Updated at 10:45 p.m. PST with additional information about Intellectual Ventures
Intellectual Ventures has acquired the patent portfolio of Transmeta, an erstwhile supplier of low-power Intel-compatible x86 processors.
Intellectual Venture Funding, an affiliate of Intellectual Ventures, has picked up 140 U.S. patents and additional pending patent applications owned by Transmeta, which was acquired by privately held Novafora in November of last year.
The Transmeta technology will be used "through two distinct routes," according to an Intellectual Ventures' statement. Novafora will improve its own proprietary designs by using some of the technologies invented by Transmeta. And Intellectual Ventures will provide other companies with access to Transmeta's former patent rights under non-exclusive licensing terms.
The portfolio contains many patents issued in the last few years and has generated, in total, approximately $300 million in revenue, the firm said.
Transmeta's claim to fame as a low-power x86-compatible chip supplier was transitory, and in 2007, about seven years after the company formed, it restructured and ceased being a chipmaker. It reorganized as a Rambus-like IP (intellectual property) company that sues other companies for patent infringement. Transmeta's technology is centered on "code morphing" techniques and very long instruction word (VLIW) design architecture.
"These (patent) additions cover inventions in high-performance, low-power, and embedded processors," Paul Reidy, vice president of semiconductor licensing at Intellectual Ventures, said in a statement.
Intellectual Ventures was founded by Nathan Myhrvold after he retired from his position as chief strategist and chief technology officer of Microsoft.
Intel is shipping new server processors that consume as little as 12.5 watts per core.
Cumulatively, the racks and racks of servers in large data centers can require power rivaling that consumed by entire city blocks. So, getting power consumption as low as possible while delivering adequate performance has become a delicate balancing act for Intel and Advanced Micro Devices.
New additions to the Xeon 5000 Series include the L5430 and X5270 processors, the fastest of which boasts a clock speed of 3.5GHz, Intel said.
The low-voltage L5430 uses only 50 watts of power or just 12.5 watts per core. The dual-core Xeon X5270 draws 80 watts, according to Intel.
"Much of the energy efficiency these new processors provide comes from Intel's...45 (nanometer) manufacturing capability and its reinvented transistors that use a Hafnium-based high-k metal gate formula," Intel said in a statement. Transistors with high-k metal gates can control current leakage better than those with silicon dioxide gates, which Intel had used in the past.
Not all processors, however, boast low power consumption. Intel will also ship high-performance versions with relatively high power consumption, including the X5492, which consumes 150 watts.
All of the new Xeon chips use packaging materials free of halogens, which can release toxins if incinerated. This is a goal Intel has set for all of its processors.
Vendors expected to bring out systems include Asus, Dell, Fujitsu, Fujitsu-Siemens, Gigabyte, HP, IBM, Microstar, NEC, Quanta, Rackable Systems, Sun Microsystems, Supermicro, Tyan, and Verari Systems.
The processors are targeted at organizations using workstation and blade and mainstream servers, Intel said.
Pricing ranges from $562 for a quad-core Xeon L5430 (2.66GHz) to $1,493 for a quad-core Xeon X5492 (3.4GHz).
When the Intel Developer Forum kicks off Tuesday in San Francisco, the theme of low power will be high on the agenda of topics.
Nehalem can deliver greater performance at the same power consumption level of the Core 2 architecture, Intel says.
(Credit: Intel)The headliner at IDF this year is indisputably the upcoming "Nehalem" Core i7 processor. Though the new microarchitecture is replete with esoteric technologies like QuickPath (for faster chip-to-chip communication) and on-chip memory controllers--things that end users can't readily relate to--better power efficiency is something every consumer gets because it results in better battery life.
"(Nehalem) is pretty subtle because it's a change in microarchitecture. A lot of the changes aren't all that visible to the end user. But one of the most notable (changes) is power saving," said Roger Kay, founder and president of Endpoint Technologies.
This won't become apparent to many consumers, however, until Nehalem mobile processors hit the market, according to Kay. "Nehalem notebooks should have dramatically longer batter life," Kay said. Nehalem mobile chips will not appear until next year.
Overall, Nehalem is better than previous Intel architectures at scaling up performance while keeping a lid on power consumption. So, for example, a Nehalem quad-core desktop processor may deliver better performance at power levels equal to current Core 2 quad processors--so Intel says. Nehalem will have all four cores on one piece of silicon, a first for Intel in the mainstream market.
An Intel IDF blurb that describes the technological highlights of Nehalem also states that chips will have "dramatic new energy efficiency gains when workloads are scaled back." Intel will presumably clarify nebulous statements like this at IDF.
In the more immediate future, Maximum PC recently tested a Nehalem "Bloomfield" desktop system that uses a 2.93GHz processor and an Intel motherboard with an X58 chipset. Both of these are expected to ship in the fourth quarter.
Atom is next on the short list of high-profile topics--and Atom is all about power efficiency, not high performance. The tiny mobile chip has a power envelope not exceeding 2.5 watts, far below the 35-watt power envelope of mainstream Intel mobile processors to date.
Though Anand Chandrasekher, general manager of Intel's Ultra Mobility Group, will talk about Atom in handheld mobile Internet devices and discuss Moorestown, the next iteration of Atom, the netbook category is the driving force behind Atom right now. David (Dadi) Perlmutter, general manager of Intel's Mobility Group, will talk about the low-cost mobile market and show off a variety of netbooks, according to Intel.
Current high-profile netbooks include the Asus Eee PC and Acer Aspire.
Since netbooks are synonymous with low power don't expect dual-core Atom processors from Intel designed specifically for netbooks anytime soon, according to Bill Calder, an Intel spokesperson. "There's no reason to do dual core in the netbook. Single-core Atom is perfectly adequate," Calder said. (Dual-core Atom chips for "nettop" desktops are coming by the end of the year.)
"These things are intended for basic Internet use. Mostly reading, sharing, viewing. Not creating, building, burning," Calder said.
Intel will also mention more about it's ultra-low-voltage (ULV) mobile processors. These are essentially Core 2 mobile processors designed for the stringent power requirements of ultralight notebooks like the MacBook Air, Lenovo X300, and the just-introduced Dell 12-inch Latitude E4200.
The current ultra-low-voltage lineup will be refreshed in September with 45-nanometer parts. All LV and ULV processors being sold now are based on older 65-nanometer technology.
Dual-core processors in this category have thermal envelopes as low as 10 watts, though more mainstream low-power processors (like those in the MacBook Air) will fall somewhere between 10 and 25 watts.
Many of these sub-one-inch-thick notebooks will also offer 80GB and 128GB solid state drive options. Micron Technology has introduced solid state drives in 128GB and 256GB sizes. Large-capacity SSDs will be part and parcel of ultralight notebook offerings in the coming months.
At the high end of power spectrum, Intel will also talk more about its first quad-core mobile processor. Both Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo are already showing off quad-core laptops and HP lists the quad-core mobile chip as an option on its EliteBook 8730w mobile workstation. The quad-core mobile processor is also expected to appear in gaming laptops from Dell's Alienware unit.
Update at 10:40 a.m. with background about why Nvidia licensed Transmeta's technology
(Credit:
Transmeta)
Transmeta has licensed its LongRun and low-power chip technologies to graphics chip giant Nvidia for a one-time fee of $25 million. Nvidia is hoping tackle power consumption issues that dog its high-performance chips.
Transmeta, an erstwhile chip vendor turned intellectual property supplier, said Nvidia was granted a nonexclusive license to Transmeta's Long Run and LongRun2 technologies "and other intellectual property for use in connection with Nvidia products."
The agreement grants to Nvidia a license to all of Transmeta's patents and patent applications and covers "advanced power management and other computing technologies," according to a statement from Transmeta.
LongRun2 technology is a suite of advanced power management and leakage control technologies.
Nvidia has always emphasized performance over power efficiency: its chips are fast but power hungry. Nvidia needs Transmeta's low-power technologies to better meet the requirements of the laptop and handheld markets, Nvidia spokesperson Derek Perez said.
"(Transmeta's) LongRun technologies for advanced power management and transistor leakage control have shown proven value in the market," Perez said. "You'll see us leverage this technology to improve the power/performance metrics of our GPUs moving forward."
Recently Nvidia has been grappling with overheating problems in laptops that use its graphics processors. On July 2, Nvidia released a "Business Update" that addressed a defect centered on "weak die/packaging material" in certain versions of Nvidia graphics silicon used in laptops. The die refers to the chip itself and the packaging is what encases the chip.
After this announcement, both Hewlett-Packard and Dell published lists of laptops that were affected by the flaw.
Transmeta, formerly a supplier of low-power x86 processors, now develops and licenses microprocessor technologies and related intellectual property. The company filed a lawsuit against Intel in October 2006 alleging that the latter infringed upon Transmeta's patents. Transmeta later settled with Intel for $250 million.
Transmeta is presently focused on developing and licensing advanced power management technologies and licensing its computing and microprocessor technologies to other companies.
The new moniker "Atom" sets in marketing stone the Intel brand for small devices. I'll skip the banalities about Atom silicon being crucial for Intel's future and just pose a question: Can Intel spur innovation in ultrasmall devices the way it has in the PC and server industry?
I won't hazard any rash predictions but will make a few observations about the current landscape.
Intel Atom processor
(Credit: Intel Corp.)First, a little recent history. The ultramobile PC (UMPC) based on Intel's first-generation processor (the A110) for small devices has not exactly been the market sensation that the iPhone has. The Samsung Q1 and the Asus R2H are two examples of products that never really took off. As if to recognize this mistake (and confuse people in the process), Intel has stopped referring to this category of gadgets as UMPC and now calls it the Mobile Internet Device or MID.
This underscores the pitfalls and potential for Intel. The pitfalls: consumers will forever unfavorably compare the UMPC and MID to the more feature-rich notebook PC or, conversely, to the smaller, cheaper cell phone. The potential: a new category of computers spearheaded by a device with an iPhone-like following.
Enter the Atom-branded low-cost platform for ultraportable devices. Asus's popular Intel-based Eee PC is already demonstrating the potential here. So much so that a Sony vice president recently cited the Eee PC as a threat. (He depicted it as causing "a race to the bottom" because of its low price.) The XO laptop offered by the One Laptop Per Child organization is another example. (It uses an AMD Geode processor.) Both are priced around $300 and both are Internet-centric devices that offer the same wireless capabilities of more expensive laptops.
For smaller MID-like devices, such as the iPhone and Nokia N810, success is less certain. Many of the scores of pocket-sized gadgets on the market use processors based on the tried-and-true ARM design. Intel won't displace ARM anytime soon. But these devices are proprietary, which may leave Intel an opening. Because Intel's Atom processor is compatible with the Core 2 Duo instruction set, developers of small devices have a common platform to target.
"This is our smallest processor built with the world's smallest transistors," Intel Executive Vice President and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Sean Maloney said in a statement. "This is...a fundamental new shift in design. We believe it will unleash new innovation across the industry."
This is probably true. But Intel has a long way to go in a crowded market that bears little if any resemblance to the PC industry, where the chipmaker competes relatively comfortably with only one other company (AMD). There's also a long wait for Intel's Moorestown, the next generation of small chips for small devices due in 2009 or 2010. The great expectations for Moorestown almost overshadow the current Atom technology. Moorestown will not only be more power efficient but more highly integrated: a system-on-chip (SOC) design combining the CPU, graphics, and memory controller onto a single chip.
Update: Atom brand segmentation:
One segment will be pocket-sized gadgets, dubbed MIDs. The maximum screen size for MIDs will be 7.5 inches diagonal. In order to get the "Centrino Atom" sticker, the MID must use the Poulsbo chipset, which includes integrated graphics. (Correction: wireless--both Wi-Fi and Wimax--are on a separate chip.) The Atom processor targeted at this market was previously code-named "Silverthorne."
The second segment will be ultra-low-cost notebooks and desktops. Intel calls the notebook segment Netbook. The desktop, Nettop. The Atom chip addressing this segment was previously known as "Diamondville."
Atom processors are expected to ship this spring.
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