When engineers building the computers of tomorrow convene this week to hear the latest technology from Intel, the world`s largest chipmaker will discuss plans to make server chips more secure and ways to boost battery life for laptops and cellphones.
The three-day Intel Develop Forum begins Tuesday at the San Jose Convention Centre and features keynote speeches by Paul Otellini, president and chief operating officer of Intel, Pat Gelsinger, chief technology officer, and others.
"This is engineers talking to engineers," Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst at market research firm and consultant Insight 64, said on Friday. "It is the premiere conference now for technical folks involved in the PC, server" and other computing areas.
Otellini will disclose specifics about future 64-bit Itanium and Xeon server chips for the first time, and executives will discuss other technologies designed to improve computing beyond just boosting the speed of the processor, such as beefing up security, said Intel spokesperson Laura Anderson.
Executives also will disclose more information about processors for cellphones, personal digital assistants and new low-power components for laptops using Intel`s Centrino wireless chips and networking software, Anderson said.
Another hot topic at the event will be the proliferation of digital devices in houses. After years of hype, the so-called "digital home" is finally arriving, Brookwood said.
"This year more digital cameras were sold than film cameras," he said. "All the people taking all those digital pictures need printers and computers to plug them into so they can collect those pictures, burn them onto CDs or DVDs and retouch them or e-mail them to friends."
64-bit question
Kevin Krewell, a senior analyst at the Microprocessor Report, said he is curious to find out if Intel plans to extend its Xeon chips to process 64-bits of data at a time, like Itanium does, instead of just 32-bits.
"I expect there will be a lot of questions about Prescott [the upcoming Pentium chip] vis-`a-vis Athlon 64," which rival Advanced Micro Devices will launch this week as the first processor for home computers using the advanced data crunching, he said.
Santa Clara, California-based Intel has said the PC market is not yet ready for 64-bit computing and lacks applications that will run on the chips.
Looking ahead, Otellini will discuss "the next four generations of silicon beyond 90 nanometer and how Intel will build transistors smaller than DNA molecules," Anderson said. "The building blocks [of chips] are going to get smaller and smaller."
Currently, most of Intel`s chips use 130 nanometer transistor circuitry, which is about 1/1000th the width of a human hair. The company is moving to 90 nanometer and 65 nanometer technology. The smaller the measurement, the more transistors can be packed into a chip of equivalent size.
Gelsinger also will give an update on how the company is incorporating radio frequency functions into its designs, so that chips can send and receive information, she said.
"Over the next few years Intel will focus on building wireless radio silicon into every chip we produce," Anderson said.
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