Intel to use Atom for return to handheld market

Morshad published 04 Mar 2008, 06:56 in main - 229 views

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Intel Corp., the world's largest computer-chip maker, will adopt a brand called Atom for its second push into the market for processors that run handheld devices. The chips, which use less power than personal-computer processors, can run Internet software on pocket-sized devices, Santa Clara, California-based Intel said today in a statement.

The Intel Atom processor features a new microarchitecture that maintains Intel Core 2 Duo instruction set compatibility and includes support for multiple threads. The chip measures less than 25 mm² and packs 47 million transistors, making it Intel's smallest and lowest power processor yet. These new chips, previously codenamed Silverthorne and Diamondville, will be manufactured on Intel's 45nm process with hi-k metal gate technology. Intel said new chips in this line have a thermal design power (TDP) specification in 0.6-2.5 watt range and scale to 1.8GHz speeds depending on customer need. By comparison, today's mainstream mobile Core 2 Duo processors have a TDP in the 35-watt range.

The Intel Centrino Atom processor, formerly codenamed "Menlow," includes the Intel Atom processor, a low-power companion chip with integrated graphics, a wireless radio, and thinner and lighter designs. Together, these components are designed to enable mobile computing.