IDF Information @ Silicon Strategies.com

ToshiroOC · Feb 21, 2003, 09:09 AM

Intel's bus move drives DDR400 memory forward

Intel's decision to pull in the launch of its 800-MHz front side bus is breathing new life into DDR400 double data rate synchronous DRAM chips.

Several months ago DDR400 looked like it would be dead on arrival as memory manufacturers debated whether they could make reliable devices with sufficiently high yields to make money or whether they would prefer to jump into next-generation DDR-2.

Intel's new Itanium to tackle Sun's niche

Intel Corp. Thursday disclosed that a new Low Voltage Itanium 2 processor, code-named Deerfield, will be introduced in 2H '03 to compete head-on with Sun Microsystems in the entry level 64-bit server platforms.

Mike Fister, senior vice president and general manager of the enterprise platforms group, said Deerfield will operate with 62 watts, half the power consumption but the same performance level of the mid-grade existing Itanium 2 processors. The chip will have 1GHz frequency and 1.5Megabytes of L3 cache.

Intel upgraded software primitives library

At some time in the past Intel Corp. revised its Integrated Performance Primitives (IPP) library to version 3.0, and the company is now announcing the move. Intel has already provided IPP3.0 to Roxio Inc., a company which produces digital media software.

The IPP delivers a library of software functions and a common application programming interface (API) to enhance the performance and compatibility of applications across multiple Intel-based platforms, Intel claimed.

Intel adds three to IXP network processor family

Intel Corp. announced the existence of three network processors, IXP420, IXP421, IXP422, intended for use in the small office/home office (SOHO) and small-to-medium-enterprise (SME) market segments.

The three processors are based on an XScale core, Intel said, which in turn is based on an architectural license from ARM Holdings plc (Cambridge, England).

Intel provides peek of next-generation Pentium

Intel Corp. engineers gave a sneak peek at Prescott, the company's next-generation Pentium 4 processor, at the Intel Developer Forum here Wednesday (Feb 19). Intel said the 90-nm processor due for release late this year will sport process and design improvements that will help Intel crank the Pentium up to a 5-GHz frequency.

"With Prescott, we will be the first company in production with strained silicon and this will give us a clock-rate advantage," said Joseph Schutz, a director of microprocessor design at Intel.

Perhaps the biggest achievement of the Prescott design team was in reducing clock skew across the die by adopting a new clock distribution scheme. While not detailing how that scheme works, Schutz said it would nearly eliminate RC coupling that resulted in the 20-picosecond skew found in the previous-generation Northwood CPU.

Prescott is also Intel's first processor to support a security technology code-named Le Grande. While Intel has not yet detailed the technology, it is believed to provide a protected space in main memory for a secure execution mode required as part of Palladium, a new PC security scheme being developed by Microsoft Corp.

Feb 21, 2003, 09:09 AM	#1
ToshiroOC Unbiased. Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 4,812 Rep Power: 0	IDF Information @ Silicon Strategies.com Intel's bus move drives DDR400 memory forward Intel's decision to pull in the launch of its 800-MHz front side bus is breathing new life into DDR400 double data rate synchronous DRAM chips. Several months ago DDR400 looked like it would be dead on arrival as memory manufacturers debated whether they could make reliable devices with sufficiently high yields to make money or whether they would prefer to jump into next-generation DDR-2. Intel's new Itanium to tackle Sun's niche Intel Corp. Thursday disclosed that a new Low Voltage Itanium 2 processor, code-named Deerfield, will be introduced in 2H '03 to compete head-on with Sun Microsystems in the entry level 64-bit server platforms. Mike Fister, senior vice president and general manager of the enterprise platforms group, said Deerfield will operate with 62 watts, half the power consumption but the same performance level of the mid-grade existing Itanium 2 processors. The chip will have 1GHz frequency and 1.5Megabytes of L3 cache. Intel upgraded software primitives library At some time in the past Intel Corp. revised its Integrated Performance Primitives (IPP) library to version 3.0, and the company is now announcing the move. Intel has already provided IPP3.0 to Roxio Inc., a company which produces digital media software. The IPP delivers a library of software functions and a common application programming interface (API) to enhance the performance and compatibility of applications across multiple Intel-based platforms, Intel claimed. Intel adds three to IXP network processor family Intel Corp. announced the existence of three network processors, IXP420, IXP421, IXP422, intended for use in the small office/home office (SOHO) and small-to-medium-enterprise (SME) market segments. The three processors are based on an XScale core, Intel said, which in turn is based on an architectural license from ARM Holdings plc (Cambridge, England). Intel provides peek of next-generation Pentium Intel Corp. engineers gave a sneak peek at Prescott, the company's next-generation Pentium 4 processor, at the Intel Developer Forum here Wednesday (Feb 19). Intel said the 90-nm processor due for release late this year will sport process and design improvements that will help Intel crank the Pentium up to a 5-GHz frequency. "With Prescott, we will be the first company in production with strained silicon and this will give us a clock-rate advantage," said Joseph Schutz, a director of microprocessor design at Intel. Perhaps the biggest achievement of the Prescott design team was in reducing clock skew across the die by adopting a new clock distribution scheme. While not detailing how that scheme works, Schutz said it would nearly eliminate RC coupling that resulted in the 20-picosecond skew found in the previous-generation Northwood CPU. Prescott is also Intel's first processor to support a security technology code-named Le Grande. While Intel has not yet detailed the technology, it is believed to provide a protected space in main memory for a secure execution mode required as part of Palladium, a new PC security scheme being developed by Microsoft Corp.