The ARM Cortex-A53 is one of the first two
central processing unit
A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, an ...
s implementing the
ARMv8-A
ARM (stylised in lowercase as arm, formerly an acronym for Advanced RISC Machines and originally Acorn RISC Machine) is a family of reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architectures for computer processors, configured ...
64-bit
instruction set
In computer science, an instruction set architecture (ISA), also called computer architecture, is an abstract model of a computer. A device that executes instructions described by that ISA, such as a central processing unit (CPU), is called a ...
designed by
ARM Holdings
Arm is a British semiconductor and software design company based in Cambridge, England.
Its primary business is in the design of ARM processors (CPUs). It also designs other chips, provides software development tools under the DS-5, Real ...
'
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...
design centre. The Cortex-A53 is a 2-wide decode
superscalar processor
A superscalar processor is a CPU that implements a form of parallelism called instruction-level parallelism within a single processor. In contrast to a scalar processor, which can execute at most one single instruction per clock cycle, a su ...
, capable of dual-issuing some instructions.
It was announced October 30, 2012
and is marketed by ARM as either a stand-alone, more
energy-efficient alternative to the more powerful
Cortex-A57 microarchitecture, or to be used alongside a more powerful microarchitecture in a
big.LITTLE
ARM big.LITTLE is a heterogeneous computing architecture developed by ARM Holdings, coupling relatively battery-saving and slower processor cores (''LITTLE'') with relatively more powerful and power-hungry ones (''big''). Typically, only one " ...
configuration. It is available as an
IP core
In electronic design, a semiconductor intellectual property core (SIP core), IP core, or IP block is a reusable unit of logic, cell, or integrated circuit layout design that is the intellectual property of one party. IP cores can be licensed to ...
to licensees, like other ARM intellectual property and processor designs.
Overview
* 8-stage pipelined processor with 2-way
superscalar
A superscalar processor is a CPU that implements a form of parallelism called instruction-level parallelism within a single processor. In contrast to a scalar processor, which can execute at most one single instruction per clock cycle, a sup ...
, in-order execution pipeline
* DSP and
NEON
Neon is a chemical element with the symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is a noble gas. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with about two-thirds the density of air. It was discovered (along with krypt ...
SIMD
Single instruction, multiple data (SIMD) is a type of parallel processing in Flynn's taxonomy. SIMD can be internal (part of the hardware design) and it can be directly accessible through an instruction set architecture (ISA), but it should ...
extensions are mandatory per core
*
VFPv4 Floating Point Unit
Floating may refer to:
* a type of dental work performed on horse teeth
* use of an isolation tank
* the guitar-playing technique where chords are sustained rather than scratched
* ''Floating'' (play), by Hugh Hughes
* Floating (psychological ph ...
onboard (per core)
*
Hardware virtualization
Hardware virtualization is the virtualization of computers as complete hardware platforms, certain logical abstractions of their componentry, or only the functionality required to run various operating systems. Virtualization hides the physic ...
support
*
TrustZone security extensions
* 64-byte
cache line
A CPU cache is a hardware cache used by the central processing unit (CPU) of a computer to reduce the average cost (time or energy) to access data from the main memory. A cache is a smaller, faster memory, located closer to a processor core, which ...
s
* 10-entry L1
TLB, and 512-entry L2 TLB
* 4KiB conditional
branch predictor
In computer architecture, a branch predictor is a digital circuit that tries to guess which way a branch (e.g., an if–then–else structure) will go before this is known definitively. The purpose of the branch predictor is to improve the flow i ...
, 256-entry indirect branch predictor
Utilization
The ARM Cortex-A53 processor has been used in the LeMaker HiKey since 2015, the
Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi () is a series of small single-board computers (SBCs) developed in the United Kingdom by the Raspberry Pi Foundation in association with Broadcom. The Raspberry Pi project originally leaned towards the promotion of teaching basic ...
3 since February 2016,
and the
Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W
The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus '' Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial with w ...
since October 2021.
The Cortex-A53 is also used in a number of
Qualcomm,
Samsung
The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
, and
MediaTek
MediaTek Inc. () is a Taiwanese fabless semiconductor company that provides chips for wireless communications, high-definition television, handheld mobile devices like smartphones and tablet computers, navigation systems, consumer multimedia p ...
SoCs.
Semi-custom derivatives of the Cortex-A53 have been used in Qualcomm's
Kryo 250 and
Kryo 260 CPUs.
The Cortex-A53 is the most widely used architecture for mobile SoCs since 2014 to the present day, making it one of the longest-running ARM processors for mobile devices. It is currently featured in most entry-level and lower mid-range SoCs, while higher-end SoCs used the newer
ARM Cortex-A55
The ARM Cortex-A55 is a central processing unit implementing the ARMv8.2-A 64-bit instruction set designed by ARM Holdings' Cambridge design centre. The Cortex-A55 is a 2-wide decode in-order superscalar pipeline.
Design
The Cortex-A55 serves ...
. The latest SoCs still using the Cortex-A53 are MediaTek Helio G37, both of which are entry-level SoCs designed for budget smartphones.
The processor is used in the
ODROID-C2 and in
Roku
Roku ( ) is a brand of hardware digital media players manufactured by American company Roku, Inc. They offer access to streaming media content from online services.
The first Roku model, developed in collaboration with Netflix, was introduce ...
streaming media players (in the high-end models from 2016 and in all models released between 2017 and 2019). Another notable Cortex-A53 application is the
Pine A64/A64+ single-board computer
A single-board computer (SBC) is a complete computer built on a single circuit board, with microprocessor(s), memory, input/output (I/O) and other features required of a functional computer. Single-board computers are commonly made as demonstrat ...
.
These cores are used in a 24-core SoC, the
Socionext SynQuacer SC2A11.
The processor is used in Amazon Fire tablets, including the Fire HD 8 and the Fire HD 10 (the latter also includes
Cortex-A72 cores) as well as the
Nintendo Switch
The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a tablet that can either be docked for use as a home console or used as a portable device, making it a ...
. It is also used in some
Amazon Echo Show models such as the Echo Show 5, Echo Show 8, and Echo Show 5 (2nd Gen).
The processor is used in Fortinet's Fortigate 81F entry-level firewalls.
See also
*
Comparison of ARMv8-A cores
References
External links
*
{{Application ARM-based chips
Cortex-A53
ARM Holdings IP cores
ARMv8-A microarchitectures