Huawei unveils world's first commercial 7nm chipset Kirin 980
Berlin, Aug 31 : Chinese tech giant Huawei on Friday unveiled the world's first commercial 7nm (nanometre) chipset Kirin 980 which is believed to be the most powerful smartphone SoC (system-on-a-chip) equipped with Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities.
Huawei Consumer Business Group CEO Richard Yu announced the chipset, based on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturer Company's (TSMC) 7nm process, in his keynote address on the opening day of the IFA 2018 here.
Compared to the previous generation 10nm process, the 7nm process delivers 20 per cent improved SoC performance and 40 per cent more efficiency, said Huawei which surpassed Apple to become the second-largest global smartphone seller behind Samsung in the second quarter of this year.
"Last year, we showed the world the potential of on-device AI with the Kirin 970 and this year, we've designed an all-round powerhouse that not only features outstanding AI capabilities, but also brings cutting-edge raw performance to consumers," Yu told the gathering, adding that the new SoC is equipped with dual NPU (Neural Processing Unit).
"The Kirin 980 is the ultimate engine to power the next-generation productivity and entertainment applications," Yu added.
The TSMC 7nm process technology enables Kirin 980 to pack 6.9 billion transistors within a "1 square cm die size", up by 1.6 times from the previous generation.
The Kirin 980 is also the first SoC to embed Cortex-A76 cores, which are 75 per cent more powerful and 58 per cent more efficient compared to their previous generation.
In an octa-core configuration, the CPU in Kirin 980 is comprised of two high-performance Cortex-A76 cores; two high-efficiency Cortex-A76 cores; and two extreme efficiency Cortex-A55 cores, the company said.
Running at higher clock speeds compared to the prior generation, Kirin 980 enables quicker app launch times, better multi-tasking and a generally smoother user experience, it added.
As graphics in mobile games have become more and more sophisticated in recent years, Huawei has integrated the Mali-G76 GPU (graphics processing unit) into the Kirin 980 to deliver improved gaming experiences.
Debuting with the Kirin 980 chip, Mali-G76 offers 46 per cent greater graphics processing power at 178 per cent improved power efficiency over the previous generation, according to Huawei
Mali-G76 utilises AI to intelligently identify gaming workloads and adjust resource allocation for optimal gaming performance.
Kirin 980 supports common AI frameworks such as Caffee, Tensorflow and Tensorflow Lite, and provides a suite of tools that simplifies the difficulty of engineering on-device AI, allowing developers to easily tap into the leading processing power of the dual NPU.
Kirin 980 adopts a new pipeline dedicated to processing video captures, allowing the camera module to shoot videos with 33 percent shorter delay, Huawei informed.
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Trump urges US allies to send warships to Strait of ?Hormuz as Iran vows to retaliate
Cairo (AP): US President Donald Trump said he hoped allies would send warships to secure the vital Strait of ?Hormuz while Iran urged people to evacuate three ports in the United Arab Emirates as its war with the United States and Israel showed no signs of ending.
Iran's call to evacuate the Middle East's busiest port and two other UAE ports marked the first time it had openly threatened a neighboring country's non-U.S. assets.
Tehran said the U.S. had used “ports, docks and hideouts” in the UAE to launch strikes on Kharg Island, home to the main terminal handling Iran's oil exports, without providing evidence. It urged people to leave areas where it said U.S. forces were sheltering.
Meanwhile, Lebanon's humanitarian crisis deepened, with over 800 people killed and 850,000 displaced as Israel launched waves of strikes against Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.
Iran says the US attacked from close to Dubai
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Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the US attacked Kharg Island and Abu Musa Island from two locations in the UAE, Ras Al-Khaimah and a place “very close to Dubai,” calling that dangerous and saying Iran “will try to be careful not to attack any populated area” there.
US Central Command said it had no response to Iran's claim. A diplomatic adviser to the UAE's president, Anwar Gargash, said on social media the country has the right to defend itself but “still prioritises reason and logic, and continues exercising restraint.”
Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Arab Gulf neighbours during the war, but it has said it was targeting US assets, even as hits or attempts were reported on civilian ones such as airports and oil fields.
Araghchi said the Strait of Hormuz was closed only to “those who are attacking us and their allies.”
Trump urges allies to send warships to Strait of Hormuz
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As global anxiety soars over oil prices and supplies, Trump said Saturday that he hopes China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK and others send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz “open and safe.” Britain in response said it was discussing with allies a “range of options” to secure shipping.
Araghchi, in a social media post, urged neighbours to “expel foreign aggressors” and described Trump's call as “begging.”
On Saturday, Iran's joint military command reiterated its threat to attack U.S.-linked “oil, economic and energy infrastructures” in the region if the Islamic Republic's oil infrastructure is hit.
Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency said the Kharg Island strikes caused no damage to oil infrastructure. It said they targeted an air defense facility, a naval base, the airport control tower and an offshore oil company's helicopter hangar.
US identifies 6 killed in military aircraft crash
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The US Department of Defense on Saturday identified six service members who died when the military refueling aircraft they were aboard crashed Thursday while supporting operations against Iran.
The service members were Maj. John A. Klinner, 33; Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31; Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34; Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38; Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30; and Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, according to U.S. officials.
The crash in western Iraq followed an unspecified incident involving two aircraft in “friendly airspace,” according to U.S. Central Command. The other plane landed safety.
