Adreno

Series of graphics processing units

Adreno is a series of graphics processing unit (GPU) semiconductor intellectual property cores developed by Qualcomm and used in many of their SoCs.

History

Adreno is an integrated graphics processing unit (GPU) within Qualcomm's Snapdragon applications processors, that was jointly developed by ATI Technologies in conjunction with Qualcomm's preexisting "QShader" GPU architecture, and coalesced into a single family of GPUs that rebranded as Adreno in 2008, just prior to AMD's mobile division being sold to Qualcomm in January 2009 for $65M.^[1][2] Apocryphal claims that Adreno was intentionally named by Qualcomm as anagram of ATI's Radeon family of desktop PC GPUs are false.^{[citation needed]} Early Adreno models included the Adreno 100 and 110, which had 2D graphics acceleration and limited multimedia capabilities. Prior to 2008, 3D graphics on mobile platforms were commonly handled using software-based rendering engines, which limited their performance and consumed too much power to be used for anything other than rudimentary mobile graphics applications. With growing demand for more advanced multimedia and 3D graphics capabilities, Qualcomm licensed the Imageon IP from AMD, in order to add hardware-accelerated 3D capabilities to their mobile products.^[3] Further collaboration with AMD resulted in the development of the Adreno 200, originally named the AMD Z430, based on a mobile Imageon variant of the R400^[4] architecture used in the Xenos GPU of the Xbox 360 video game console^[5] and released in 2008, which was integrated into the first Snapdragon SoC. In January 2009, AMD sold their entire Imageon handheld device graphics division to Qualcomm.^[6]

Technical details

Before Adreno

• Support up to 320x240
• Defender3 and Stargate have Texture compression

Adreno 100 series

• Adreno 130 is rebrand of Imageon 3D

Adreno 200 series - yamato / leia

• All models support the following APIs: Direct3D 11 (feature level 9_3), OpenGL ES 2.0

Adreno 300 series - oxili

• All models support the following APIs: Direct3D 11 (feature level 9_3), OpenCL 1.1, OpenGL ES 3.0
• Move from VLIW to superscalar architecture

Adreno 400 series

• All models support the following APIs: Direct3D 11, OpenCL 1.2, OpenGL ES 3.2 and Vulkan 1.0 (except Adreno 405)

Adreno 500 series

• All models support the following APIs: Direct3D 11, OpenCL 2.0, OpenGL ES 3.2 and Vulkan 1.0

Adreno 600 series

• All models support the following APIs: Direct3D 12_1, OpenCL 3.0, OpenGL ES 3.2 and Vulkan 1.1
• Adreno 660 is the first mobile GPU to feature Variable Rate Shading (VRS).

Adreno 700 series

• All models support the following APIs: Direct3D 12_1, OpenCL 3.0, OpenGL ES 3.2 and Vulkan 1.1
• Adreno 740 is the first GPU from Qualcomm to feature Ray tracing

Adreno X series

• All models support the following APIs: Direct3D 11 & 12_1, OpenCL 3.0, OpenGL ES 3.2 and Vulkan 1.3
• The Adreno X1-45 is internally called the Adreno 726, suggesting it's a scaled-up of the Adreno 725 from the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2.^[87]
• The Adreno X1-85 is internally called the Adreno 741, suggesting it's a scaled-up of the Adreno 730 from the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1/8+ Gen 1.^[88]

Notes

1. Adreno ALU = ALU x MP amount

• Adreno 130 inside the MSM7x01, and MSM7x01A. It supports OpenGL ES 1.1, OpenVG 1.1, EGL 1.3, Direct3D Mobile, SVGT 1.2, Direct Draw and GDI.
• Adreno 200 (AMD Z430) inside the QSD8x50 and MSM7x27 (133 MHz). It offers a programmable function pipeline and streaming textures with support for OpenGL ES 1.0, OpenGL ES 1.1, OpenVG 1.1, EGL 1.4, Direct3D Mobile, SVGT 1.2 and DirectDraw. (22M triangles/second, 133M pixels/second, clock speed up to 133 MHz)
• Adreno 200 enhanced inside the MSM7x25A and MSM7x27A (200 MHz). It supports OpenGL ES 2.0, OpenGL ES 1.1, OpenVG 1.1, EGL 1.4, Direct3D Mobile, SVGT 1.2, Direct Draw and GDI. (40M triangles/second, 200M pixels/second, clock speed up to 200 MHz)
• Adreno 203 inside the MSM8225 and MSM8225Q (400 MHz). It is an improvement over Adreno 205. It features a higher frequency, has better pixel fillrate, lower power consumption, better 3D performance. It is about 50-100% faster than Adreno 200 (enhanced), and 10–25% than Adreno 205. It could clock 2x times higher than Adreno 205. It supports OpenGL ES 2.0, OpenGL ES 1.1, OpenVG 1.1, EGL 1.4, Direct3D Mobile, DirectX 9.0c, SVGT 1.2, Direct Draw and GDI. (42-50M triangles/second, 250-300M pixels/second, clock speed from 192 to 400 MHz)
• Adreno 205 inside the QSD8x50A, MSM7x30, and MSM8x55 (245 MHz). Its improvements include Hardware-accelerated SVG and Adobe Flash and better shader-performance than the Adreno 200. It supports OpenGL ES 2.0, OpenGL ES 1.1, OpenVG 1.1, EGL 1.4, Direct3D Mobile, SVGT 1.2, Direct Draw and GDI. (57M triangles/second, 250M pixels/second, clock speed up to 400 MHz)
• Adreno 220 inside the MSM8660 or MSM8260 (266 MHz) with single channel memory. It supports OpenGL ES 2.0, OpenGL ES 1.1, OpenVG 1.1, EGL 1.4, Direct3D Mobile, DirectX 9.0c, SVGT 1.2, Direct Draw and GDI. (88M triangles/second, 500M pixels/second, standard clock speed up to 266 MHz, overclock up to 400 MHz)
• Adreno 225 inside the MSM8960 (400 MHz), with unified shader architecture and dual channel memory. It supports Direct3D 9.0c in addition to OpenGL ES 2.0, OpenGL ES 1.1, OpenVG 1.1, EGL 1.4, Direct3D Mobile, SVGT 1.2, Direct Draw and GDI.
• Adreno 320 inside the Qualcomm S4 Pro & Prime Series, with unified shader architecture and dual channel memory. It supports Direct3D feature level 9_3 in addition to OpenGL ES 3.0, OpenGL ES 2.0, OpenGL ES 1.1, OpenVG 1.1, EGL 1.4, Direct3D Mobile, SVGT 1.2^[24]
• Adreno 330 inside the Nexus 5, Amazon Kindle HDX series tablets, Amazon Fire phone, Nokia Lumia 2520 tablet, Nokia Lumia 1520, Nokia Lumia Icon, Nokia Lumia 930, Samsung Galaxy S5, Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Sony Xperia Z1, Sony Xperia Z1 Compact, Sony Xperia Z2, Sony Xperia Z3, Sony Xperia Z3 Compact, Sony Xperia Z Ultra, Xiaomi Mi3, Xiaomi Mi4, OnePlus One, HTC One (M8) and LG G2/G3 smartphones.
• Adreno 420 inside the Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 supports Direct3D 11.2 runtime (feature level 11_1). Inside the Google Nexus 6, Samsung Galaxy S5 LTE-A, Samsung Galaxy Note 4, Samsung Galaxy Note Edge, LG G3 Cat. 6, Amazon Fire HDX 8.9 (2014). The Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 is the first phone SoC ever to feature a 128-bit memory bus.
• Adreno 540 inside the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 is the first phone SoC to feature variable refresh rate and foveated rendering/Variate Rate Shading, Qualcomm calls their implementations Q-Sync and Adreno Foveation.
• Adreno 630 inside the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 is the first phone SoC to feature Inside-Out Room-scale 6DoF with SLAM.
• Adreno 640 inside the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 is the first phone SoC to feature updateable GPU drivers from the Google Play Store.

Operating system support

There are proprietary drivers for the Linux-based mobile operating system Android available from Qualcomm themselves.^{[citation needed]}Historically the only way to have GPU support on non-Android Linux was with the libhybris wrapper.

Linux and Mesa supports the Adreno 200/300/400/500 series of GPUs with a driver called freedreno. Freedreno allows fully open-source graphics on devices like the 96Boards Dragonboard 410c and Nexus 7 (2013).

Qualcomm also provides Adreno drivers for ARM64 versions of Microsoft Windows.

See also

• Qualcomm Hexagon
• List of Qualcomm Snapdragon processors
• PowerVR – competing graphics technology available as a Silicon IP core (SIP) to 3rd parties
• Mali – competing graphics technology available as a Silicon IP core (SIP) to 3rd parties
• Vivante – competing graphics technology available as a Silicon IP core (SIP) to 3rd parties
• Tegra – family of SoCs for mobile computers, the graphics core could be available as SIP block to 3rd parties
• VideoCore – family of SOCs, by Broadcom, for mobile computers, the graphics core could be available as SIP block to 3rd parties
• Atom family of SoCs – with Intel graphics core, not licensed to 3rd parties
• AMD mobile APUs – with AMD graphics core, not licensed to 3rd parties
• AMD Imageon (ATI Imageon) - List of ATI mobile GPU
• Intel 2700G - Old Intel mobile GPU
• List of Nvidia graphics processing units - GPU Nvidia
• Apple M1

References

1. "Qualcomm History and its GPU (R)evolution". PC Perspective. 22 June 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
2. Sag, Anshel. "Qualcomm's Mobile GPU Innovations Power The Future Of Gaming". Forbes. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
3. "AMD Licenses 3D Graphics Core Technology to QUALCOMM, Delivering The Ultimate Visual Experience to Tomorrow's Phones". 14 March 2009. Archived from the original on 14 March 2009. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
4. "Ex. 2050 - R400 Document Library FH - folder_history (PROTECTIVE ORDER) — IPR2015-00325 - LG Electronics, Inc. v. ATI Technologies ULC". Unified Patents. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
5. "AMD Receives Next-Generation OpenGL ES 2.0 Graphics Technology Certification". TechPowerUp. 11 June 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
6. Ferguson, Scott (20 January 2009). "AMD Sells Handset Division to Qualcomm for $65 million". eWeek. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
7. "www.tripleoxygen.net 3D Graphics and SpeqG Update" (PDF).
8. "Datasheet" (PDF). octopart.com. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
9. tripleoxygen. "tripleoxygen" (PDF).
10. "www.tripleoxygen.net" (PDF).
11. "Qualcomm History and its GPU (R)evolution". PC Perspective. 22 June 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
12. "Embedded 3D API And ChipSet" (PDF). grmanet.sogang.ac.kr. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
13. "Qualcomm MSM7201A Application Processor with Modem Datasheet | CPUlist". PDAdb.net. 25 February 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
14. Qualcomm MSM7201A. "Qualcomm MSM7201A Specs, Reviews, Ratings". System-on-a-chip.specout.com. Archived from the original on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
15. "3D Gaming Brochure" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 October 2007. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
16. "The Freedreno driver" (PDF). Rob Clark @ FOSDEM2013.
17. "Adreno GPU SDK - GPU - Qualcomm Developer Network". Developer.qualcomm.com. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
18. "Mobile GPUs : Architectures". Bastian Zuehlke. 5 April 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
19. freedreno (6 January 2015). "A3xx shader instruction set architecture · freedreno/freedreno Wiki · GitHub". Github.com. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
20. Snapdragon 400 processor specs at qualcomm.com
21. "Expands Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 Processor Tier". Qualcomm. 20 June 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
22. "Qualcomm Rolls-Out High-End Quad-Core Snapdragon S4 System-on-Chips". X-bit labs. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
23. "Qualcomm Snapdragon embedded platforms HW and SW Overview" (PDF). explace. 2016.
24. Shimpi, Brian Klug, Anand Lal. "Qualcomm's Quad-Core Snapdragon S4 (APQ8064/Adreno 320) Performance Preview". www.anandtech.com. Retrieved 7 April 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
25. Mikael Bourges-Sevenier (29 March 2014). "Imaging on embedded GPUs". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
26. "Qualcomm Announces Vulkan API Support on the Adreno 530 GPU | Qualcomm". www.qualcomm.com. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
27. "High Quality with High Performance UE4 Mobile Game - CSDN博客". blog.csdn.net (in Chinese (China)). Retrieved 12 June 2018.
28. "Technologies Announces Next Generation Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 "Ultra HD" Processor". Qualcomm. 20 November 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
29. "GFXBench - Unified cross-platform 3D graphics benchmark database". The cross-platform performance site. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
30. Humrick, Matt. "Qualcomm Details Snapdragon 835: Kryo 280 CPU, Adreno 540 GPU, X16 LTE". Retrieved 11 June 2018.
31. "GFXBench - Unified cross-platform 3D graphics benchmark database". The cross-platform performance site. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
32. "Vulkan graphics API receives major 1.1 update". Android Authority. 7 March 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
33. "SA6155P Automotive Development Platform | Lantronix". 9 April 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
34. "Qualcomm SA6155P Product Brief" (PDF). qualcomm.com. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
35. "Snapdragon 665 Mobile Platform". Qualcomm.
36. "Qualcomm Adreno 610". www.cpu-monkey.com. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
37. "QCS603 SoC | Qualcomm". Qualcomm. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
38. "QCS605 SoC | Qualcomm". Qualcomm. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
39. "Snapdragon 730 Mobile Platform". Qualcomm.
40. "AnTuTu tests Snapdragon 730 and 665". GSM Arena.
41. "Qualcomm Adreno 619". www.cpu-monkey.com. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
42. "Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 Mobile Platform".
43. https://www.motorola.in/smartphones-moto-g45-5g/p?skuId=447
44. Frumusanu, Andrei. "Qualcomm Announces Snapdragon 865 and 765(G): 5G For All in 2020, All The Details". Retrieved 4 December 2019.
45. Smith, Andrei Frumusanu, Ryan. "The Snapdragon 845 Performance Preview: Setting the Stage for Flagship Android 2018". Retrieved 11 June 2018.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
46. "GFXBench - Unified cross-platform 3D graphics benchmark database". The cross-platform performance site. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
47. "Qualcomm Adreno 630". www.cpu-monkey.com. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
48. Frumusanu, Andrei. "Qualcomm Announces Snapdragon 865 and 765(G): 5G For All in 2020, All The Details". www.anandtech.com. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
49. Frumusanu, Andrei (4 December 2019). "Qualcomm Announces Snapdragon 865 and 765(G): 5G For All in 2020, All The Details (Page 2)". www.anandtech.com. Anandtech. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
50. "Qualcomm Snapdragon 855: An overview of its CPU, GPU, ISP, and DSP". xda-developers. 5 December 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
51. "Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Mobile Platform". Qualcomm. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
52. Frumusanu, Andrei. "Qualcomm Announces Snapdragon 865 and 765(G): 5G For All in 2020, All The Details". www.anandtech.com. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
53. "Qualcomm Adreno 650". www.cpu-monkey.com. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
54. "Snapdragon 865 | Benchmarking & Gaming Test". YouTube. Tech Spurt. 16 December 2019. Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
55. "Qualcomm Announces Snapdragon 870: An 865++?". Anandtech. Andrei Frumusanu. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
56. "x.com".
57. "Qualcomm Details The Snapdragon 888: 3rd Gen 5G & Cortex-X1 on 5nm". www.anandtech.com. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
58. "x.com".
59. "SA8255P and SA8775P Ride SX 4.0 Automotive Development Platform". Lantronix.
60. "Qualcomm Adreno 675". www.cpu-monkey.com. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
61. Abazovic, Fuad (31 January 2020). "Samsung Galaxy Book S preorders up". www.fudzilla.com. Fudzilla. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
62. "Qualcomm Adreno 680". www.cpu-monkey.com. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
63. "SA8195P System-on-Chip Automotive Development Platform | Lantronix". 15 March 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
64. "Qualcomm Adreno 685". www.cpu-monkey.com. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
65. Subramaniam, Vaidyanathan (3 October 2019). "The Microsoft SQ1 is a custom version of the Snapdragon 8cx with 2x more GPU performance than an 8th gen Intel Core CPU". Notebookcheck. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
66. "Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ2 vs. Qualcomm Snapdragon Microsoft SQ1 - Benchmark and Specs". www.cpu-monkey.com. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
67. "Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen. 2 - Benchmark and Specs". www.cpu-monkey.com. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
68. "The Qualcomm SoC that crushes SA8295P is here, and Human Horizons' self-developed platform is first launched". iNEWS. 5 September 2024. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
69. "SA8295P Automotive Development Platform". Lantronix.
70. "Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 Compute Platform | Latest Qualcomm Snapdragon Laptop Processor | Qualcomm". www.qualcomm.com.
71. Smith, Ryan. "The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Architecture Deep Dive: Getting To Know Oryon and Adreno X1". www.anandtech.com.
72. "QCS2290 | Entry-level Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5 combination application processor for IoT applications". www.qualcomm.com.
73. "Qualcomm® Robotics RB1 Platform (Qualcomm® QRB2210)" (PDF). Qualcomm. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
74. "Snapdragon® W5+ and Snapdragon® W5 Gen 1 Wearable Platforms" (PDF). Qualcomm.com/wearables. Qualcomm. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
75. "Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 Mobile Platform". www.qualcomm.com.
76. "Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 Mobile Platform". www.qualcomm.com.
77. "Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 Mobile Platform". www.qualcomm.com.
78. "Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Mobile Platform | Latest premium-tier powerhouse | Qualcomm". www.qualcomm.com.
79. "Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 Mobile Platform". www.qualcomm.com.
80. "Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 Mobile Platform". www.qualcomm.com.
81. "Adreno 740 @ 980 MHz GPU review and specs (cores, Gflops, nm)". chipguider.com. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
82. "Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform". www.qualcomm.com.
83. "Qualcomm® QCS8550/ QCM8550 Processors" (PDF). Qualcomm. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
84. "Snapdragon 8gen2 Detailed Analysis - Kurnal". Snapdragon 8gen2 Detailed Analysis - Kurnal. 8 August 2023.
85. "Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Mobile Platform". www.qualcomm.com.
86. "x.com".
87. https://www.notebookcheck.net/Qualcomm-Snapdragon-X-Plus-8-core-analysis-The-X1P-42-100-is-smaller-and-cheaper-but-not-very-efficient.883714.0.html
88. Chips and Cheese (4 July 2024). "The Snapdragon X Elite's Adreno iGPU".
89. "Snapdragon X Plus".
90. Smith, Ryan (13 June 2024). "The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Architecture Deep Dive: Getting To Know Oryon and Adreno X1". www.anandtech.com. anadtech. Retrieved 27 June 2024.

External links

• Official website
• Additional information on history of Adreno