Intel Shows 48-Core Processor for Research

[javajolt]

Intel’s six- and eight-core processors are the fastest chips that consumers can get their hands on. But if you are among the research elite, the company has a new experimental chip that can offer nearly 20 times the computing power.

Intel showed an 48-core processor nicknamed the “single-chip cloud computer” that consumes about the same power as desktop processors available currently. The fully programmable 48 processing cores are the most Intel has ever had on a single silicon chip, says the company.

“This is a high core count processor that focuses on efficient energy consumption,” says Justin Rattner, chief technology officer of Intel. “It also maintains the compatibility and familiarity that people have with Intel architecture.”

The chip can operate on as little as 25 watts- or at 125 watts when running at maximum performance - same as the energy consumption of two household light bulbs, says Intel.

The 48-core processor, created using 45-nanometer technology, won’t be available in desktops for at least a few years. Instead, about 100 or more of the experimental chips will be provided for hands-on research in developing new software applications and programming models to select partners.

As chipmakers try to build more powerful processors, they have been packing more cores into a single chip. Last year, Intel showed a prototype of a 80-core processor. Earlier this year, Tilera, a startup spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, promised a 100-core processor. The processor would be fabricated using 40-nanometer technology and available early next year, said Tilera.

Intel’s 48-core processor has some advantages over its rivals. It can run standard programs designed for Intel’s x86 architecture and developers can use the same kind of programming tools that they use for processors with fewer cores available currently. Compare to high-performance GPU computing arrays that require programmers to learn new techniques and development environments.

“This is an array of general purpose cores, which is quite a bit different from how the GPU guys do it,” says Rattner. “Our 48-core processor will run standard software.”

[riso]

Intel has revealed an experimental 48-core processor dubbed the Single-chip Cloud Computer. The chips's 48 IA-32 cores are each capable of running their own software applications, and share 384KB of memory for message passing. More impressively, the on-chip power management can scale the performance of the 48 cores, meaning that it consumes only 25 watts when idle and 125 watts under full load. The chip features 1.3 billion transistors and four DDR3 memory controllers each capable of handling up to 8GB, all on a 45nm processor the size of a postage stamp.


Future laptops with processing capability of this magnitude could have vision in the same way a human can see objects

Intel didn't reveal performance or speed figures, and was keen to stress that the chip is intended as a spur for researchers investigating parallel computing. To that end, 100 samples will be made available to academics worldwide in the first half of 2010.

While Intel says this particular chip will never find its way into mass production, it clearly has high hopes for the technology in the future.

"Future laptops with processing capability of this magnitude could have vision in the same way a human can see objects and motion as it happens and with high accuracy," the company says in its statement.

"Imagine, for example, someday interacting with a computer for a virtual dance lesson or on-line shopping that uses a future laptop’s 3D camera and display to show you a mirror of yourself wearing the clothes you are interested in."

For anybody not interested in being dressed by their computer, Intel is also suggesting a number of significant business benefits. "You could imagine a cloud datacenter an order of magnitude more energy efficient than what exists today, saving significant resources on space and power costs," says Justin Rattner, Intel’s chief technology officer.