On Thursday, Intel addressed the embedded market with the first eight products of its system-on-a-chip (SOC) device series. According to company officials, the SOC series will eventually be made up of fifteen products.
The eight released today are part of the so called EP80579 family, which was developed for security, communication and storage devices. While currently, the basis for Intel’s SOC products is the Pentium M processor, the future SOC generations will be built on the Atom processor, released earlier this year for mobile Internet devices.
Each of the new products incorporates four different types of chips: memory and input/output controllers, CPU core and acceleration technology. Intel claims that when comparing the SOC chip to any other similar product made by the company, the former comes in 45% smaller and 34% more energy efficient.
The new chips are recommended for embedded and industrial computer systems, devices handling business security, Internet telephony, as well as for wireless technologies.
The list of electronics vendors which are expected to support Intel’s new line of products is quite long and includes big names such as Nortel, Alcatel-Lucent, NexCom and Emerson. Prices will vary depending on the chips’ clock speeds; however, they won’t go under $40 or above $95. Another price modifying factor will be the presence of Intel's hardware acceleration-related QuickAssist technology.
The already launched products use a Pentium M CPU; this will change for upcoming generations, as the company intends to develop them on Intel's Atom core. The Atom was created by using microarchitecture especially designed for small devices and low power consumption. The processors use Intel’s 45-nanometer technology and can run at clock speeds of up to 1.8GHz. The chip’s size is of less than 25 square millimeters. In order to make the public get a visual of the chip, the company exemplified by saying 11 of them would fit in a space the size of a penny.
Intel has a total of 15 SOC units scheduled; among the 15, we find Intel’s first ever consumer electronics chip named Canmore, set to be released later on this year, and Sodaville’s second generation, scheduled for next year. Also expected in 2009, or perhaps 2010, there is the new generation of mobile Internet device-compatible semiconductors and chipsets, codenamed Moorestown.
Gadi Singer, general manager of Intel's SoC Enabling Group, said the complexity of the system-on-chips would probably be high, as one day, "billions of next-generation Internet-connected devices" will be encompassed; such devices would range from handheld computers to home based medical technology, informing doctors in a medical center on the patients’ health states.
According to Gadi Singer, Intel should be able to meet the requirements of upcoming SOCs, thanks to its well equipped research and development labs and manufacturing facilities.
Earlier this year, Intel CEO Paul Otellini said the company was to take on four different research directions, each presenting the potential to bring in more than $10 billion worth of sales. One of the four fields was connected to MIDs, which Intel has taken care of with its Atom technology. Another field would be the embedded market; the company’s first related results were released today.
