Overview
The Cortex-A5 processor provides a high-value migration path for existing ARM926EJ-S™ and ARM1176JZ-S™ processor designs. It achieves better than ARM1176JZ-S performance, better power and energy efficiency than the ARM926EJ-S, and 100% Cortex-A compatibility.
These processors deliver high end features to power and cost sensitive applications, featuring:
- Multiprocessing capability for scalable, energy efficient performance
- Optional floating point or NEON™ units for media and signal processing
- Full application compatibility with the Cortex-A8, Cortex-A9, and Classic ARM processors
- High performance memory system including caches and memory management unit
Applications
The Cortex-A5 comes designed for applications that require virtual memory management for high-level operating systems within an extremely low power profile.
| Product Type | Application |
|---|---|
| Mobile | Entry-level Smartphones, Feature Phones, Mobile Payments, Audio |
| Home/Consumer | Digital TV, DVD |
| Embedded/Industrial | MPU, Smart Meters |
Area and Energy Efficiency
The smallest and lowest power applications processor that delivers the full internet
Industry leading energy efficiency means the Cortex-A5 gets more work done per unit of energy, which means longer battery life and less heat dissipation in mobile devices. The Cortex-A5 is the smallest Cortex-A processor.
Tiny size:
- Lowers manufacturing cost
- Allows more low cost integration
- Reduces leakage

Compatibility
The Cortex-A5 processor provides full instruction and feature compatibility with the higher performance Cortex-A8, Cortex-A9, and Cortex-A15 processors - all the way down to the operating system level. The Cortex-A5 processor also maintains backwards application compatibility with Classic ARM processors including the ARM926EJ-S, ARM1176JZ-S, and ARM7TDMI®.




