Samsung introduces Artik-socs for internet-of-things applications

Samsung has announced a new line of chips intended for internet-of-things applications. A total of three modules will be available for the so-called Artik platform.

The simplest module in the Artik series is the Artik 1. According to Samsung, this soc is the smallest on the market for internet-of-things applications, measuring 12x12mm. The Artik 1 includes a bluetooth module and a motion sensor. The Artik 1 is a dual-core design with cores clocked at 250MHz and 80MHz respectively. According to Samsung, the Artik 1 is particularly suitable for IoT applications that consume little power and have a compact design.

The Artik 5 is a dual-core ARM soc clocked at 1GHz. This soc offers, among other things, 4GB on-board storage and also contains 512MB of RAM. 802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth are also integrated. Samsung states that the Artik 5 can be used for drones or wearables, for example.

The fastest Artik chip design, the Artik 10, offers eight ARM cores in a big.little arrangement and, according to Samsung, is fast enough to encode and decode video images in full HD quality. Also encoding and decoding 5.1 surround sound would not be a problem for the Artik 10. Furthermore, the chip design contains 2GB of RAM and 16GB of flash storage, along with a WiFi and Bluetooth module. This Artik-soc also supports the zigbee home automation protocol.

Samsung says it wants to open the Artik platform to other companies. For example, the South Korean electronics manufacturer will also want to supply the Artik-socs to competitors and the company promises to release the necessary software, such as drivers and development tools. Alpha versions of the various developer kits can already be ordered on the Artik website. In addition, Samsung will partner with Arduino to make the popular Arduino IDE compatible with its Artik platform. Samsung has not yet announced prices for the three Artik socs.