x86 Microprocessors Challenge Semiconductor Manufacturing

For more than a decade, embedded processors have packed tens and sometimes hundreds of simple processor cores onto a single chip. By comparison, the x86 microprocessors used in mainstream PCs and servers seem distantly behind, but will be catching up quickly over the next few years. The two remaining x86 microprocessor vendors, AMD and Intel, began shipping dual-core products just over a year ago as the challenges of physics constrained their ability to continually run smaller transistors faster. Both companies now have a new mindset toward multicore designs. Intel has already announced that it will be introducing quad-core processors for server and desktop platforms in 1Q07 with the Tigerton and Kentsfield processors, respectively. Although not announced publicly, AMD will likely follow suit in the same timeframe. In addition, both companies are now looking at the same measures they scoffed at — putting tens or hundreds of cores onto a single chip. Intel calls this effort Tera-Scale Computing. This feat will not come without significant challenges in design and manufacturing.