Intel has launched a marketing campaign for a new class of microprocessors it had code-named Silverthorne during early development. The new chip family is now called the Atom "because the atom is the smallest element of matter, and here we have the smallest element of computing  ," said Intel Ultra Mobility Group Vice President Anand Chandrasekher.
The Atom is based on a new architecture and was designed specifically for very small and inexpensive portable devices with low power requirements, said Intel Executive Vice President Sean Maloney.
The Atom is "small yet powerful enough to enable a big Internet experience" on the latest portable devices, Maloney said. "We believe it will unleash new innovation across the industry."
Size of a Penny
Intel said its "Atom Inside" offerings are designed for mobile Internet devices and a new class of Internet-centric computers, while maintaining the chipmaker's "Duo" instruction set for dual-core microprocessors. And to boost performance and system responsiveness, the Atom includes support for multiple threads -- the forked-computing paths that enable PC programs to run two or more tasks simultaneously.
Each tiny sliver of silicon, which is packed with 47 million transistors, would fit in an area the size of a penny, said Gary Wilihnganz, Intel's ultra mobility marketing director. "It forms the basis of what is the new sexy: low power and small," Wilihnganz said.
Intel is manufacturing the new chips using the latest 45-nanometer process technology. Intel Mobile Platforms Group Vice President Mooly Eden said the advantage is that 45 nanometers "allows us to build a very small, low-power device that can operate without a fan and still give the required performance for delivering a great experience surfing the Internet and conducting basic PC operations."
'Netbooks' and 'Nettops'
Intel is targeting the Atom at a new category of low-cost mobile computing devices called "netbooks" as well as the basic Internet-centric desktop PC, which it has dubbed the "nettop." Intel believes both market segments will grow substantially.
"I am sure that in the near future we will see a very fast ramp to tens of millions of processors and it is going to be fun to do it," Eden said.
Intel thinks the Atom also has potential for generating revenue from deployments in consumer electronic devices, embedded applications and thin clients. Together, these market segments represent a significant opportunity to grow the overall market for Intel silicon, Chandrasekher said.
"Ultimately people are on the go all the time and what they are not able to do today" is tap "the best of computing on their home PCs and take it with them," Chandrasekher observed. Atom "will allow them to do that," he said.
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