NovaThor was a platform consisting of integrated System on Chips (SoC) and modems for smartphones and tablets developed by ST-Ericsson, a 50/50 joint venture of Ericsson and STMicroelectronics established on February 3, 2009. ST-Ericsson also sold the SoCs (Nova) and the modems (Thor) separately.[1][2] The application processor portion of the system was the successor of the previous Nomadik line from STMicroelectronics.

History

In early 2009, when development had already begun on a Nomadik SoC called STn8500, it was superseded by the NovaThor family from ST-Ericsson and renamed U8500 as the ST-NXP Wireless division was merged into the ST-Ericsson joint venture.[3]

On November 2, 2011, Nokia announced that NovaThor SoCs will power Nokia's future Windows Phone based smartphones, making a deviation from the standard use of Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs in Windows Phones.[4]

On February 28, 2012, ST-Ericsson announced that they would switch to fully depleted silicon on insulator (FD-SOI) transistors for upcoming products to reduce power consumption. As an example they stated that the L8540 SoC with FD-SOI transistors would consume 35% less power.[5]

On April 23, 2012, the company announced that development of application processors (such as NovaThor) was to be moved back into STMicroelectronics.[6]

On November 21, 2012, it was announced that ST-Ericsson had joined the Sailfish Alliance hence NovaThor ModAp platform would support Jolla's smartphones and Sailfish OS.[7]

On December 10, 2012, ST-Ericsson announced that STMicroelectronics will leave the joint venture after a transition period making Ericsson the full owner of the company.[8]

On December 20, 2012, Ericsson announced that they will not buy the remaining 50% stake that STMicroelectronics held. The future for the company therefore remained uncertain.[9]

On January 30, 2013, ST-Ericsson announced as part of its quarterly result that they had shipped 10.7 million U8500 NovaThor units in the fourth quarter of 2012.[10]

On May 28, 2013, ST-Ericsson announced that they would sell the assets and intellectual property rights for its mobile connectivity Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) to Intel for $90 million.[11]

On August 5, 2013, Ericsson and STMicroelectronics completed the split up of ST-Ericsson and NovaThor is since a STMicroelectronics product.[12]

List of Nova and NovaThor SoCs

Model NumberSemiconductor technologyCPU Instruction SetCPUGPUMemory TechnologyWireless Radio TechnologiesAvailabilityUtilizing Devices
NovaThor U8500[13]40 nm[14]ARMv71 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9ARM Mali 400 MP (single core)LP-DDR2HSPA2011Motorola XT760, HTC Desire 400 dual sim[5] Ontim WP8500,[15] Samsung Galaxy Ace 2, Samsung Galaxy Beam, Samsung Galaxy S Advance,[16] Samsung Galaxy S III Mini,[17] Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2, Shanda Bambook,[18] Sony Xperia go, Sony Xperia P,[19] Sony Xperia Sola, Sony Xperia U, Yulong Coolpad CP7728[20]
NovaThor U9500[21]45 nmARMv71 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9ARM Mali 400 MPLP-DDR2GSM/EDGE, WCDMA/HSPA+ (HSDPA 21 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s)2011
Nova A9500[22]45 nmARMv71.2 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9ARM Mali 400 MPLP-DDR2None2011HTC Sensation Z710T (China),[23] Lenovo LePhone S899t,[24] Snowball[25]
Nova A9540[26]32 nm[27]ARMv71.85 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9PowerVR SGX 544Dual-channel LP-DDR2NoneCancelled
NovaThor L9540[28]32 nmARMv71.85 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9PowerVR SGX 544Dual-channel LP-DDR2LTE FDD/TDD, HSPA+, TD-SCDMA, EDGE (external Thor M7400 modem)Cancelled
NovaThor L8540[29]28 nmARMv71.85 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9PowerVR SGX 544 @ 500 MHz[30]Dual-channel LP-DDR2LTE FDD/TDD, HSPA+, TD-SCDMA, EDGE (integrated modem)Cancelled
NovaThor L8580 (eQuad [a])[31]28 nm FD-SOIARMv72.5-3.0 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9PowerVR SGX 544 @600 MHzDual-channel LP-DDR2LTE FDD/TDD, HSPA+, TD-SCDMA, EDGE (integrated modem)Cancelled

Similar platforms

Notes

  1. ^ With eQuad, the dual-core chip act as two performance cores or, at 0.6 V, two power-saving cores. "e" for electrical.

References

  1. ^ NOVA TM - Highest performance application processors Archived 2012-02-28 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Clarke, Peter (2011-02-16). "ST-Ericsson sets out 'NovaThor' roadmap". EETimes
  3. ^ "Source tree for STn8500"
  4. ^ Toor, Amar (2011-11-02). "ST-Ericsson's NovaThor to power Nokia's Windows Phone devices, loosens Qualcomm's grip". Engadget. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
  5. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-01-24. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
  6. ^ "ST-Ericsson announces new strategic direction and partnership". 2012-04-23. Archived 2013-06-18 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2012-12-16.
  7. ^ "ST-Ericsson is ready to support Jolla's Sailfish OS | mobile technology, mobile architecture | ST-Ericsson Technology Blog". Blog.stericsson.com. 2012-11-21. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
  8. ^ "Ericsson - A world of communication". June 2020.
  9. ^ "Ericsson köper inte resten av ST-Ericsson"
  10. ^ ST-Ericsson reports fourth quarter 2012 financial results Archived 2013-06-18 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ "ST-Ericsson announces sale of its Connectivity (GNSS) business". Archived from the original on 2013-06-09. Retrieved 2014-01-03.
  12. ^ "Ericsson and STMicroelectronics complete transaction to split up ST-Ericsson". 2013-08-05. Archived from the original on 2013-08-08. Retrieved 2013-08-05.
  13. ^ NovaThor U8500 Product Webpage; ST Ericsson.
  14. ^ Walleij, Linus (August 10, 2010). "PATCH 27/33" (PATCH). Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  15. ^ ST-Ericsson NovaThor U8500 powers new tablet from Ontim
  16. ^ ST-Ericsson NovaThor U8500 powers new Samsung GALAXY S Advance
  17. ^ ST-ERICSSON NOVATHOR MODAP POWERS NEW SAMSUNG GALAXY S III MINI Archived 2013-01-28 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ "ST-Ericsson Continues to Expand Presence in China by Powering First Smartphone from Shanda". Stericsson.com. 2012-06-06. Archived from the original on 2013-06-18. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
  19. ^ "Specifications - Sony Smartphones (Global UK English)". Sonymobile.com. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
  20. ^ "ST-Ericsson Adds China Unicom and Yulong as NovaThor Customer". Stericsson.com. 2012-05-28. Archived from the original on 2013-06-18. Retrieved 2013-07-10.,
  21. ^ NovaThor U9500 Product Webpage; ST Ericsson. Archived 2011-10-02 at the Wayback Machine
  22. ^ Changing the game: ST-Ericsson Unveils NovaThor™ Family of Smartphone Platforms Combining its Most Advanced Application Processors with the Latest Generation of Modems Archived 2013-06-18 at the Wayback Machine
  23. ^ Powerful New ST-Ericsson Platform makes Debut in HTC Sensation Archived 2012-03-25 at the Wayback Machine
  24. ^ "Latest smartphone from Lenovo and China Mobile powered by ST-Ericsson". Stericsson.com. 2012-07-10. Archived from the original on 2013-06-13. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
  25. ^ Snowball is a low power, low cost Single Board Computer based on the ST-Ericsson Nova A9500 processor (Dual Cortex A9 + Mali 400 GPU)
  26. ^ Nova™ A9540 Archived 2012-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
  27. ^ "Changing the game: ST-Ericsson Unveils NovaThor™ Family of Smartphone Platforms Combining its Most Advanced Application Processors with the Latest Generation of Modems". Stericsson.com. 2011-02-15. Archived from the original on 2013-06-18. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
  28. ^ NOVATHOR™ L9540 Archived 2012-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
  29. ^ NOVATHOR™ L8540 Archived 2012-03-21 at the Wayback Machine
  30. ^ ST-Ericsson announces new highly integrated LTE NovaThor platform Archived 2013-06-18 at the Wayback Machine
  31. ^ "NOVATHOR™ L8580". Stericsson.com. Retrieved 2013-07-10.