Chips Get Built-In Systems ManagementChips Get Built-In Systems Management

Chipmakers are pressing more functionality into microprocessor technology, and in the next two years better performance and systems management, such as virtualization, security, and inventory tracking, will be built directly into the silicon.

Intel is addressing the future of computing with its "Star T" initiatives that will drive end-user benefits in the years ahead. "Computers still are not easy enough to use or transparent enough," says Frank Spindler, VP of the corporate technology group for Intel. "We have to address a broader range of features and capabilities."

Intel plans to embed its LaGrande security technology in its processors in 2006, bringing the capabilities to market in conjunction with Microsoft's planned Longhorn release. The technology will include protection of the execution and memory environments, as well as for inputs from a keyboard and mouse. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. plans a similar technology, code-named Presidio, in the same time frame.

Beginning with its Itanium processor line in 2005, and for Xeon and Pentium in 2006, Intel will add hardware-assisted virtualization capabilities code-named Vanderpool. With that technology, companies will be able to create multiple, but isolated, execution environments in a single machine. AMD has its virtualization technology, code-named Pacifica, scheduled for release in 2006.

Intel also plans to add Active Management Technology, which Spindler says is part of its "embedded IT" imitative. The technology will allow for such things as asset tracking, patching, and software updates. Going forward, Spindler says Intel will look to embed such technologies as data mining, networking processing, and speech recognition.

The embedded management functions aren't intended to usurp specialized, third-party software such as security and virtualization. Instead, the functions will enhance that software and make it easier to implement, Intel and AMD execs say. "The software companies do not go away. These advancements provide much stronger building blocks for more robust solutions," Spindler says.

Other chipmakers are also working on advancements. Earlier this week, IBM revealed more details about its multicore Cell chip, which it's designing in partnership with Sony Corp. and Toshiba Entertainment. While the chip is primarily intended to power consumer entertainment devices, IBM officials say some of its attributes also make it ideal for specialized business applications. "Our objective was to have our headlights looking forward and try to make the architecture as general purchase as we could," says IBM Fellow Jim Kahle, who led the design of the company's Power4 architecture.

Kahle says Cell's strong floating point capability, which helps speed graphics processing, along with its encryption/decryption capabilities, could make it ideal for use in security applications such as airport facial-recognition systems. The Cell initiative was revealed in 2001. IBM says it plans to being producing Cell chips next year.

The advance of silicon technology has been a double-edged sword for microprocessor vendors. For the past 20 years, clock speeds have steadily increased at the same time manufacturers have scaled down associated voltages to keep power dissipation in balance. But voltage reduction has reached practical thresholds, limiting the ability to continue to crank up the megahertz.

Meanwhile, manufacturing processes have advanced so that more transistors can be squeezed into silicon, allowing the chip companies to focus on advances such as multiple cores in the same chip to increase performance. Within the next year, both Intel and AMD will evolve their chip offerings to dual-core designs, a move that can increase overall performance 50% or more, depending on the application, without significantly increasing clock speed.

All told, microprocessor advancements are enabling chipmakers to go beyond traditional clock-speed increases. "Rather than a strong focus solely on the microprocessor itself," Intel's Spindler says, "we're looking at a range of components that provide a broader set of platform capabilities."