Intel launches configurable chips with Altera
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Intel has announced it is combining its low powered Atom processor with programmable chips made by Altera in a bid to get more of its silicon into medical equipment and other embedded applications.
Intel says it is looking to expand in faster growing markets as more and more consumer gadgets and industrial devices become computerised and interconnected.
Combining a version of its Atom processor with Altera's fpgas allows Intel to offer chips, known as the E600C series, that clients can customise to suit their own requirements.
"This is a breakthrough for us as far as being able to have one of our customers be able to develop and program their own specific (intellectual property) in the silicon itself," Intel marketing director Jonathan Luse told Reuters.
With the market for traditional pcs seen as maturing, Intel expects demand for embedded chips to grow 25% a year over the next four or five years. Since they can be manufactured in large quantities, field programmable chips are useful for several purposes and tend to be cheaper than chips designed for very narrow requirements.
Embedded chips will account for about $1 billion of Intel's $44 billion in expected sales for this year. The E600C series of configurable Atom processors is expected to be available in early 2011.
