This would not be an exaggeration that every cyber innovation takes place at the silicon level. This is the most tangible manifestation of the most abstract reality of cyber-space. By just watching the development at the silicon level, the prevailing evolutionary dynamics in the body ‘cyber’ can be sensed, rather, gauged. Though, a plethora of IT companies have been active in the development and manufacturing of silicon products, the contribution of Intel has consistently been enormous. In the VLSI industry, Intel signifies the acme of human thoughts and analytical sensibilities.
Intel keeps a close tab on the mood of consumers. The key to any sustained thriving is ‘innovation’ and out of box approach for crafting intelligent processors. Moors law says that in every 18 months time, the speed of processor gets doubled. But the speed is not the only parameter judging the evolutionary accomplishment of processors, a host of other features have emerged which hold equal importance.
Many of technological augmentations happen at the classical software level, but now many of such enhancements are being handled at the hardware level, to be more precise, at the processor level itself. The very idea of green technology and virtualization in terms of sensible utilization of compute power has its essence embedded deep into the kernels of processors. Today, the processors face a converged expectation influx; that processors have become the key to any digital intervention. The evolutionary strains are not confined to the servers, storage and networking level alone; it is pervading every conceivable aspect of human activities.
In such a scenario, the challenge before the silicon giant in Intel is manifold. However, the classic compute arena continues to be relevant and Intel has come out with an altogether different genre of processors family. They call them ‘2010 Intel Core Processors Family’. This harbingers the dawn of a new computing era where the architectural platform is freshly crafted. For quite some times, the ‘Core2Duo’ range of processors have been serving the application expediency of millions of people spread across the globe. But the subterranean desire for fresh ecosystem has always been there. Intel foresaw the impeding desirability of people longing for versatile processors. Intel has responded by coming out with ‘2010 Intel Core Processors Family’ (i3, i5 and i5 Processors), enriching the very texture of PC ecosystem.
Virtues of multi-core processing
The biggest inflection point in the evolutionary streaks of processors came when Intel (and to some extent AMD also) ventured into the arena of multi-core processing. The most incipient product in this category appeared in ‘Dual Core’ processor; which was a mechanical amalgamation of two separate Pentium 4 kernels. Though, Dual Core was a brave attempt towards beginning the multi-core processing culture, it was never a true multi-core processing unit as the units were mechanically clubbed into performing better. It was not an organic assimilation of multi-polarity of processing cores!
However, on the part of Intel, the entry of ‘Core2Duo’ was a great revolution; it was the manifestation of a true multi-core processing product. Since then Intel has never looked back. Core2Duo did address the issues of power saving, speed and better performance. And the IT world got immense benefits from the revolutionary processing platform. But, Intel, adhering to the Minimal ‘Moore’s Law’, has kept on augmenting the overall speed and performance of its processor fleet, and this time has introduced its synthesis of features and technologies which not only take care the objectives to speed, performance and low-power consumption, but the vital issues of virtualization, inbuilt graphics capability and ‘compute on demand’.
Compute on Demand
One of the most glittering features of the newly launched processors is ‘Turbo Boost Technology’ which helps adapt processors run at load-specific performance level. If the application load on a processor is very heavy, the new processors with ‘Turbo Boost Technology’ would run at its full-throttled capacity. In an interaction with Digital Edge, Prakash Bagri, Director, Marketing, Intel South Asia, says, “Intel Turbo Boost Technology automatically accelerates performance, adjusting to the workload to give users an immediate performance boost when needed”.
The ‘Turbo Boost Technology’ is in fact a straightforward approach towards creating a virtualized ambiance where capacity and strength of processors are optimally used. The ‘Turbo Boost Technology’ discourages processors from committing the felony of ‘compute overkill’. If a software application requires less compute power, then there is no reason for running the processor at its full-strength consuming undue quantum of electricity. This effort would help conserve a good deal of power, thereby, helping the environment grow greener and healthier (And yes, using green technology has its strong economic reason). Therefore, Intel’s Turbo Boost Technology is a bold step in making the planet greener and sustainable.
The other major feature is Intel’s flagship know-how called ‘Hyper Threading Technology’ which helps in carrying multiple tasks with amazing efficiency and performance. “Intel Hyper Threading Technology enables smart multi-tasking by allowing each processing core to run multiple ‘threads’ providing amazing responsiveness and great performance, balanced with industry-leading energy efficiency when processing several tasks simultaneously”, says R Ravichandran, Director, Sales, Intel South Asia. Interestingly, The Intel 2010 Core Processors Family also has power-saving techniques called ‘Hurry Up and Get Idle’ (HUGI), which enable processors to finish tasks quickly, while preserving battery life. The 2010 Intel Core Processors are manufactured on the company’s 32nm process, which includes Intel’s 2nd generation high-K metal gate transistors. This technique, along with other advances, helps increase a computer’s speed while decreasing energy consumption. “For the first time, there’s a new family of Intel processors with the industry’s most advanced technology available immediately at virtually every PC price point. These smart processors adapt to an individual’s needs, automatically providing a ‘boost’ of performance for everyday applications. They become energy efficient to the point of shutting down processing cores or reducing power consumption to provide performance when people need it, and energy efficient when they don’t”, says Ravichandran.
In one of its innovative strokes Intel has imbued a strong graphics capability in its newly launched processors. Traditionally, nVIDIA and ATI have been catering to the market of medium to high-end graphics cards with its powerful GPUs. However, Intel’s latest initiative in terms of mounting graphics capability at the processor level has made millions’ lives easy. “The all new 2010 Intel Core Processor Family is the forst to integrat graphics into mainstream PC processors. With Intel HD Graphics, the processors deliver stunning visuals and smooth high-definition (HD) Video playback. It’s also the industry’s first integrated solution to deliver multi-channel Dolby TrueHD and DTS Premium Suite home theatre audio. In addition, Intel HD graphics support mainstream and causaual 3-D gaming without the need for an add-in video card, and offer full support for the new Microsoft Window7 OS”, says Bagri of Intel.
Horizontal deployments
The newly launched processors primarily cater to an extended application domains covering desktops, mainstream notebooks and ultra-thin notebooks. “These processors based on 32 nm architecture are versatile products which power today’s PCs”, says Ravichandran. However, some of launched embedded processors can cater to diverse applications with ATMs, ticket kiosks, self check-out machines, digital signs, medical equipment, communications gear and industrial machines. “These embedded devices can optimize workloads, conserve power consumption, remotely manage connected network and even gather metrics based video analytics for more effective advertising campaigns.
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