New processor platform for smartwatches extends battery life

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. launched the next generation Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 Platform for smartwatches. The platform is based on a new ultra-low power system architecture designed to deliver a rich interactive mode, new personalized experiences, and extended battery life. The official launch, at an event in San Francisco, was supported by Google, who discussed the evolution of the Wear OS by Google software platform. The launch also included the announcement of the first Snapdragon Wear 3100 customers.

Snapdragon Wear 3100 is based on a new ultra-low power hierarchical system architecture approach. In this architecture, the high-performance quad core A7 processors, the highly efficient integrated DSP, and a new ultra-low power co-processor work in conjunction with each other to help customers re-imagine new smartwatch experiences while supporting extended battery life. The new capabilities are designed to allow consumers to enjoy the beauty of a fashion watch with the power of a smartwatch, the battery life of a sports watch with the richness of a smartwatch, and the utility of an analog watch with the flexibility of a smartwatch.

The new coprocessor, the Qualcomm QCC1110, has been designed from the ground up and is at the heart of the Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform. It is incredibly small at ~21mm2, is optimized for ultra-low power operation, and acts as a powerful companion to the main processor, re-defining audio, display, and sensor experiences for next-generation smartwatches. The co-processor also integrates a deep learning engine for custom workloads, such as keyword detection, and is extensible over time.

Additionally, the Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform includes a new wearable power management sub-system (PMW3100) to support lower power and higher integration, brings in a new DSP framework to support next-generation sensor processing in an open execution environment, and implements a new dual-display architecture to support the hierarchical approach. The 4G LTE modem, proven in mobile applications, and which has already shipped over one billion units, is paired with new high-performance Gallium Arsenide power amplifiers, which helps to increase power efficiency in smartwatches.

The Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform comes in three variants targeting Bluetooth and Wi-Fi tethered smartwatches, GPS-based tethered smartwatches, and 4G LTE connected smartwatches. The platform is in mass production and shipping today.