Intel Goes Back to the '90s for In-Order Processors

Intel decided to take a shot at an older processor architecture and revive it for the next generation of energy-saving devices. The upcoming Silverthorne mobile CPU will be the first modern unit of its kind to be built with the technology available during the early '90s.

Chip designers and manufacturers worldwide will join next week for the International Solid States Circuits Conference (ISSCC), where they are alleged to debate upon a mobile processor built around the x86 Intel Architecture with "in-order pipeline" computing abilities. Those who are not familiar with the term should note that the chips built using this technology have to perform their tasks strictly following their order. If the CPU needs additional data to perform a logical operation, all the CPU's activity is stopped until the data gets retrieved and ready for use.

On the other hand, modern chips are almost all built with the "out-of-order pipeline" in mind. This allows them to continue the queued tasks further down even though the CPU is waiting for additional data. These models of chips are much more powerful than their older siblings, but at the same time, they require more energy to work properly.

Intel's products are based on the "Out-of-order pipeline" design since mid-90s, and the first unit to see daylight was the successful Pentium Pro CPU. At the moment, there are other CPU designers that still use the in-order pipeline for their ultra-low voltage chips, such as chipset manufacturer VIA Technologies. The company produces the low-voltage C7 processor, but it already announced that it will switch to the out-of-order pipeline technology later this year.

Although Intel never mentioned that the in-order chip will be the Silverthorne, the technical specifications of the chip that will get under the scope at ISSCC are identical to what the company mentioned about Silverthorne, according to Glenn Henry, Via's Centaur design group leader. They both are alleged to have 47 million transistors and to be built at the 45-nanometer manufacturing node. Moreover, the announced CPU's power consumption will not exceed 2 Watts, while the Silverthorne is alleged to take up 10 times less power than the current mobile processors.

Since the companies don't show details about the future prototypes, it would be clear that the ultra-energy-efficient chip is due to be released soon.