![](http://investorshub.advfn.com/images/default_ih_profile2_4848.jpg?cb=0)
Wednesday, June 18, 2014 3:40:49 PM
---------------
Intel, long known for cookie-cutter computer chips, is stepping up efforts to let companies customize its processors.
The Silicon Valley giant is using an industry conference in San Francisco Wednesday to announce an unusual plan to package its standard server processors alongside a different class of chip, which can be electrically programmed to handle specific calculating functions. Intel says the combination can let Web companies and other customers achieve dramatic performance gains on some tasks.
Intel is offering other customizing options for its widely used Xeon line, including building in specialized circuitry that customers design themselves. But that process could take many months.
The company says the new two-chip combination--which includes what the industry calls an FPGA, for field programmable gate array--allows customers to quickly adapt the functions of those chips in a speedy process akin to changing a piece of software. They can also modify those programming instructions after the servers are installed with no hardware modifications, if their software or business problems change.
"The pace of software innovation is crazy fast," said Diane Bryant, a senior vice president who is general manager of Intel's data center group. "This is a great way for the silicon to keep up with software innovation."
FPGAs have been sold for years by chip makers such as Xilinx Inc. and Altera Corp. Ms. Bryant declined to disclose Intel's partner on the latest effort, or when the resulting products would hit the market.
Some customers already plug FPGAs into server systems to accelerate certain workloads. That can bring a tenfold speedup in some jobs, Bryant says.
But placing the FPGA and a server's central processor together in the same package can be twice as fast, she says, because they exchange data on a faster kind of connection and share memory more efficiently.
Bryant says some customers she won't identify are trying out the dual-chip offering. Last year, Intel disclosed that it has modified Xeon models to benefit customers that include Facebook and eBay, with a total of 15 customized products developed. This year, Bryant vows to deliver more.
Meanwhile, Intel on Wednesday is also disclosing the official name--Xeon D--for a new multi-function version of the product line expected out next year. Where Intel has such "systems on a chip" for low-power applications already, based on its Atom family, the Xeon D will be beefier "SoC" and will use the company's latest production process.
Why all the effort? After all, Intel commands roughly 97% of industry shipments of server chips.
For one thing, big Web companies including Google and Facebook have made noises about experimenting with new chip technologies, including the Power line that originated at IBM and the ARM Holdings designs that many companies sell for mobile devices.
For another, Bryant is pushing to get standard processors from Intel into networking, data storage and other applications that now typically use chips based on Power or MIPS designs (MIPS Technologies, once a high-profile Silicon Valley company, fell by the wayside in the mainstream computer market and was purchased by the British company Imagination Technologies Group last year). Backers of ARM are racing to grab those same applications.
"As we have seen many times during our history, times of disruptions call for a choice for organization to embrace innovation or risk losing their position in the market," Bryant noted in a blog post drafted to accompany her announcement, which came during an appearance at the Gigaom Structure conference.
Recent INTC News
- Intel Corporation Sued for Securities Law Violations - Investors Should Contact The Gross Law Firm for More Information - INTC • PR Newswire (US) • 06/20/2024 09:50:00 AM
- Intel Corporation Securities Fraud Class Action Lawsuit Pending: Contact The Gross Law Firm Before July 2, 2024 to Discuss Your Rights - INTC • PR Newswire (US) • 06/17/2024 09:45:00 AM
- Form 8-K - Current report • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 06/14/2024 09:17:08 PM
- Form 11-K - Annual report of employee stock purchase, savings and similar plans • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 06/13/2024 09:11:27 PM
- FDA Panel Supports Eli Lilly’s Donanemab, Rio Tinto Expands Stake in Boyne Smelters, and More News • IH Market News • 06/11/2024 11:11:40 AM
- July 2, 2024 Deadline: Contact The Gross Law Firm to Join Class Action Suit Against INTC • PR Newswire (US) • 06/10/2024 09:45:00 AM
- Apollo Buys 49% of Intel’s Irish Plant for $11bn, BlackRock and Citadel to Create Texas Exchange, and More News • IH Market News • 06/05/2024 11:41:36 AM
- Class Action Filed Against Intel Corporation (INTC) - July 2, 2024 Deadline to Join - Contact The Gross Law Firm • PR Newswire (US) • 06/05/2024 09:45:00 AM
- Form 8-K - Current report • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 06/04/2024 08:07:51 PM
- Intel and Apollo Agree to Joint Venture Related to Intel’s Fab 34 in Ireland • Business Wire • 06/04/2024 08:05:00 PM
- Intel Accelerates AI Everywhere at Computex 2024; Redefines Compute Power, Performance and Affordability with new Xeon 6, Gaudi Accelerators and Lunar Lake Architecture to Grow AI PC Leadership • Business Wire • 06/04/2024 03:00:00 AM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 06/03/2024 08:42:58 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 06/03/2024 08:40:51 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 06/03/2024 08:39:15 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 06/03/2024 08:37:22 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 06/03/2024 08:35:10 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 06/03/2024 08:31:04 PM
- Intel Corporation to Participate in Upcoming Investor Conferences • Business Wire • 05/16/2024 08:30:00 PM
- Walmart Corporate Job Cuts and Office Centralization, GameStop and AMC Surge, and More News • IH Market News • 05/14/2024 11:26:02 AM
- Kevin O’Buckley to Lead Foundry Services at Intel • Business Wire • 05/13/2024 02:15:00 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 05/10/2024 08:26:31 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 05/10/2024 08:25:27 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 05/10/2024 08:24:27 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 05/10/2024 08:22:59 PM
- Form 4 - Statement of changes in beneficial ownership of securities • Edgar (US Regulatory) • 05/10/2024 08:21:59 PM
Last Shot Hydration Drink Announced as Official Sponsor of Red River Athletic Conference • EQLB • Jun 20, 2024 2:38 PM
ATWEC Announces Major Acquisition and Lays Out Strategic Growth Plans • ATWT • Jun 20, 2024 7:09 AM
North Bay Resources Announces Composite Assays of 0.53 and 0.44 Troy Ounces per Ton Gold in Trenches B + C at Fran Gold, British Columbia • NBRI • Jun 18, 2024 9:18 AM
VAYK Assembling New Management Team for $64 Billion Domestic Market • VAYK • Jun 18, 2024 9:00 AM
Fifty 1 Labs, Inc Announces Acquisition of Drago Knives, LLC • CAFI • Jun 18, 2024 8:45 AM
Hydromer Announces Attainment of ISO 13485 Certification • HYDI • Jun 17, 2024 9:22 AM