Google preps its first mobile processor

Google's attempt at building a modular smartphone, Project Ara, is gathering pace with the announcement the web giant is building a custom processor.

Paul Eremenko, who heads up Project Ara for the search company, posted that Google has kicked off the development of a mobile system on a chip (SoC) with Chinese fabrication-less semiconductor developer Rockchip.

Few specifics were given about the processor, but Eremenko did announce it would feature a UniPro high-speed interface so that it could function in Ara modules without needing bridge chips.

Project Ara smartphone modules

We view this Rockchip processor as a trailblazer for our vision of a modular architecture where the processor is a node on a network with a single, universal interface - free from also serving as the network hub for all of the mobile device’s peripherals.

- Paul Eremenko

Google expects to demonstrate the RockChip UniPro processor early next year.

The company previously signed up large Taiwanese original equipment manufacturer Quanta to work on Project Ara.