VoNR technology supports both voice call and data service using the 5G network while the current 5G network approach switches into 4G network when making voice calls. Without the need for switching between networks, VoNR provides a higher chance of maintaining connection in voice call as well as faster call connection times. Users can also enjoy true 5G speeds when playing high-performance games or streaming high-quality videos even while staying on a call.

Samsung’s VoNR solution includes key technologies such as an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), Quality of Service (QoS), and handover.

The Exynos Chip, which applied the comprehensive VoNR solution

IMS is the key technology for VoNR that enables all multimedia services – such as audio, video, and extensive data services – within a single IP (internet protocol) network. Samsung’s 5G NR (New Radio) communication protocol stack for the IMS used in 4G voice calls (VoLTE) is designed for stable compatibility with VoNR services as well. The protocol stack is an aggregation of software layers that implement the communication protocols needed for different devices to communicate data with each other.

Samsung has also developed the QoS that provides stable support for 5G VoNR and the technology that assists uninterrupted handover between nearby network base stations. QoS analyzes the flow of data using the network and determines the priority of services in real-time. Additionally, Samsung’s protocol stack places the highest priority on voice calls anytime, anywhere, thereby enhancing the quality of VoNR.

“With a surge in the number of 5G smartphone users, there is a higher demand for various 5G technologies and services,” said Jonghan Kim, Vice President of System LSI Business at Samsung Electronics. “We will continue to deliver next-generation mobile communication technologies, including VoNR service support, that will bring users together, faster.”

Samsung’s prolific journey in 5G includes the launch of the Exynos Modem 5100 in 2018, which was the industry’s first multi-mode chip that is fully compliant with the 5G telecommunication standard (5G NR Release-15). The momentum continued in January this year, with the launch of the Exynos 2100, Samsung’s first premium mobile SoC with an integrated 5G modem.

Being a part of the industry’s first commercial VoNR deployment in Singapore back in July and building on that momentum, Samsung is currently providing its 5G VoNR-integrated solution to global mobile device manufacturers while conducting focused localization and automation tests for VoNR deployment with global network companies.

Having received the semiconductor industry’s first carbon footprint accreditation for memory chips from the Carbon Trust in 2019, Samsung has now broadened its ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) spectrum with this global recognition of ‘eco-friendly’ logic chips. Samsung also grabbed the industry’s first triple Carbon Trust Standard for Carbon, Water and Waste in June 2021.

The Carbon Trust is an independent and expert partner of organizations around the world that advises businesses on their opportunities in a sustainable, low carbon world. The Carbon Trust also measures and certifies the environmental footprint of organizations, supply chains and products.

Of the various certification categories of the Carbon Trust, Samsung’s System LSI products received the CO2 Measured product carbon footprint label. The label certifies the chip’s carbon footprint, which informs consumers of the impact that the product and its manufacturing process have on the environment.

Receiving the CO2 Measured label is a critical first step for carbon reduction, since it verifies the current carbon emissions of the product with globally recognized specifications (PAS 2050), which Samsung can use as a benchmark to measure future carbon reductions.

Correctly measuring the carbon footprint of a product requires extensive effort and time. It involves calculating the amount of carbon emitted from fabricating raw subsidiary materials and transporting the product, as well as the carbon emission from using electricity, water, and gas. The hundreds of fabrication processes needed to make a semiconductor chip add to the complication.

“We’re pleased to have worked with Samsung on this step in its sustainability journey,” said Hugh Jones, managing director at the Carbon Trust Advisory. “The Carbon Trust’s Carbon Measured certification is a clear and credible indicator for consumers that the carbon footprint of these products have been independently verified, as well as a baseline for Samsung to compare against as they work towards reducing their emissions in the future.”

The four products to receive certification include a variety of Samsung’s System LSI chips, from mobile processors to image sensors. The Exynos 2100, one of the four products to receive certification, is a high-performance mobile processor built with the most advanced 5-nanometer (nm) extreme ultra-violet (EUV) process node. The 0.7-micrometer (μm)-pixel image sensor ISOCELL HM2, DTV SoC (S6HD820), and TCON (S6TST21) also received certification by the Carbon Trust.

Including the four chips, Samsung has so far received certifications for fourteen of its semiconductor products from the Carbon Trust.

“We are thrilled to be globally acknowledged for our eco-friendly efforts,” said Seong-dai Jang, senior vice president and head of DS Corporate Sustainability Management Office at Samsung Electronics. “We will continue to fulfill our carbon reduction goals and expand our efforts to a wider range of eco-friendly, high-performance products to meet the global standards for a sustainable future.”

Exynos 2100

Based on 5nm EUV process technology, the Exynos 2100 is Samsung’s first 5G-integrated flagship mobile processor for premium mobile devices. The Exynos 2100 performs up to 26-trillion-operations-per-second (TOPS) with more than twice the power efficiency than the previous generation.

ISOCELL HM2

The ISOCELL HM2 is a 0.7μm-pixel image sensor that opened up the market for ultra-high resolutions. The 108MP sensor is around 15 percent smaller than the 0.8μm-based predecessors, and reduces the height of the camera module by 10 percent, while featuring faster autofocus, nine-pixel binning and 3x lossless zoom.

DTV SoC (S6HD820)

Samsung’s DTV SoC (S6HD820) is an essential component in television as picture quality evolves from 4K to 8K standard. The DTV SoC’s NPU (neural processing unit) allows AI technology to improve picture quality and audio processing.

TCON (S6TST21)

A TCON takes video data from the DTV SoC and converts it according to the demands of the DDI (Display Driver IC). The data transmission speed of the TCON is important when it comes to quickly transmitting high-resolution video data to the DDI. Samsung’s TCON (S6TST21) integrates two 8K 60-hertz (Hz) chips to minimize energy loss.

Having made its official debut at Exynos On 2021, the Exynos 2100 is not only Samsung’s most advanced mobile processor yet, but also its first premium 5G-integrated mobile processor to be built on the 5-nanometer (nm) extreme ultra-violet (EUV) process node. Combining powerful processing with fast 5G connectivity and intelligent AI acceleration, the Exynos 2100 delivers the level of performance needed to enable a new wave of seamless and immersive mobile experiences. The processor is capable of performing up to a whopping 26 trillion operations per second (TOPS), with more than twice the power efficiency of the previous generation.

Check out the video below to see how the Exynos 2100 makes virtually everything you love to do on your phone faster and more efficient.

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today announced the Exynos 2100 through its first virtual event, Exynos On 2021 (www.youtube.com/samsung). The new mobile processor is the company’s first premium 5G-integrated mobile processor built on the most advanced 5-nanometer (nm) extreme ultra-violet (EUV) process node.

“Our Exynos team has been committed to creating premium mobile computing experiences by bringing innovations to processors that are at the heart of today’s smart devices,” said Inyup Kang, President of System LSI Business at Samsung Electronics. “Today we are delighted to introduce the Exynos 2100, our most advanced mobile processor yet. Armed with powerful processing technologies and an advanced 5G modem on a power-efficient 5nm process node, Exynos 2100 will set a new standard for tomorrow’s flagship mobile devices.”

“At Samsung Electronics, we are dedicated to providing innovative technologies and services with our flagship devices to deliver the ultimate mobile experience to our customers,” said Kyeongjun Kim, Executive Vice President and head of Mobile R&D Office at Mobile Communications Business, Samsung Electronics. “With powerful processing, fast 5G connectivity, and intelligent AI-acceleration, the Exynos 2100 offers the utmost performance that meets the stringent quality standards and requirements for our next generation smartphone.”

“The evolution of technologies such as 5G, advanced graphics and machine learning have been critical in enabling new mobile experiences,” said Paul Williamson, Vice President and General Manager, Client Line of Business at Arm. “Arm and Samsung have collaborated closely to incorporate Arm’s powerful next-generation compute and graphics platform, at the heart of the Samsung Exynos 2100. As a result of our partnership, we are able to maximize performance and make these experiences a reality in next-generation mobile devices while delivering exceptional battery life.”

The chip’s computation and graphic processing performance have been improved and refined to surpass the power user’s performance expectations. As Samsung’s first 5G-integrated flagship mobile processor, the Exynos 2100 is built on an advanced 5nm EUV process technology that allows up to 20-percent lower power consumption or 10-percent higher overall performance than the 7nm predecessor. For further enhancement, the chip offers improved cache memory utilization and a stronger scheduler. The octa-core CPU comes in an improved tri-cluster structure made up of a single powerful Arm^® Cortex^®-X1 core that runs at up to 2.9GHz, three high-performing Cortex-A78 cores and four power-efficient Cortex-A55 cores delivering more than 30-percent enhancement in multi-core performance than the predecessor.

The Arm Mali-G78, which supports the latest APIs such as Vulkan and OpenCL, improves graphic performance by more than 40-percent for visually stunning and seamless graphics, enabling the most immersive on-screen mobile experiences yet, including gaming and AR/VR or MR(Mixed Reality). The Exynos 2100 also integrates advanced multi-IP governor (AMIGO) technology, which overlooks and optimizes power usages of CPU, GPU, and other processes, allowing longer use time even with intense on-screen activities. With such comprehensive efforts to increase energy efficiency of its products across software and hardware technologies, Samsung also continues its strive to help minimize the carbon footprint of tomorrow’s mobile devices.

AI capabilities will also enjoy a significant boost with the Exynos 2100. The newly-designed tri-core NPU has architectural enhancements such as minimizing unnecessary operations for high effective utilization and support for feature-map and weight compression. Exynos 2100 can perform up to 26-trillion-operations-per-second (TOPS) with more than twice the power efficiency than the previous generation. With on-device AI processing and support for advanced neural networks, users will be able to enjoy more interactive and smart features as well as enhanced computer vision performance in applications such as imaging.

The Exynos 2100’s advanced image signal processor (ISP) supports camera resolutions of up to 200-megapixels (Mp). It can connect up to six individual sensors and is able to process four concurrently for richer multi-camera experiences. With a multi-camera and frame processor (MCFP), the ISP can combine feeds from multiple cameras to improve zoom performance, enhance image quality for ultra-wide shots and more. With AI acceleration, the ISP offers a content-aware feature that quickly and seamlessly recognizes scenes, faces and objects and optimally adjusts the camera settings to capture the image with fuller detail.

The Exynos 2100’s integrated 5G modem supports 5G’s sub-6GHz and mmWave spectrums from 2G GSM/CDMA, 3G WCDMA and 4G LTE, for strong network coverage and reliability. The modem delivers a maximum downlink speed of up to 5.1-gigabits per second (Gbps) in sub-6-gigahertz (GHz) and 7.35Gbps in mmWave, or up to 3.0Gbps in 4G networks with 1024 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) support.

The Exynos 2100 is currently in mass production.

For more information about Samsung’s Exynos products, please visit http://www.samsung.com/exynos.

* Editor’s Note: Actual performance may vary depending on device and user environment.