Intel is getting ready to introduce a chip communications technology that mirrors an approach central to recent successes of rival Advanced Micro Devices.
If Intel's newly competitive chips recently brought to market act as the brains of a server, then the Common System Interface (CSI) is its nervous system. The technology, set for release in 2008, provides a new way for processors to communicate with each other and with the rest of a computer.
And alongside CSI, Intel plans to release an integrated memory controller, which is housed on the main processor rather than on a separate supporting chip. This will speed memory performance and so dovetail with the new communications system, the company expects.
Together, they could help Intel provide a much-needed counterpunch to AMD, which in 2003 introduced an integrated memory controller and a high-speed interconnect called HyperTransport in its Opteron and Athlon 64 processors. The two communication technologies, marketed together as "Direct Connect Architecture," deliver lower processor costs and chip performance advantages, which AMD has used to win a place in the designs of all of the big four server makers.
"Intel is hoping CSI will do for them in servers what 'CSI' did for CBS in ratings," said Insight 64 analyst Nathan Brookwood, referring to the hit TV series "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."
Intel has been tight-lipped about CSI. However, Tom Kilroy, general manager of the company's Digital Enterprise Group, did confirm some details in a recent CNET News.com interview. Further glimpses have come from server makers, who are eager for CSI's debut in the "Tukwila" Itanium chip, due in 2008.
Tracking CSICSI brings two major changes. First, it will boost processor performance compared with Intel's current chip communication technology, the front-side bus.
"From a pure performance perspective, when we get to Tukwila and CSI, and we actually get some of the benefits of that protocol introduced into our systems, I think it's going to be really a big deal," said Rich Marcello, general manager of HP's Business Critical Server group.
CSI will be instrumental in helping double the performance of the Tukwila generation of servers, he noted.
Second, CSI will help Itanium server designers take advantage of mainstream Xeon server technology. Both chip families will use the interface, Kilroy said. That's particularly useful for companies such as Unisys, whose servers can use both processor types. It will make it possible for elements of a design to be used in both kinds of machine, reducing development costs and speeding development times.
If Intel's newly competitive chips recently brought to market act as the brains of a server, then the Common System Interface (CSI) is its nervous system. The technology, set for release in 2008, provides a new way for processors to communicate with each other and with the rest of a computer.
And alongside CSI, Intel plans to release an integrated memory controller, which is housed on the main processor rather than on a separate supporting chip. This will speed memory performance and so dovetail with the new communications system, the company expects.
Together, they could help Intel provide a much-needed counterpunch to AMD, which in 2003 introduced an integrated memory controller and a high-speed interconnect called HyperTransport in its Opteron and Athlon 64 processors. The two communication technologies, marketed together as "Direct Connect Architecture," deliver lower processor costs and chip performance advantages, which AMD has used to win a place in the designs of all of the big four server makers.
"Intel is hoping CSI will do for them in servers what 'CSI' did for CBS in ratings," said Insight 64 analyst Nathan Brookwood, referring to the hit TV series "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."
Intel has been tight-lipped about CSI. However, Tom Kilroy, general manager of the company's Digital Enterprise Group, did confirm some details in a recent CNET News.com interview. Further glimpses have come from server makers, who are eager for CSI's debut in the "Tukwila" Itanium chip, due in 2008.
Tracking CSICSI brings two major changes. First, it will boost processor performance compared with Intel's current chip communication technology, the front-side bus.
"From a pure performance perspective, when we get to Tukwila and CSI, and we actually get some of the benefits of that protocol introduced into our systems, I think it's going to be really a big deal," said Rich Marcello, general manager of HP's Business Critical Server group.
CSI will be instrumental in helping double the performance of the Tukwila generation of servers, he noted.
Second, CSI will help Itanium server designers take advantage of mainstream Xeon server technology. Both chip families will use the interface, Kilroy said. That's particularly useful for companies such as Unisys, whose servers can use both processor types. It will make it possible for elements of a design to be used in both kinds of machine, reducing development costs and speeding development times.
No comments:
Post a Comment