Intel's Tri-Gate Transistors May Allow Company to Challenge ARM - Analysts

From X-bit Labs: Intel Corp.'s recently unveiled 22nm process technology with tri-gate transistors may not only help to shrink the company's microprocessors in order to compete better against traditional rival Advanced Micro Devices, but also to step onto the land of ARM, the architecture that powers the majority of handhelds.

“Marching down the nanometer curve will definitely help Intel to penetrate the market for mobile devices,” noted Francis Sideco, principal analyst for wireless communications at IHS iSuppli.

According to Intel itself, the 22nm 3D tri-gate transistors provide up to 37% performance increase at low voltage versus Intel's 32nm planar transistors, which means that operating voltage and thus power consumption can be further reduced with present levels of performance. Analyst David Kanter of Real World Technologies web-site claims that even taking Intel’s estimates conservatively, the 22nm/tri-gate process tech provides performance/watt advantage of 10-20% for power optimized chips versus a planar 22nm process. Observers from IHS iSuppli believe that the new tech will virtually cut down power consumption of Intel's 22nm/tri-gate chips by 50% versus processors made using 32nm/planar technology.

"A 50% reduction in power consumption is significant. The less power your electronic device consumes, the longer the battery will last, and the longer a user can be truly mobile," said Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst for compute platforms research at IHS iSuppli.

Such a move will allow Intel to make a renewed bid to establish a presence in the tablet and smart phone chipset market, now dominated by ARM-based applications and baseband processors.

“That, however, is only one part of the equation, as power efficiency in these types of devices also requires system-level optimization of the processors," said Mr. Sideco.

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