Intel has demonstrated its first 14nm CPU – and has also unveiled a new family of ultra-low-power processors, dubbed Intel Quark.
In his opening address at the Intel Developer Forum, the company’s new CEO Brian Krzanich demonstrated a working Ultrabook built on – delegates were assured – a fully functional implementation of the forthcoming 14nm "Broadwell" architecture.
Haswell systems will remain on the shelves for Christmas, before being replaced in early 2014
No technical details were given, but Krzanich declared that Broadwell chips would ship to hardware manufacturers "by the end of this year".
That implies that Haswell systems will remain on the shelves for Christmas, before being replaced in early 2014 by the smaller chips.
Intel Quark
Krzanich also officially unveiled the Intel Quark range, a brand-new series of tiny system-on-a-chip processors intended to “sit underneath” the company’s Atom models. "Quark is one fifth of the size of Atom, and one tenth of the power," he explained.
The new range is aimed not at desktop devices, but at embedded, wearable and "Internet of Things"-type systems. Krzanich demonstrated some watch-style devices that the company had created as prototype reference designs for wearable Quark devices.
Unusually for Intel, the Quark’s design is "synthesisable" – meaning it can be easily adapted by third parties to suit their specific needs. The core logic remains closed, however, and Intel intends to keep all manufacturing in-house.
As with Broadwell, no firm product details were given, but Krzanich promised that "we will have an extended family of these over time with various features. You can get Wi-Fi and all kinds of other IP that we can put in there – it’s all about configurability and scalability."
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