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| Tensor promises to put Google's machine learning in your pocket |
Google has officially introduced the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro smartphones. In these phones, the search giant's new tensor chip appeared for the first time. The company has also released more information about what the new chip can do for faster Pixel phones.
The first demonstration of the tensor chip focused on the AI-centric Tensioner Processing Unit (TPU) and how the company's custom hardware could differentiate itself from its competitors.
The company sees Tensor as an important step in machine learning. Developed in collaboration with Google Research to facilitate the transformation of AI and machine learning development into real consumer products.
For example, the company said the Tensor chip contains the company's more accurate automatic speech recognition feature, which can be used for quick Google Assistant queries and lengthy voice tasks like real-time subtitles or voice-recording apps.
Tensor also supports new Pixel 6 features like motion modes, more accurate facial recognition, and real-time translation that can convert text into different languages faster than you can type.
The company also said the Tensor chip is more efficient at handling custom machine learning tasks than previous Pixel phones.
With the release of the Pixel 6 series, we got more detailed information about the rest of the chip, including the CPU, GPU, modem and the main components that make up the tensioner.
The tensioner chip uses a unique set of processor cores. There is also a TPU (Tensor Processing Unit) dedicated to artificial intelligence. Plus two high-performance Cortex-X1 cores, two medium-performance cores, and four low-performance cores.
Graphics are rendered by a 20-core GPU. In addition to supporting contextual hub for peripheral experience such as the always-on display, private computing core and the new Titan M2 security chip.
There is also a dedicated image processing kernel that helps with pixel binning.
Google's first smartphone chip
It is unclear why the company chose the Cortex-A76 core instead of the more modern Cortex-A78. Which is stronger and more energy efficient.
However, it should be noted that the Snapdragon 765G in the Pixel 5 also uses a Cortex-A76 core.
The new phone is still expected to be the fastest Pixel phone to date. The company promised to increase processor performance over the Pixel 5 by 80%. GPU performance increased by 370%.
The configuration of the Google wizard is unique. This is in comparison to the traditional high-performance cores and efficient quad cores used by Qualcomm and Samsung flagship chips.
In theory, the Cortex-X1 performance core provided by Google (the most powerful design in Arm) is twice the size of the Snapdragon 888 or the Exynos 2100. Both use one Cortex-X1 core, three Cortex-A78 cores, and four Cortex-A55 cores.
But Google has also replaced the high-performance cores with medium-performance cores. This can extend battery life and performance or cause the device to malfunction.