Intel's big jump to smaller silicon : Nano to Tera

By Priya Pradeep   |   Friday, 18 January 2008, 01:40 IST
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Bangalore: Intel's Senior Fellow, Vice President, Director - Corporate Technology Group (CTG) and Intel Chief Technology Officer, Justin Rattner opened with a phrase "From Beijing to Bangalore" to talk about Intel's journey across megalopolises and the jump upwards to tinier silicon. He gave a variety of updates on the work undertaken at Intel?s Corporate Technology Group Labs, which focuses on processor circuits' and multi-core computing platform research. The labs are situated across 15 locations worldwide, which are run by nearly 1000 researchers. Armed with a mission to drive Intel's technology leadership by aligning the company's strategies and technologies with industry needs, Rattner discussed the major areas of research, such as Terra-Scale Computing (scalable computing for the future), System on a Chip (high integration), Trusted Services (technologies for services), Carry Small / Live Large (ultra-mobile usage modes and platforms), Ultimate Connectivity (communications for future platforms) as well as new application areas such as healthcare. Speaking on the occasion, Rattner said, "CTG works on a variety of advanced computing technologies such as ultra mobility, long battery life, high performance per watt, and rich sensing. In fact we are now seeing numerous new areas of application such as education, health and entertainment which can be used to transform people's lives." Mobile Health Monitoring CTG's Systems Technology Lab is currently undertaking plenty of research in the areas of ultra-mobile form factors, extending battery life and high performance per watt which will deliver a high level of mobile computing capability well suited to emerging markets and health care is an application area for the same. Rattner showed a demo of a mobile health monitoring research prototype co-developed by Intel India and Intel U.S. teams. This research prototype monitors multiple physiological parameters using a wireless body area network. This information acquired will be used to investigate the challenges associated with wireless mobile health monitoring such as ease of use, mobility, power efficiency and reliability. This research is expected to lead to enhanced mobility solutions, continuity of care and remote monitoring. Technology Progression Demonstration CTG has also been very involved in validating research for various devices. In this connection, Rattner reviewed the technology progression of research concept platforms developed in the Systems Technology Lab of CTG from 2001 to 2005 to test attributes seen on many handheld, cellular and mobile devices of today. Energy-efficient Research CTG was also instrumental in developing Adaptive Snoozing Technology, which enables energy efficiency. This technology adapts to the network traffic and automatically senses when there is no activity. In such a situation it switches off the radio thereby saving power for the platform and reducing over-the-air interference. Adaptive Snoozing can provide up to 80 percent of power saving over today's network interface card (NIC) and this feature is being considered for incorporation in future platforms. Intel Tera-scale Computing Research Program Rattner gave an update on research undertaken on the 80-core teraflop research processor first showcased last year. This is the world's first programmable chip to deliver more than a teraflop of performance while consuming only 62 watts of power and is another project co-developed by the Bangalore and Oregon teams of the Circuit Research Lab at CTG. The Intel India Research Center is the India presence of the Corporate Technology Group. The ultimate goal is to accelerate the convergence of computing and communications. Other areas of research include Platform Infrastructure Research, advanced Packaging and Cooling Research, Trust and Security Research and Multi-Function Platforms Research

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