By Philip Wong, CNET Asia
21/10/2008
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/pcperipherals/0,39051168,62047436,00.htm

TAIPEI, Taiwan--Following the Shanghai and San Francisco leg of the Intel Developer Forum (IDF), the annual tech event has made its way to Taiwan. Held at the Taipei International Convention Center, IDF brings together key top minds from the Santa Clara company and its partners. CNET Asia was onsite to cover the consumer-oriented announcements, industrial trends and technological showcases, among others.

Navin Shenoy, vice president and general manager of Sales and Marketing Group for Asia Pacific, kickstarted the IDF keynote presentation by touching on the growth of connected computers. Though it's taken 11 years to grow from 200 million to a billion in 2007 globally, this is projected to double to 2 billion as early as 2012. Also noteworthy is the statistic that Asia is the fastest-growing region in the online space with over 10 million Internet users in Taiwan alone.

The company also has an embedded Internet vision by 2015, when it expects up to 15 billion Web-enabled devices such as in-vehicle infotainment to be available in every modality of life, accessible around the clock. This Internet trend is driven by factors including strong consumer interest in social networking. Additionally, Intel believes Asia will rise as the largest embedded computing market and a leader in delivering such relevant solutions.

To align its ecosystem of platforms for the above-mentioned product segments, Intel has lined up the low-cost and power-efficient EP80579 and CE3100 system-on-a-chip (SoC), as well as new-gen Atom processors. For added computing performance scalability, it has further developed the new Nehalem architecture, encompassing a family of processors for mobile and desktop, to business-centric workstations and servers.

Intel Atom micro architecture

First debuted in April 2008, the Atom processor is instrumental in the development of the current ultramobile PCs. It features low heat dissipation, 5 watts and below power consumption (up to 130W for business server equivalents), and a small footprint of no larger than a finger nail. This platform has also been selected for an array of current and upcoming designs ranging from 38 mobile Internet devices (MID), 50 Netbooks and 70-plus Nettops.

The Atom roadmap for 2009 includes four variants targeted at specific adjacent markets: Menlow XL for embedded devices, Moorestown for MIDs, Sodaville for consumer electronics (CE) and Pineview for Netbooks/Nettop. The Menlow XL will be launched in the first quarter of next year, Moorestown between 2009 and 2010, while the schedule for the remaining lineup was not available at this point in time.

Though Moorestown is pretty much in development stage, Intel was able to demonstrate an early working prototype via video from its silicon validation lab. The setup is a two-chip solution based on a SoC and an input/output hub codenamed Lincroft and Langwell, respectively. The former features a 45nm processor and graphics processing unit, among others, while the latter covers wireless connectivity, storage and the display interface.

Some other examples of consumer implementations are digital signage and vending applications. By tapping on face recognition technology, a digital signage can be programmed for enhanced interactivity by offering targeted advertising. On the other hand, a smart supermarket trolley such as the MediaCart can provide shoppers with value-added information ranging from the item location, food recipes, shopping list, etc.

Intel Nehalem micro architecture

The 45nm Nehalem microarchitecture is the new building block for its high-performance, power-efficient processors in mainstream personal and enterprise computing categories. It supplements the Atom series and comprises Core i7 chips for high-end desktops and Clarksfield/Auburndale for thin-and-light notebooks. The Core i7 will be available in November 2008, while the two mobile equivalents will follow in 2H 2009.

To boost the number-crunching capability of the Nehalem family, Intel has added a slew of key enhancements. Most notable is the QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) technology which eliminates the bottleneck of conventional front-side bus design for point-to-point high-speed data link between the processing cores and chipset. Other major upgrades are an integrated memory controller and three-channel DDR3 memory support to enable a three-fold bandwidth leap.

On the energy efficiency front, the Nehalem offers even better power management through Power Gate and Turbo Boost technologies. By tweaking the processor fabrication and transistor design, Intel has managed to cut down current leakage to near-zero levels. Furthermore, Power Gate also has the capability to automatically shut down idle cores and other sub-components. Complementing this is Turbo Boost which improves system performance by making the remaining cores work harder through an increase in operating voltage and frequency.

In the event that only one processing core is active, it can be given a double boost for maximum performance to tackle regular single-threaded programs without compromising system stability. This concept is similar to "enthusiast overclocking" where hardware is forced to operate above its specifications, except that in this case, it's validated and officially sanction by Intel. These chips are shipped in multicore configuration and a sizeable 8MB level three memory cache.