MediaTek's MT8135 SoC does dual-core big.LITTLE MP, packs PowerVR Series6 GPU

It'll be a while before MediaTek's true octa-core SoC makes its glorious arrival, but for the time being, the company's unveiling something just as interesting -- and perhaps more practical. The new MT8135 announced today is a "quad-core" SoC aimed at "the middle- to high-end tier of the tablet OEM market." We quote "quad-core," because it actually consists of two clusters: dual Cortex-A15 cores and dual Cortex-A7 cores. But the good news is that unlike the original big.LITTLE configuration where only one cluster can operate at any given time (depending on how heavy the workload is), MediaTek's confirmed that it has implemented big.LITTLE MP in the MT8135, meaning both the A15 and the A7 clusters can operate simultaneously.

Another highlight of this MT8135 is that it'll be one of the first SoCs -- alongside LG's H13 (which we've seen first-hand), Renesas' APE6 and Renesas' R-Car H2 -- to come with Imagination Technologies' almighty PowerVR Series6 GPU. Specifically, this is the PowerVR G6200 which, as part of the MT8135, can apparently deliver "up to four times more ALU (arithmetic logic unit) horsepower" than the Series5XT GPU on the cheaper, quad-A7 MT8125. And unsurprisingly, the MT8135 gets the same Miracast wireless video goodie given to the MT8125; though it's also worth noting that the latter only supports LPDDR2 RAM instead of the more powerful LPDDR3.

Sadly, there's no further information regarding availability, but you can kill some time by checking out more technical details in the video (with benchmarks) and press releases after the break.

	MT8135 Reference Device	Nexus 10 (Exynos 5 Dual, 1.7GHz dual A15)	ASUS tablet (Tegra 3, 1.4GHz quad-A9)
Geekbench v2.4.3	2895	2530	1295
GLBenchmark 2.5 Egypt On-screen / Off-screen (fps)	47 / 46	28 / 40	14 / 10
Vellamo	2755	1757	1295
AnTuTu v3.0.1	23557	12915	11352
Data provided by MediaTek

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MediaTek Introduces Industry Leading Tablet SoC, MT8135:

First to enable true Heterogeneous multi-processing (HMP) architecture on a mobile SoC, MT8135 brings premium specifications to mainstream tablets

TAIWAN, Hsinchu – 29, July, 2013 – MediaTek Incorporated (2454: TT), a leading fabless semiconductor company for wireless communications and digital multimedia solutions, today announced the MT8135, its latest quad-core system-on-chip (SoC) designed for high-end tablets. By integrating, ARM's big.LITTLE™ processing subsystem (ARM dual-core Cortex™-A15 and Cortex™-A7 CPUs), and a PowerVR™ Series6 GPU from Imagination Technologies, MediaTek MT8135 fulfills the most demanding CPU and GPU usage scenarios, whether it is heavy web downloading, hardcore gaming, high-quality premium video viewing or rigorous multitasking, while maintaining the utmost power efficiency.

MediaTek MT8135 supports 4-in-1 connectivity combo combining Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and FM developed by MediaTek, bringing highly integrated wireless technologies and expanded functionality to market-leading multimedia tablets. The MT8135 also supports Wi-Fi certified Miracast™ which makes multimedia content sharing between devices easier.

This tablet chipset solution also boasts unprecedented graphics and compute performance enabled by the latest generation PowerVR™ Series6 GPU from Imagination Technologies. "We're proud to be a key partner with Mediatek for their latest generation of tablet SoCs" says Tony King-Smith, EVP of marketing, Imagination. "PowerVR Series6 GPUs build on Imagination's success in mobile and embedded markets to deliver the industry's highest performance and efficient solutions for graphics and compute GPUs. MediaTek is a key lead partner for Imagination for our PowerVR Series6 GPU cores, so we expect the MT8135 to set an important benchmark for high-end gaming, smooth UIs and advanced browser-based graphics-rich applications in smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. Thanks to our PowerVR Series6 GPU, we believe the MT8135 will deliver 5x or more of the graphics and GPU compute performance of previous MediaTek devices."

"At MediaTek, our goal is to enable each user to take the maximum advantages of his or her smartphone, tablet or other mobile devices. The implementation and availability of the MT8135 bring an enjoyable multitasking experience to life without having to sacrifice either quality or energy. As the leader in multi-core processing solutions, we are constantly optimizing these capabilities to their best and turning them into mainstream, for them to be accessible to every user around the world," said Joe Chen, GM of Home Entertainment Business Unit, MediaTek.

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MediaTek MT8135 brings PowerVR Series6 GPUs to a mobile device near you

Over the years, our close partnership with MediaTek has resulted in the release of some very innovative platforms that have set important benchmarks for high-end gaming, smooth UIs and advanced browser-based graphics-rich applications in smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. Two recent examples include:

• MT8125/MT8389, an extension of MediaTek's highly successful quad-core portfolio which integrates power-efficient PowerVR Series5XT graphics that deliver compelling multimedia features and sophisticated user experiences

• MT8135, the first in a series of PowerVR Series6-based mobile chipsets that are due to be announced in the second half of this year

MediaTek has been steadily establishing itself as an important global player for consumer products like smartphones, tablets and smart TVs, with a strong foothold in Latin America and Asia, and a rapidly growing presence in Europe and North America. Earlier this year, MediaTek introduced MT8125, one of their most successful tablet chipsets for high-end multimedia capabilities.

While MT8125 has been extremely popular with OEMs including Asus, Acer or Lenovo, MT8135 has the potential to consolidate MediaTek's existing customer base and open up exciting new opportunities thanks to the advanced feature set provided by Imagination's PowerVR 'Rogue' architecture.

MT8135 is a quad-core SoC that aims for the middle- to high-end tier of the tablet OEM market. It supports a 4-in-1 connectivity package that includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and FM radio, all developed in-house by MediaTek. Miracast is another important addition to the multimedia package, enabling devices using MT8135 to stream high-resolution content more easily to compatible displays, over wireless networks.

MT8135 incorporates a PowerVR G6200 GPU from Imagination that enables advanced mobile graphics and compute applications for the mainstream consumer market, including fast gaming, 3D navigation and location-based services, camera vision, image processing, augmented reality applications, and smooth, high-resolution user interfaces.

As MT8135-powered mobile devices start appearing in the market, developers will have access to new technologies and features introduced by our PowerVR Series6 family such as:

• our latest-generation tile based deferred rendering (TBDR) architecture implemented on universal scalable clusters (USC)

• high-efficiency compression technologies that reduce memory bandwidth requirements, including lossless geometry compression and PVRTC/PVRTC2 texture compression

• scalar processing to guarantee highest ALU utilization and easy programming

Thanks to the PowerVR G6200 GPU inside the MT8135 application processor, MediaTek brings high-quality, low-power graphics to unprecedented levels by delivering up to four times more ALU horsepower compared to MT8125, its PowerVR Series5XT-based predecessor. PowerVR G6200 fully supports a wide range of graphics APIs including OpenGL ES 1.1, 2.0 and 3.0, OpenGL 3.x, 4.x and DirectX 10_1, along with compute programming interfaces such as OpenCL 1.x, Renderscript and Filterscript.

By partnering up with Imagination, MediaTek has access to our industry-leading PowerVR graphics, worldwide technical support, and a strong ecosystem of Android developers capable of making the most of our technology. We look forward to shortly seeing our brand-new PowerVR Series6 GPUs in the hands of millions of consumers, and see MediaTek as one of our strategic partners for our latest generation PowerVR GPUs moving forward.

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