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Power Management: The Key To Any Successful Mobile Architecture

Intel Silvermont Architecture: Does This Atom Change It All?
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To maximize the clock rate of its 32 nm Saltwell-based core, Intel employed a feature that opportunistically exposed additional P-states based on available thermal headroom. Silvermont’s implementation of this is apparently more similar to Turbo Boost in that the burst frequency is managed in hardware according to thermal, electrical, and power measurements. More important than the extra speed you get from this burst mode, though, is how it handles the ride back down.

Presently, there are mobile devices that will run at full-speed until they’re thermally overwhelmed, at which point they throttle back dramatically to recover. It’s jarring enough to affect the user experience. Intel is saying that Silvermont will handle those situations more elegantly, stepping back clock rate naturally before a thermal event is triggered.

The SoC’s power budget can be shared between the cores and other IP on the die, including third-party IP. Graphics is probably the most notable. The illustration below describes this behavior pretty clearly: cores can share power, cores can borrow budget from the graphics (which spins down), and cores can burst up dynamically, even with graphics active, if the thermal situation is favorable enough. Intel says the concepts come from Turbo Boost, but the algorithms and implementation mechanisms are different.

Coming back the other direction, Intel enables a lot of familiar core power state functionality, with the addition that cores can drop into C6 independently, whereas they couldn’t before. And because Silvermont is module-based, Intel introduced sub-states allowing software policy-based control of the L2 cache’s contents, too. Building on the S0ix connected standby system states introduced back in 2010 with the Moorsetown platform, Silvermont can now retain the state of the core through SoC standby mode transitions. This means you can resume from those modes faster, though Intel wasn’t clear on how much faster.

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  • 3 Hide
    hero1 , May 6, 2013 10:23 AM
    Nice article as always C.A. I would really like to see this chip on a smartphone. If the performance and power utilisation is as good as it looks then Qualcomm will really feel the heat. Intel has the money and R&D to pull off a big move and compete. Time will tell.
  • 4 Hide
    SchizoFrog , May 6, 2013 10:40 AM
    I wonder if there are any plans to release Windows Phone 8 smartphones with these SoCs over the next 12-24 months? That would really solidify the eco-system for both Intel and Microsoft in one fell swoop.
  • 0 Hide
    hannibal , May 6, 2013 10:58 AM
    Much needed upgrades in here. Hopefully they allso deliver what they promise in these slides. Any devices out in this year or do we have to wait untill 2014 we see something based on these. But very promising indeed! A windows pro tablet based on these at desent price would be first candidate to start good move to Windows based tablets. Then there would be three good alternatives in tablets.
  • -3 Hide
    de5_Roy , May 6, 2013 11:01 AM
    bulldozer!
    .. is the first thing came to my mind when i started reading about the cores. but it's not exactly like bd, it's different. still.. it made me chuckle. amd deserves the credit.

    i wonder if future intel cpus ($330+ core i7) will have the same core system instead of htt.... :whistle:  :ange:  :lol: 

    edit2: rodney dangerfield FTW! \o/
  • 5 Hide
    tipoo , May 6, 2013 11:43 AM
    de5_Roybulldozer!.. is the first thing came to my mind when i started reading about the cores. but it's not exactly like bd, it's different. still.. it made me chuckle. amd deserves the credit.


    Well, it's just the cache that's shared in this one, no actual execution resources.
  • 2 Hide
    esrever , May 6, 2013 11:53 AM
    Finally intel is getting serious. Ditching hyperthreading is the best thing they could have possibly done. Now with OoO and real cores these atoms are looks pretty powerful. They will probably beat Kabini no problem with higher clocks with slightly less IPC. The 22nm trigate will drop power consumption especially without the shitty hyperthreading in the way.
  • 4 Hide
    de5_Roy , May 6, 2013 12:09 PM
    Quote:
    Finally intel is getting serious. Ditching hyperthreading is the best thing they could have possibly done. Now with OoO and real cores these atoms are looks pretty powerful. They will probably beat Kabini no problem with higher clocks with slightly less IPC. The 22nm trigate will drop power consumption especially without the shitty hyperthreading in the way.

    i noticed the lack of information on the integrated graphics part. having a powerful cpu isn't enough for atom. the gpu part has always been the weakest point for intel. kabini otoh, will have gcn-based, hsa enabled, low power igpu.
  • 0 Hide
    4745454b , May 6, 2013 12:09 PM
    So they still have an off die memory controller. I would have thought they would have moved that on die by now.

    Any more info on this "system agent" and IDI? I'm also surprised the cores can't talk directly to each other. If you want to use many small cores to tackle a problem together that's fine. But give them the ability to do it quickly.

    It seems Intel is getting the ball rolling on their smaller chips. I just hope that when they finally do they ditch the Atom name. Bad chips, get a new name for those that aren't.
  • 0 Hide
    esrever , May 6, 2013 12:14 PM
    de5_Royi noticed the lack of information on the integrated graphics part. having a powerful cpu isn't enough for atom. the gpu part has always been the weakest point for intel. kabini otoh, will have gcn-based, hsa enabled, low power igpu.

    Too true. Not a single mention of it probably means it won't be anything to brag about. Intel isn't really the type of company that likes to hide breakthroughs anywhere. Im expecting them to finally be able to do 1080p tablets and thats about it.
  • -2 Hide
    jerryblack , May 6, 2013 12:35 PM
    No, it won't, regardless of what Intel's press release says. If I've learned anything in the past few years, is never take what Intel says in the PR at face value, because it never turns out true.

    Silvermont may arrive a few months before the 20nm process for ARM chips is ready, but will that be enough, considering Intel's chips cost 2-3x more than the ARM equivalent? Probably not.
  • 0 Hide
    4745454b , May 6, 2013 12:59 PM
    I think the article said something about its going to be the IGP from the IB chips. If so that should be much more then enough on a phone.
  • 1 Hide
    internetlad , May 6, 2013 1:05 PM
    Contrary to what most enthusiasts believe, the current Atom processors on the market are more than enough horsepower when paired with an HDD and a gig or two of ram for grandma to check her email and figure out how to facebook.

    They're not a bad processor, you just need to properly impliment them. Of course they won't work if you demand split-second responsiveness or are looking to play games, but for somebody looking to set up a basic windows or linux box they're more than acceptable.
  • 0 Hide
    4745454b , May 6, 2013 1:23 PM
    That's a bit like saying AMDs CPUs are good enough. Yes, both are mostly true. But both also ignore other possible solutions that are options. Why buy an Atom that performs similar to other chips, but because of the higher power usage will drain a battery and only last 75% as long as other SoCs? If Atom really was "good enough", then Intel could just put it out and not worry about it anymore. But they didn't, because I'm sure even Intel knows that at this point they aren't there yet.
  • 2 Hide
    Truckinupga , May 6, 2013 2:55 PM
    I've never seem a problem with AMD processors when it comes to reliability, Yes maybe they can't quite compete with Intel in performance but I have noticed even at that AMD is beginning to close the gap some. If anybody has seen an AMD road map of their upcoming advancements then they know AMD is about to pull a big rabbit out of the hat. Not to mention they give Intel a run for the money with price to performance, And "NO" I am not an AMD fanboy. I use Intel In all three of my home PC's, But I am pulling for AMD. We need AMD to keep Intel In check and I have been Impressed lately by the Piledriver's Improvement's over Bulldozer and AMD's future potential.
  • -9 Hide
    maddoctor , May 6, 2013 3:02 PM
    esreverToo true. Not a single mention of it probably means it won't be anything to brag about. Intel isn't really the type of company that likes to hide breakthroughs anywhere. Im expecting them to finally be able to do 1080p tablets and thats about it.


    No, Intel Silvermount will be 4K capable at least in video decode. AMD will not do that because AMD does not have money to buy the necessary IPs that cover the 4K video decode.
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