Superfast 3Ghz ARM processors to land in 2014

If you thought today's mobile devices were fast, wait until you see what ARM has up its sleeve for next year. Chip makers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company(TSMC) and GlobalFoundries have both let it be known that they're planning to build 3GHz ARM processor sometime in 2014, which will inevitably end up in System-on-Chip (SoC) platforms for smartphones and tablets.The fastest ARM chip currently available is 2.3GHz, though the majority of high-end parts are in the neighborhood of 1.6GHz, such as what's found in Samsung's flagship Galaxy S4 handset. By bumping the clockspeed to 3GHz, ARM is sending a clear message to rivals Intel and AMD that it doesn't plan on conceding the mobile market, at least not without a fight. TSMC and GlobalFoundries, the global semiconductor foundries will be raising the bar of the processing power by 2014 as they are currently working on a 20nm chip for their next generation ARM based mobile processors.At present, 2.3 GHz achieved at 28nm is the fastest clock speed by a mobile processor - it is used in theSnapdragon 800 and Tegra 4i that are set to arrive in late 2013 or early 2014. However, the next generation processors are expected to surpass this clock speed with the help of much smaller manufacturer node of 20nm.The 20nm manufacturing node is expected to yield 30% faster clock speed with 1.9 times better density at 25% less power consumption. If the 20nm node is used, the ARM SoCs will be eventually clocked at 3GHz with more transistors working on the graphics. The 25% lesser power consumption can be potentially translated into a better battery life in the next generation SoCs.Intel is hoping to make some waves in the mobile processor space in 2014, however, and will be looking to pry away some market share for the now practically ubiquitous ARM. Case in point: ‘a mystery device with a 1.1GHz (Intel) processor posted the highest AnTuTu score ever recorded — a whopping 43,416. That’s about 30 percent faster than current top-of-the-line ARM-powered Android devicesSo if you thought 2012 through 2013 was a good year for mobile chipsets, well, you ain’t seen nothing yet – 2014 looks set to be yet another insane period of development and innovation in the mobile processor space.