Multi-Core CPUs powering smartphones

BANGALORE, INDIA: After desktops, laptops and servers, multi-core CPUs are now powering the latest smartphones. But what exactly is a multi-core CPU? And how will they help to make your smartphone experience better? We dig deep into these questions and find out the answers

With Samsung releasing its new flagship model, the Galaxy S3, with an Exynos quad-core processor, the bar for hardware has once again been raised. From single-core to dual-core to quad-core, the smartphone market evolves within the blink of an eye. But what exactly do multi-core CPUs do? And how will they affect your smartphone experience?

Multi-core CPUs driving the next wave of smartphones

A core is simply a distinct processing unit within a CPU that performs computations and carries out machine instructions in a computer. The first wave of smartphones had a single core, which was more than sufficient to handle the applications in those days. However, with the burgeoning of CPU-intensive applications and multi-tasking, it has become imperative to improve the CPU in smartphones.

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A single CPU has something called a "clock speed", which can be pushed to a certain limit, and this will increase the performance of the phone. However, after a certain threshold, the core will not be able to perform further, and pushing up the clock speed will also increase power consumption.

To solve this conundrum, phone companies decided to follow the example in desktop computing, by adding more cores that will facilitate computation. Think of this analogy: if one man has to pull three cars at the same time, he will have to take a huge physical toil to perform the task. However, if there were two other men to help him, they could split up the work and finish it with more ease. This is exactly the same scenario in the case of a single-core vs quad-core comparison.

In the quad-core, four cores work in unison to perform separate tasks and complete them. In a single-core, the lonely core has to carry the whole load by itself.

For example, many users multi-task on their phones nowadays; watching a video, listening to music and browsing the web all at the same time. When there are multiple cores in the phone, each core can dedicate itself to a certain task.

Core A can process the video playback, while Core B can process the music while Core C can take care of the web browser activity. In this way, none of the cores are pushed to their limit. Because they only perform at a fraction of their capacity, the overall power consumption of the phone comes down as well.

Moreover, the user does not need to worry about how the multi-core system is working. The OS itself designates work to the cores according to many factors that optimize performance and battery life.