In 2021, edge AI continued propagating far beyond the cloud; smart speakers alone were up 12% from last year. Increased demand attracted investors to edge-AI-chip startups, creating several new unicorns.

SiFive added a new flagship CPU to its RISC-V “Performance” line that raises integer performance compared with its predecessor through additional execution resources, larger caches, and microarchitecture tweaks.

For the holidays, MediaTek offers the Kompanio 820 and 828 to refresh its Chromebook line. These chips deliver multiday battery life, in part thanks to their 7nm manufacturing.

TechInsights’ unsurpassed technical abilities come from two important areas – our (amazing!) people, and our tools. To reverse engineer cutting edge technology, we require the equipment and the expertise that keep us at – or ahead of – the pace of the latest technology. And that requires continuous investment in our staff and our tools.

Our views on contributing factors, how it has impacted our semiconductor reverse engineering this year, and looking to the future.

Qualcomm recently officially released the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 which is using 5LPE process technology and is therefore likely based on the Snapdragon 888 made with the Samsung 5LPE process. Based on their announcement and previous analyses, we have reached some key findings.

In delivering the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, Qualcomm is upscaling smartphone cameras by adding native 18-bit processing. The new platform packs impressive upgrades across all sections, scoring double digit gains across each section.

Providing a big performance boost, the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 is suitable for some ultrathin Windows PCs, moving up from the 2-in-1 systems where Snapdragon serves today. The company also updated the Snapdragon 7c+.

The past year began with AMD and Intel introducing next-generation server processors. AI-accelerator vendors focused on delivering production-worthy versions of previously announced products, validated by MLPerf testing.

After several attempts, MediaTek has delivered its first true flagship processor: the Dimensity 9000. The new smartphone chip features the latest CPU designs, a powerful GPU, and LPDDR5X support.