What will change with Huawei's new processor "Kirin 970"? The existence of "Mate 10" is also revealed: IFA 2017

The processor "Kirin 970" announced at Huawei's IFA 2017 keynote session is the world's first processor with a built-in NPU (Neural Network Processing Unit). It has an AI function, and can process AI functions on the terminal that have so far relied on the cloud side. This makes it possible to achieve faster processing speeds than conventional CPUs and GPUs.

Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's Consumer Business Group, who took the stage at the lecture, said, "Smartphones have not yet become smart devices. First, we must not only increase processing speed, but also respond to intelligent processing,” he said, explaining that AI will be the key technology from now on.

However, since the current AI performs processing on the cloud side, there are concerns about poor response via communication lines, increased power consumption due to using modems, and security issues. In order for smartphones to utilize AI in the future, it will be essential to perform AI processing on the terminal side in addition to the cloud.

The NPU of the Kirin 970 achieves high speed and low power consumption. At the lecture, a demonstration of image recognition of 200 photos was performed, and the processing that would take 120 seconds with a conventional CPU can be processed in just 6 seconds with an NPU, 20 times faster. Also, in the demo that processed 1000 images, only 0.19% of the battery was consumed. And as a comparison of overall terminal performance, image recognition processing of 2000 images per minute was performed. A Huawei terminal equipped with Kirin 970, which processes with CPU + GPU ++ NPU, is said to be capable of processing about 5 times faster than iPhone 7 Plus, which uses CPU and GPU, and about 20 times faster than Galaxy S8, which uses only CPU.

Because high-speed processing is possible on the terminal side in this way, it will be possible to perform more advanced processing in real time, for example, when taking pictures. In addition, VR and AR can be used from terminals at high speed and low power consumption, and language processing of foreign languages ​​can be performed at practical speed. Since the API will be open, applications that take advantage of the NPU will appear one after another.

In addition to the NPU, the Kirin 970 also has a dual image signal processor (ISP) specialized for camera processing. Response is up by 25%, focus processing is more precise using four technologies such as laser, depth and contrast, and it also supports four levels of motion detection. In addition, it has a built-in noise reduction function that is strong even when shooting in dark places.

Thanks to this ISP, you can take beautiful photos without blurring or blurring even in dark scenes such as night scenes without camera shake. Furthermore, by combining AI, it is possible to automatically shoot in the optimal mode according to the subject. If Leica lenses are added here, it will be possible to realize the strongest camera that other companies cannot follow.

In this way, the processing speed itself is increased The Kirin 970 not only has a built-in high-speed modem that achieves gigabit communication in a 4.5G environment. The modem supports LTE Cat. It supports 4x4 MIMO, 256QAM, and 5-band (5CC) carrier aggregation (CA). The maximum communication speed of 1.2Gpbs is provided with 4x4 MIMO, 256QAM, and 3-band CA.

Modem communication tests have been conducted in a high-speed railway environment with a total length of over 400,000 km in China, and performance has been achieved even in countries with developed high-speed railway networks, such as Japan, which has the Shinkansen bullet train, and Germany, where the ICE (high-speed train) network is well developed. can be fully demonstrated.

Although the Cat.18 modem was already announced by Qualcomm in February as the "Snapdragon X20 LTE Modem," it is not integrated into the processor. not The modem installed in Qualcomm's latest processor "Snapdragon 835" is the "Snapdragon X16 LTE modem" compatible with Cat.16.

This modem not only features high-speed communication support, but also allows simultaneous standby of 4G and 4G with two SIMs, as well as simultaneous use of VoLTE. While one SIM is using 4.5G (up to 1.2Gbps) high-speed communication, the other SIM can use 4G, 3G, and 2G. By supporting DSDV (Dual SIM Dual VoLTE), which is one step ahead of DSDS (Dual SIM Dual Stand by), the use of multiple 4G lines becomes more realistic. New business opportunities are likely to emerge for both MNOs and MVNOs.

At the end of the lecture, CEO Yu announced the first product equipped with Kiron 970 as a surprise. The Kirin 970 will be installed in the "Mate 10" and "Mate 10 Pro" announced in Munich, Germany on October 16th. The specs of the Mate 10 are unknown except for the processor, but the screen size will be taller from the silhouette, and it will be equipped with a 2:1 (18.5:9 or 18:9) aspect ratio display adopted by Samsung and LG. is.

Many companies are developing processors with faster speeds, lower power consumption, and high-speed modems. Huawei stepped away from that and decided to develop and integrate an NPU that considers the use of AI. This trend will spread to other companies in the future as we enter an era where more processing power is required for smartphones.