14 DAY TRIAL // Intel has just unveiled five new processors and a chipset dedicated to the embedded consumer electronics market. Built on the new 45-nanometer manufacturing process, the new quad-core and dual-core Xeon chips will come with extended lifecycle support from the traditional five years to seven years.
"It's good news from the standpoint that Intel continues to be dedicated to the market," said In-Stat analyst Jim McGregor. "Funny, when you think Intel, you don't think embedded stuff. But they've been in the market for 15 to 20 years. Their embedded group is a billion-dollar business. Historically, it was a matter of taking what came from the traditional computing market and supporting it for longer life cycles. But over the last few years, they've really modified that, and their embedded group has a lot more engineering expertise."
According to Doug Davis, general manager of Intel's embedded and communications group, the company has supported embedded Xeon processors for a long period of time, but Intel is ready to extend support for the 45-nanometer hardware. The embedded Xeon chips are using the same manufacturing process as the Penryn x86 processors and use hafnium-infused technology for improved performance.
As of today, Intel customers will be able to choose between two chipset offering to go along with the new Xeon CPUs. Davis made it clear that the new chipset is based on the older Intel 5000P chip, but it comes with improved power management options. The new chipset is called the 5100 Memory Controller Hub and will be available along with its previous version, the 5100P.
"With 5100, you get a lower-power solution. You can get a 67% performance-per-watt power increase over the 5000P chip set," he noted. "For instance, in the communications infrastructure space, a company might be designing a multimedia platform, and they might have a blade with tight thermal specification. Maybe they would specify the 5100."
The new processors come with improved performance per watt and are available now, along with the 5100 chipset.