At the Intel Developers Forum in Taipei, the giant chip manufacturer unveiled some details on the company's latest mobile technologies aiming at “expanding the frontiers of mobility”. Among the projects detailed at IDF, we can find plans on new quad-core processors for mobile devices, the code-named Calpella mobile platform as well as Intel's “UrbanMax” Mobile Concept which is based on the company's latest small form factor (SFF) technology.

Mooly Eden, Corporate Vice President, General Manager, Mobile Platforms Group, discussed the new Intel technologies, the Nehalem-based Calpella and the fresh mobile concept called UrbanMax which features small form factor Intel Centrino 2 Processor Technology along with key mobile platform enhancements like Intel High-Performance SATA Solid-State Drive Product Line, HD Playback and Touchscreen Displays.

According to the keynote Eden gave at IDF, Calpella is a next-generation mobile platform designed for the next-to-come 45nm Nehalem architecture. The new platform is expected to bring higher performance and more energy efficiency in innovative form factors. Calpella will come with specific Nehalem features like Integrated Memory Controller (IMC) and graphics into the processors, along with Display, Intel Management Engine, NVM controllers and clock buffers which are integrated into the PCH.

The Integrated Power Gate featured by Calpella is an energy-efficient technology meant to turn cores on or off when they are not in use, allowing near-zero leakage power, but also making active/sleep transitions much faster. The same technology will be included in the memory system, cache and IO to power them down dynamically when not in use.

More features of Calpella include Modular/ Scalable Clocking, which enables the core, memory system and I/O to run at independent voltage and frequency speeding this way the response time and offering improved energy efficiency. The Intel Turbo Boost Technology with Enhanced Intel SpeedSte technology will also be included for increased power-efficiency. The Intel Hyper-Threading Technology will allow for simultaneous multi-threading, while the Loop Streaming Detector is meant for handling replays and large loops, as well as for saving power by as much as fourfold.

Two quad-core mobile CPUs, eight small form factor processors

The first mobile quad-core processors from Intel are Core2 Extreme QX9300 and the Intel Core 2 Quad Q9100, both offering four separate processing cores. The Intel Core2 Extreme QX9300, built on the Intel 45nm hi-K process technology, features a 2.53GHz core clock speed, along with 1066MHz FSB and 12MB L2 cache. The Intel Core 2 Quad Q9100 is based on the company's 45nm hi-K process technology and comes with a 2.26GHz core clock speed, with a 1066MHz FSB and 12MB L2 cache. It represents a new concept for the Intel Centrino 2 processor technology and Intel Centrino 2 with vPro technology lineup.

Intel's UrbanMax is the latest mobile concept the company has developed. It is based on the small form factor (SFF) technology, thus allowing grounds-up design targeting Web 2.0 usage. The SFF-based platform can include new SFF Intel processors, Intel High Performance SSD, HD Playback and 11.1" Touchscreen Display.

According to the company, the UrbanMax devices will have one of eight new small form factor processors, including two Power Optimized Performance, two new low-voltage, and two ultra low-voltage Intel Core 2 Duo processor, along with an Intel Core 2 Solo CPU, an Intel Celeron processor and an Intel Atom chip. Intel stated that the Centrino 2 processors allow for a 58 percent reduction in area and a 68 percent reduction in volume. Also, they feature a lower TDP than typical 35W mobile mainstream chips.