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Loading ...Intel: 48 Cores on a Single Chip
Santa Clara (ip-192.com): Intel introduced a new experimental chip with 48 cores and 1.3 billion transistors. The prototype processor contains 24 tiles with two addressable cores per tile. The cores are connected via a mesh network offering 256GB/s bisection bandwidth. The chip is 10 to 20 times more powerful than current top end offerings in the multi-core line of processors, Intel says.
Memory access is governed by four on-chip DDR3 memory controllers, and a message buffer is included in each tile for efficient message passing. An additional 24 routers are built onto the chip to manage data transfers around the cores. The clock speed of each dual-core tile can run at a frequency independent of any other tile, thus reducing the power consumption dramatically. The 48-core chip can run at power draws of between 25W at idle and 125W under full load, according to Intel.
While Intel CTO Justin Rattner emphasized during a presentation on Wednesday that the new chip is not a product and never will a product, the possibilities for cloud-computing on a die and server consolidation are tempting.
Rattner took it a step further in saying that in the future “The machines we build will be capable of understanding the world around them much as we do as humans. They will see, and they will hear, they will probably speak, and do a number of other things that resemble human-like capabilities. And they will demand, as a result, very substantial computing capability."
Intel says that it is partnering with academics and experts from other high tech firms and distributing 100 of the experimental 48-core chips so researchers can work on programming models and on developing software that can run on such a high number of cores.
"This is an indication that Intel can deliver on its multi-core strategy," said Rob Enderle, an analyst with the Enderle Group. "It's very important in that it helps validate what Intel contends can be done and it adds credibility to their roadmap."
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