Intel Shows Off New 80-Core Processor

By NewsFactor Network | February 12, 2007

Intel has developed a prototype 80-core chip that the company claims can process some 1.8 trillion operations per second and is roughly the size of a Xeon chip.

Intel is emphasizing that the final version of the processor — which will have 100 million transistors — will be different from the 80-core prototype and will take from three to eight years to reach the market.

Intel says it expects the technology to be integrated into some of its products, but not all. Intel also says it is likely that the teraflop chip will be used to test different technologies in development, such as energy-management strategies and high-bandwidth interconnects.

Chip Choice

One of the more notable aspects of the 80-core prototype is its component design. Each core has been created as a distinct tile that brings together a processing core with a router that links the core to adjacent tiles. The advantage to this structure, according to Intel, is that the technology can be updated on the chips more easily in the future, to swap tiles out as needed.

Intel also has tweaked how memory is placed on the chip, putting cache memory under each core. In addition, power consumption, usually a major sticking point when it comes to trying to increase processing speed, has been handled by division of each tile into separate regions that can be powered individually.

Because each router on the chip can be set for “sleep,” power consumption can be reduced significantly, Intel claims. And even with one router powered down, other cores can still function and components can operate in standby mode or be shut down temporarily to reduce power use.

The 80-core research chip achieves over a teraflop of performance — one teraflop is equivalent to one trillion operations per second — while consuming only 62 watts, Intel has…

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