Intel offers peek at future chip

Intel will give a glimpse of what the insides of computers might look like in a few years when it presents research results at the International Solid State Circuits Conference. Researchers from the Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker will present papers at the International Solid State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) this week in San Francisco that will describe, among other projects, a low-power, high-speed arithmetic logic unit (ALU) that can run both 32-bit and 64-bit code, which in turn could allow the company to make Pentium-class chips that could run both types of software. The ALU churns calculations with whole numbers instead of decimals.

Another paper will outline an input-output protocol that moves data at 8 gigabits per second in a parallel fashion that could replace some internal links inside PCs in a few years. Current parallel links move much slower. A third paper, filed in conjunction with memory makers Samsung and Infineon, will show how memory can be linked in a different manner inside PCs to speed up data traffic.

Other papers will detail how the company has made high-speed oscillators, a key component for radios, out of silicon. Typically, these are made from exotic materials such as Indium Phosphide. By 2005, Intel hopes to be producing silicon radios and, eventually, radios that can roam between different bands, said Krishnamurthy Soumyanath, director of communications circuits research at the company.

View: The full story