The Snowball is a single-board computer in the Nano-ITX form factor using the A9500 version of the NovaThor SoC.

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

ST-Ericsson late platform chipsets A9500 and A9540 with M5730 M5780 and M7400 modems, some never released or used in real products, showcased at Mobile World Congress, 2011.

In early 2009, when development had already begun on a Nomadik SoC called STn8500, it was superseded by the NovaThor family from ST-Ericsson and renamed U8500 as the ST-NXP Wireless division was merged into the ST-Ericsson joint venture.[3]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] ARMv7 1 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 ARM Mali 400 MP (single core) LP-DDR2 HSPA 2011 Motorola 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 nm ARMv7 1 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 ARM Mali 400 MP LP-DDR2 GSM/EDGE, WCDMA/HSPA+ (HSDPA 21 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s) 2011
Nova A9500[22] 45 nm ARMv7 1.2 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 ARM Mali 400 MP LP-DDR2 None 2011 HTC Sensation Z710T (China),[23] Lenovo LePhone S899t,[24] Snowball[25]
Nova A9540[26] 32 nm[27] ARMv7 1.85 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 PowerVR SGX 544 Dual-channel LP-DDR2 None Cancelled
NovaThor L9540[28] 32 nm ARMv7 1.85 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 PowerVR SGX 544 Dual-channel LP-DDR2 LTE FDD/TDD, HSPA+, TD-SCDMA, EDGE (external Thor M7400 modem) Cancelled
NovaThor L8540[29] 28 nm ARMv7 1.85 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 PowerVR SGX 544 @ 500 MHz[30] Dual-channel LP-DDR2 LTE FDD/TDD, HSPA+, TD-SCDMA, EDGE (integrated modem) Cancelled
NovaThor L8580 (eQuad

[lower-alpha 1])[31]

 28 nm FD-SOI ARMv7 2.5-3.0 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 PowerVR SGX 544 @600 MHz Dual-channel LP-DDR2 LTE 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. 1 2 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-01-24. Retrieved 2012-06-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ↑ "ST-Ericsson announces new strategic direction and partnership". 2012-04-23. Archived from the original on 2013-06-18. 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.
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