Intel shifts focus to networking
By Phil Harvey
Redherring.com, August 22, 2000
Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) wants its developers to know that the chip
maker that dominates the personal computer industry still matters
in the age of the Internet. Call it Cisco-envy if you will -- even the
formal theme of Intel's developers' conference, which takes place
August 22-24 in San Jose, is "Powering the Net. Connecting the
Net."
Yet despite the show's theme and some coming announcements in
wireless and networking equipment, Intel still matters most inside
the personal computer. This strategy will be obvious as Intel tells
developers more about the micro-architecture of its new Pentium 4
chip this week.
MORE ON P4
By telling developers how the new chip technology works, how the
pieces fit together, and how much growing room the product has,
Intel hopes to convince them to begin building new kinds of
software and hardware now to take advantage of the new chip,
which will debut at a speed of 1.4 GHz.
Though it won't yet say when the chip will be available or how
much it will cost, Intel will divulge more details about the chip's
technology makeup than it did when it first showed the processor,
code-named Willamette, at its developer show in February.
Of course, Intel will also endeavor to focus the media's attention
on its latest technology efforts in the networking arena. Those
announcements will include a new set of StrongARM chips for
handheld computers and cellular phones.
In that same vein, Intel will tell the expected 5,000 attendees at
its show this week (400 of whom will be media) about new
developments in its IXP chip line, the processors built for use in
networking gear and telecom equipment. The challenge for that
chip family is to convince equipment makers to move from using
application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) to using Intel's
programmable chips to build custom systems.
PEER-TO-PEER PRESSURE
But the course of the good ship Pentium will matter more to
personal computers than to cell phones or telecom switches. And
while being a key supplier to PCs has become a stigma to investors
looking for the next big thing, Intel has taken comfort from the
fact that powerful PCs are becoming more important as broadband
access becomes available to homes.
Additionally, the rise of peer-to-peer networking -- as made
famous by Napster's file-swapping software -- means that soon
people will seek out computers that have the ability to function as
both a client and server at the same time.
"We're beginning to recognize peer-to-peer networking as the
computing paradigm of the future," says Albert Yu, senior vice
president and general manager of Intel's architecture group. While
it's not a new concept, peer-to-peer computing allows business
users to harness the power of several systems to work on one
large computing task, Mr. Yu says.
The Pentium 4 is designed to handle peer-to-peer computing,
robust software, and even the most taxing Internet applications,
Mr. Yu says. While Intel's Pentium III chip has 28 million
transistors, the Pentium 4 will have 42 million transistors, he says.
But the Pentium 4 architecture is about more than just being able
to amplify and switch more data, says Doug Carmean, the principal
architect of Intel's Architecture Group. The Pentium 4 will also
have a deeper pipeline -- comparable to a larger assembly line on
a factory floor -- so that the chips can receive and execute
instructions faster, he explains. Additionally, the new chips boast a
400-MHz system bus (the way a chip moves information from the
processor to the rest of the computer system). Today's fastest
Pentium III chips have a 133-MHz system bus, he says.
IAL TO THE RESCUE
Of particular interest to software and content developers (and the
venture capitalists funding them) will be some related work that
comes from Intel's Architecture Labs (IAL). Their researchers have
developed code that will be used in the development tools that
software companies use to make their products. The code helps
software take a look at the machine it's running on and decide,
based on bandwidth and system resources, what's the best
possible experience it can give the user.
For example, if the user wanted to view some 3D animation over
the Net, Intel's technology could look at the object's frame rate
and decide whether to add or remove detail based on how
powerful the destination PC is.
For software developers, the new Pentium-based technologies are
welcome news. Rather than having to build applications for the
broadest possible PC audience (i.e., the lowest common
denominator of chips), they can now swing for the fences and
build software for the biggest, baddest machines money can buy.
Currently, such a fast machine would have to contain an AMD
Athlon processor, but with its new chip architecture, Intel hopes
to leapfrog AMD yet again. Likewise, by creating software that's
aware of the machine's limitations, software developers can now
enjoy creating the best possible experience and still reach enough
users to turn a profit.
INTEL IN THE FUTURE
Of course, there are quite a few things that need to happen
between the developer utopia just cited and the chicken-and-egg
problem that plagues software and hardware development today.
But with its political heft (and with events such as its developers'
forum), Intel is working with software companies to get its
message out there.
Already, Realnetworks and Macromedia are working with Intel to
enable their software to adjust on the fly. Intel hopes that
eventually consumers will realize that when they buy a faster PC,
they'll see an immediate improvement in what they can see and
hear on the Net.
Make no mistake about it, though -- most of Intel's energy at the
show this week will be directed toward promoting buzz-worthy
networking technologies. Obviously Intel hasn't neglected the need
to invest in its future -- the company's acquired more than 15
networking- and communications-related companies since January
1999.
However, for all of its thinking outside the box, Intel will again
prove that its most significant advances continue to appear in the
PC. |
