Resources of a transportable life

Evgenie Rudometov

authors@rudometov.com

On the past in San Francisco Developer forum IDFFall 2006 considerable attention has been given perspective transportable arrangements and processing techniques

Now computers everywhere. It is difficult to name a sphere of activity where they do not use. But so was not always. Today it is difficult to much to imagine a situation when such engineering was a rarity. For performance of necessary calculations by scientist and to engineers it was necessary to be written in queue. Sufferers much of crowd managers enticed into staff of the companies, promising instead of high earnings the facilitated access to the terminals jointed to the next "whimsical", computing wonderful monster, operating with a speed of tens thousand operations in a second. Also there was it more recently – all any three ten years ago.

Appearance of personal computers (PC) has broken the given order. At first thousand, then millions, and today already hundred millions users have received practically an easy approach to computers. Operation and leisure, a beam coupling and the Internet – all is linked to "clever" computers.

However desktop computers – the most widespread now the class is convenient not always. Anchored to electrical female connectors and wire communication networks they allow to enjoy reachings of scientific and technical progress only to the users who are with a number. And in holiday? Or how to be that who on a sort of the activity a lot of time leads out of office and the house? Today and they do not remain without computers necessary for them as there are compact arrangements with standalone power supplies.

Advantages of transportable arrangements have estimated already ten millions users. This sector promptly develops, about what have once again shown substances IDF Fall 2006 (IDF  — Intel Developer Forum). The Forum held in San Francisco not only has confirmed advanced rates of sales of transportable computers (fig. 1), but also has planned paths of their evolution for the nearest some years.

Fig. 1. Dynamics of growth of sales of notebooks

Functionality of notebooks fast I increase. First of all it is provided thanks to development of solid-state technologies and microarchitecture of processor kernels. Appearance of two-nuclear models of central processor units has allowed to increase considerably speed of information processing and to reduce energopotreblenie. Frequency growth has ceased to be a main objective of evolution of chips. Instead productivity on watt of the spent energy became criterion. It has demanded not only processings of microarchitecture of inner patterns of the main chips, but also depositing of respective alterations in the architecture of platforms of the notebooks realising processing technique Centrino.

As is known, the first generation has appeared in 2003. Here it is necessary to remind, that brand Centrino has been admissible to put only on those products in which have been installed the processor of Intel PentiumM (kernel Banias), a bar chip set i855 and the unit of wireless data transfer Wi-Fi. The first platform carried name Carmel. In 2004 there was a new variant of the processor kernel Dothan which is modification Banias became which basis. The new kernel has been created on processing technique of 90 nanometers. As a result of appearance of the new processor platform Carmel has received further development. However it could not provide implementation of all its advantages.

In 2005 platform Sonoma the transportable variant of a chip set i915 became which basis has been developed. From other features it is necessary to mark support of the bus of 533/400 MHz, dynamic storage DDR2-533, the integrated drawing GMA900, a new variant of Wi-Fi unit. This solution became the second generation of processing technique Centrino.

The third generation has appeared in the beginning of 2006 after appearance of the new processor constructed on the basis of essentially new kernel. Development has received name Yonah, and the two-nuclear processor — IntelCore Duo. The one-nuclear variant — Intel Core Solo has been released also . The platform constructed on the basis of a transportable chip set i945 with built in drawing GMA950, has received name Napa. It has saved all advantages of the previous development. From new parametres it is necessary to mark rise of frequency of the processor bus and memory to 667 MHz. There was even more perfect processor — IntelCore 2 Duo, constructed on kernel Merom which possesses not only bolshej productivity and energoekonomichnostju, but also supports 64-bit calculations. Platform Napa remained invariable and has saved brand Centrino.

In 2007 transportable platform Santa Rosa which realises following generation Centrino (fig. 2) will be issued.

Fig. 2. Following generation Centrino

In the given platform the transportable variant dvuhjadernogo IntelCore  2 Duo (Merom), supported by an appropriate transportable chip set of the bar i965, earlier known as Crestline will be applied . Frequency of the processor bus will receive new value — 800 MHz. The wireless communication unit will undergo to considerable upgrade. The new unit earlier known under name Kedron, will support specification IEEE802.11n, that five times faster IEEE802.11g — nearby 300 Mbit/with. One more important innovation is the special unit which basis is made by flash-memory NAND in size of 1 Gbytes. In a new platform advanced design in the field of safety and handle, and also following generation of the built in drawing will use. The specified resources urged to increase productivity at low energopotreblenii and it is essential to expand functionality of a notebook. Often used information should be stored in the flash-memory unit that will reduce loadtime of programs and data and will reduce number of calls to a hard disk drive (processing technique Robson). The given processing technique together with hardware-software resources of the processor considerably will reduce energopotreblenie. According to experts of Intel saving of energy from implantation of processing technique Robson will make 400 mvt.

For one more spare is liquid crystal (ZHK) the display consuming to 35 % of energy. Implantation energosberegajushchih appropriate processing techniques allows to increase offline work time. One of them — processing technique Display Power Saving (DPST), regulating operation of highlighting of the Zhk-matrix without visible loss of quality. One more processing technique which has received name Dinamic Display Power Optimization (D2PO), is routed on reduction energopotreblenija. The principle of its operation is grounded on the analysis of type of the map. In a case if the active application, for example game frequency of change of frames will make 60 Hz is started. If operation is carried out with the static map there will be a transition to interlaced image generation, that is at first there are even strings, then odd, as in the TV. Thanks to this processing technique it is on the average saved 400 more mvt.

Besides, respective alteration the power supply subsystem — Mobile Power System and handle of a disk subsystem by means of Intel Matrix Storage Manager will undergo .

All these developments are routed on saving of energy and allow not only to improve thermal modes of compact transportable systems, but also it is essential to raise an operating time from the self-contained supply — till 60 minutes (fig. 3).

Fig. 3. The processing techniques providing rise of time of offline work

Estimating advantages of the described innovations realised in platform Santa Rosa, it is necessary to mark, that on IDF prototypes of notebooks have already been shown. Their mass output is planned in some months. Predictably, advanced design will make break in productivity and autonomy of operation of transportable computers.

By the way, offline work time becomes extremely important parametre among transportable arrangements which computers UMPC representing supercompact computers concern. They on weight and dimensions occupy intermediate position between notebooks and a handheld computer. Their architecture provides usage of ULV-models of processors of Intel of Pentium M/Celeron M that provides a software compatibility with traditional computers. However first variants UPMC did not provide comprehensible levels of the price and offline work time. To improve the given metrics the processor with code name Steeley which will be already released next year will allow. It energopotreblenie on matching c by existing Intel of Pentium M ULV it will be lowered twice, and in 2008 — ten times.

As it is supposed, further complexity of the processor will be raised at the expense of integration of units which are fulfilled now separately. It will allow to reduce the prices of models UMPC to level $500-700 in 2008. It is necessary to add, that UMPC will incorporate various resources of wireless data transfer, that together with the low price will allow the given arrangements to press High End a handheld computer. Further multinuclear structures will appear and in this sort of computers. As to arrangements Low End for this sector also appropriate inexpensive models in due course will be created. They will differ from the high prototypes a smaller set of units and functionality.

In present time for a role of the computer of initial level the arrangement created for derivation, as alternative to known project OLPC (One Laptop Per Child, «to Each child on a notebook») can apply . The prototype of the arrangement from Intel has received name Classmate PC (a photo 4).

Photo 4. Prototype Classmate PC

Architecture basis are the processor of Intel Celeron M and a chip set 915GMS, memory is presented by 256 units of Mb DDR2 and 1 Gbyte the flesh-unit (instead of HDD), the Zhk-display with the permission 800х480, the secondary generator — lithium-ionic, the operating system — the reduced version of Windows, a guiding price — $400. The given project, unlike competing products, is considered completed. Mass production is planned to develop in the beginning of 2007 Further reduction of price and-or the extension of functionality thanks to development of processing techniques and advanced design is not eliminated.

Here the small analysis of the several developments shown on IDF Fall 2006. Further we will continue this subject in following articles.