Gruener, Wolfgang (March 15, 2005). "ATI announces new Imageon chips for multimedia phones". Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  18. ^ "ATI launches Imageon 2380 and 2388 graphics processors for cellphones". Tom's Hardware. January 26, 2006. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  19. ^ "ATI, Nvidia Launch New Handheld Graphics Processors". ExtremeTech. February 12, 2007. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  20. ^ "AMD releases new Imageon media processors for cellphones". Tom's Hardware. February 13, 2007. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  21. ^ Lendino, Jamie (March 29, 2007). "AMD Imageon Powers Up Cellphone Graphics". PC Magazine. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  22. ^ "AMD unveils multimedia products for media-rich mobile devices". Electronic Engineering Times. February 13, 2008. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  23. ^ Crothers, Brooke (February 12, 2008). "AMD goes where Intel isn't: Mobile phone processors". CNET. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
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