The Mighty Atom?
Intel is launching the Atom family of low power processors targeted at mobile internet devices (MIDs) and what it says is a new class of simple and affordable internet centric computers ‘arriving later this year’.
The Atom processor is based on a new microarchitecture, but maintains compatibility with the Intel Core 2 Duo instruction set. The design includes support for multiple threads for better performance and increased system responsiveness.
The chip is said to measure less than 25 mm², making it Intel’s smallest and lowest power processor yet. The processors will be made on Intel’s 45nm process with high k metal gate technology. Power consumption is expected to fall between 0.6 and 2.5W, whilst speeds will range to 1.8GHz.
“This is our smallest processor built with the world’s smallest transistors,” said Intel executive vice president Sean Maloney. “We believe it will unleash new innovation across the industry.”
