ARM

Company announces Ethos-N57 and Ethos-N37 NPUs, Mali-G57 GPU, and Mali-D37 DPU

ARM has revealed four new processors that should help enrich consumer tech products aimed at the mainstream market. The new additions to the company’s lineup are the Ethos-N57 and Ethos-N37 Neural Processing Units (NPU), the Mali-G57 Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), and the Mali-D37 Display Processor Unit (DPU).
No less than four new processing units have been announced by ARM. The Ethos-N57 and Ethos-N37 bring two more options for OEMs looking to select processors that are capable of satisfying users who expect the most from their device’s AI. The two new NPUs join the high-end Ethos-N77 unit that currently makes up ARM’s Ethos-N series. ARM expects the Ethos-N37 to be utilized in devices such as smart cameras, entry-level smartphones, and digital televisions while the more powerful Ethos-N57 will mainly be targeted at midrange-smartphone and smart-home-hub usage.

Along with the brand-new NPUs, ARM has also unveiled the Mali-G57 GPU. Mali GPUs and their variants are ubiquitous in the tech world, especially in the smartphone sector, and the Mali-G57 brings the Valhall architecture that was previously found in the Mali-G77 processor. ARM claims the Mali-G57 will offer improvements in machine learning performance, and that it can offer from 1.2x to 1.39x (average 1.3x) the energy efficiency of the Mali-G52.

Bringing up the rear is the new ARM Mali-D37 DPU. This is another product aimed at improving entry-level devices, with the unit offering savings in terms of power usage. The tiny DPU (less than 1 mm2 on 16 nm technology) can support Full HD and 2K resolutions and should feature in future entry-level to mainstream smartphones and tablets.

Daniel R Deakin