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Intel systems-on-a-chip are still too power hungry
Arguably the most interesting announcement to come out of the Intel Developer Forum was the CE 3100 system-on-a-chip, which shows the company exploiting miniaturisation for purposes other than increasing raw computing power. Instead of packing in more cores, it is bringing onto the processor functionality previously performed by peripheral chips.
Intel actually announced several new SoCs a couple of weeks before IDF. Significantly all were targeted at applications for which power drain is not considered critical. The CE 3100 is designed for tasks such as set-top-boxes and TVs, allowing the latter to get access to web features.
Anand Chandrasekher, head of Intel's ultra-mobility group, hinted at the reason in his IDF keynote when he said the standby power on the next version of Atom, codenamed Moorestown, will be cut by a factor of ten.
This is important because low standby power is one of the major advantages of ARM cores that currently dominate mobile phones (including the iPhone) and other portable devices such as media players. Emerging portable internet access devices need to be always on, so they need a very low standby drain.
Moorestown, if it turns out as Chandrasekher promises, should be able to compete better in this market. But it will not arrive until late 2009 or early 2010, by which time the next generation ARM cores will be appearing in products.
Just how profligate current designs can be is shown by announcement by UK Bluetooth specialist CSR of a collaboration with Intel that has reduced notebook power consumption by up to a watt, potentially extending battery life by a half-hour on Intel motherboards.
It turns out that polling of the Bluetooth subsystem, to check if data needed shifting, was stopping the notebook entering a sleep state. The tweak means Bluetooth polling is done only when necessary.
Ironically, standby power is becoming important on set-top-boxes for which the CE 3100 is designed. A recent Ofcom report highlights the fact that consumer electronics consumes 45 percent of the electricity used in the home, heating apart.
It is estimated that set-top-boxes, routers, and battery chargers left on in Britain when they are not needed waste the equivalent of the output of a 1500Mw power station.
There will, of course, be more on all this in the next print edition of PCW.
Intel actually announced several new SoCs a couple of weeks before IDF. Significantly all were targeted at applications for which power drain is not considered critical. The CE 3100 is designed for tasks such as set-top-boxes and TVs, allowing the latter to get access to web features.
Anand Chandrasekher, head of Intel's ultra-mobility group, hinted at the reason in his IDF keynote when he said the standby power on the next version of Atom, codenamed Moorestown, will be cut by a factor of ten.
This is important because low standby power is one of the major advantages of ARM cores that currently dominate mobile phones (including the iPhone) and other portable devices such as media players. Emerging portable internet access devices need to be always on, so they need a very low standby drain.
Moorestown, if it turns out as Chandrasekher promises, should be able to compete better in this market. But it will not arrive until late 2009 or early 2010, by which time the next generation ARM cores will be appearing in products.
Just how profligate current designs can be is shown by announcement by UK Bluetooth specialist CSR of a collaboration with Intel that has reduced notebook power consumption by up to a watt, potentially extending battery life by a half-hour on Intel motherboards.
It turns out that polling of the Bluetooth subsystem, to check if data needed shifting, was stopping the notebook entering a sleep state. The tweak means Bluetooth polling is done only when necessary.
Ironically, standby power is becoming important on set-top-boxes for which the CE 3100 is designed. A recent Ofcom report highlights the fact that consumer electronics consumes 45 percent of the electricity used in the home, heating apart.
It is estimated that set-top-boxes, routers, and battery chargers left on in Britain when they are not needed waste the equivalent of the output of a 1500Mw power station.
There will, of course, be more on all this in the next print edition of PCW.
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