Atom is a

system on a chip A system on a chip or system-on-chip (SoC ; pl. ''SoCs'' ) is an integrated circuit that integrates most or all components of a computer or other electronic system. These components almost always include a central processing unit (CPU), memory ...

(SoC) platform designed for smartphones and tablet computers, launched by Intel in 2012. It is a continuation of the partnership announced by Intel and Google on September 13, 2011 to provide support for the

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

operating system on Intel x86 processors. This range competes with existing SoCs developed for the smartphone and tablet market from companies such as Texas Instruments, Nvidia,

Qualcomm Qualcomm () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software, and services related to wireless technology. It owns patents critical to the 5G, 4 ...

and Samsung. Unlike these companies, which use ARM-based CPUs designed from the beginning to consume very low power, Intel has adapted the x86-based Intel Atom line of CPU developed for low power usage in netbooks, to even lower power usage. Since April 2012, several manufacturers have released Intel Atom-based tablets and phones as well as using the SoCs as a basis for other small form factor devices (e.g. mini PCs and

stick PC A stick PC or PC on a stick is a single-board computer in a small elongated casing resembling a stick, that can usually be plugged directly (without an HDMI cable) into an HDMI video port. A stick PC is a device which has independent CPUs or proce ...

s). In April 2016, Intel announced a major restructuring, including the cancellation of the SoFIA platform. It was reported by many news outlets that Broxton was cancelled.

List of systems

Merrifield and Moorefield smartphone platforms

In Q1 2014, Intel launched its fully Android compatible smartphone platform ''Merrifield'' based on a 22 nm SoC. It was followed by its platform refresh Moorefield in Q4 2014.

Operating system support on Cloverview

While Penwell SoC supports, in addition to

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

, both Linux and

operating systems, Intel has announced that it will not provide support for Linux on Cloverview family of Atom systems-on-a-chip. This announcement has caused strong negative reaction from open source proponents.Intel: ‘Clover Trail’ Atom Chips Will Support Linux, Android
TechWeek europe A few days later Intel issued a statement saying that it has “plans for another version of this platform directed at Linux/Android" The initial Clover Trail platform only supported Microsoft Windows (z27x0 series). The Clover Trail+ platform was later released targeting Google Android (z25x0 series). The last version of Windows 10 to support Cloverview is the Anniversary Edition (version 1607); newer versions cannot be installed.

New power states on Cloverview

Z2760 Cloverview has introduced two new power states: S0i1 and S0i3.Meet Clover Trail, Intel's chip for mid-range Windows 8 tablets and hybrids
PC World The S0i1 state is intended to be used when the display is on but the user does not actively interact with the device; it consumes power in mW range, and can be entered/left in microseconds. The S0i3 state is intended to be used when the device display is off; it consumes power in microwatt range, and can be entered/left in milliseconds. As a result, Intel claims longer standby battery life (up to three weeks for a typical tablet).

Roadmap

In May 2011, Intel announced an accelerated roadmap for Atom SoC. The 22 nm Silvermont microarchitecture was scheduled for 2013 release, and release of the

14 nm The 14 nm process refers to the MOSFET technology node that is the successor to the 22nm (or 20nm) node. The 14nm was so named by the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS). Until about 2011, the node following 22nm was expe ...

Airmont microarchitecture was scheduled for 2014. It has been reported that Silvermont-based Atom SoCs will be codenamed Tangier (Merrifield smartphones), Valleyview (Bay Trail tablets), will be available in single-, dual- and quad-core versions, and Valleyview will include Intel's 7th generation GPU, allowing for 4–7× improvement over existing Atom GPUs. Other upcoming Silvermont-based Atom SoCs include Rangeley and Avoton (part of Edisonville platform). Airmont-based Atom platforms will be codenamed Moorefield (smartphones) and Cherry Trail (tablets) using the Anniedale and Cherryview SoCs. Goldmont-based Atom platforms were to be codenamed Morganfield (smartphones) and Willow Trail (tablets) using the Broxton SoC. The Willow Trail SoC platform was cancelled in April 2016, as Broxton is limited to IoT devices.

Similar SoCs

* Apple silicon by Apple * Exynos by Samsung *

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

and

Puma Puma or PUMA may refer to: Animals * ''Puma'' (genus), a genus in the family Felidae ** Puma (species) or cougar, a large cat Businesses and organisations * Puma (brand), a multinational shoe and sportswear company * Puma Energy, a mid- and d ...

by AMD * NovaThor by ST-Ericsson *

OMAP The OMAP (Open Multimedia Applications Platform) family, developed by Texas Instruments, was a series of image/video processors. They are proprietary system on chips (SoCs) for portable and mobile multimedia applications. OMAP devices generally i ...

by Texas Instruments * Snapdragon by

* Tegra by Nvidia * R-Car by Renesas * Dolphin by

Telechips Telechips(텔레칩스) is a fabless company headquartered in Seoul, founded in 1999 with regional offices in Japan (Tokyo), China (Shenzhen, Shanghai, Dalian), USA (Irvine, Detroit), Germany (Munich) and Singapore that designs integrated circui ...

* Vortex86 by DMP Electronics

References

{{Single-board computer Intel products System on a chip