SAN
JOSE, Calif., Aug. 22, 2000 -- Intel Corporation today disclosed details
of its new NetBurst micro-architecture, the name for the technical features
contained in its upcoming Intel Pentium 4 processor. This new processor
is scheduled to be introduced later this year.
Albert Yu, senior vice president and general manager of the
Intel Architecture Group, explained that the NetBurst micro-architecture
is the first new desktop processor micro-architecture for Intel since
the P6 micro-architecture was introduced in the Pentium Pro processor
in 1995. The Pentium 4 processor is initially targeted at the consumer
enthusiasts and business power users. The new Pentium 4 processor is
based on an advanced technology designed to maximize performance both
today and in the future while keeping consumers on the cutting edge
of the Internet.
Intel Pentium 4 Processor Design Goals
As part of the Pentium 4 design development process, Intel targeted
the delivery of world class, end-user appreciable performance across
both existing and emerging applications and usage models. Specific attention
was focused on Internet, imaging, streaming video, speech, 3-D, multimedia
and multi-tasking user environments. In addition, Intel set out to develop
a next generation micro-architecture that would deliver both performance
and frequency scalability well into the future.
New NetBurst Micro-Architecture Features
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Hyper Pipelined
Technology -- The Intel Pentium 4 processor doubles the pipeline
depth to 20 stages, significantly increasing processor performance
and frequency capability.
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Rapid Execution
Engine -- The processor's Arithmetic Logic Units (ALUs) run
at twice the core frequency, allowing it to execute certain instructions
in 1/2 core clock tick. Integer instructions execute at twice the
speed of the rest of the processor. This results in higher execution
throughput and reduced latency of execution.
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400 MHz
System Bus -- This advanced, split-transaction, deeply pipelined
system bus delivers three times the bandwidth of the Intel Pentium
III processor system bus. It has 128-byte lines with 64-byte accesses
(32-byte lines on the previous generation). This provides a 3.2
gigabyte transfer speed between the Pentium 4 processor and the
memory controller and is the highest bandwidth desktop system bus
available.
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Execution
Trace Cache -- This is an advanced Level 1 instruction cache
that caches decoded instructions (~12K micro-ops), thus removing
the decoder latency from main execution loop. This revolutionary
technology delivers a much higher performance instruction cache
as well as makes more efficient use of cache memory storage. In
addition, the Pentium 4 processor's Level 2 Advanced 256 KB Transfer
Cache delivers a 48GB/sec interface that scales with core frequency
increases.
Improved NetBurst Micro-Architecture Features
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Advanced
Dynamic Execution -- The Pentium 4 processor has an extremely
efficient out-of-order speculative execution engine that keeps the
execution units busy. Also new is an enhanced branch prediction
capability that keeps the processor executing to the correct program
flow and reduces the mis-prediction penalty associated with deeper
pipelines.
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Streaming
SIMD Extension 2 (SSE2) -- SSE2 extends MMX and SSE technology
with the addition of 144 new instructions, including 128-bit SIMD
integer arithmetic and 128-bit SIMD double precision floating point
instructions that delivers performance increases across a broad
range of applications. |
About IDF
The Intel Developer Forum Conference is Intel's premier technical
forum comprising nearly 250 sessions and hands-on labs and more than
100 demonstrations of cutting-edge products and technologies. IDF attracts
thousands of hardware and software developers worldwide. Now in its
third year, the semi-annual conference provides hardware OEMs (original
equipment manufacturers), IHVs (independent hardware vendors), and ISVs
(independent software vendors) with in-depth information on Intel technologies
and initiatives.
More information on the Intel Developer Forum can be found at http://developer.intel.com/idf.
Updated information is available between Intel Developer Forums by subscribing
to the Intel Developer Update Magazine at http://developer.intel.com/update/.
Intel, the world's largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer
of computer, networking and communications products.
