New to Intel® Architecture Blog

For over a decade, developers adopting embedded Intel® Architecture processors had been limited to a single choice of JTAG debugger. But just within the last few weeks, three new options were introduced. Read about how these latest available tools benefit the IA developer. Read more...

The new microarchitecture codenamed Nehalem introduced a new system architecture called Intel® QuickPath Technology. The centerpiece of the new platform is the Intel® QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) that will provide point-to-point links for I/O and interprocessor communications, and enable a dedicated memory controller. The scalable QPI architecture can deliver 6.4 Gigatransfers/second maximizing performance in multiprocessor designs. Read more...

The Advanced Configuration & Power Interface (ACPI) industry standard formalizes an operating-system-controlled power-management scheme to slash power at the system, processor, and device levels. And processors such as the Intel® Atom™ Z Series include a revolutionary new C6 sleep state that reduces idle power to the 80mW range. Read more...

Many embedded applications require the maximum performance that today’s processors have to offer, and must reliably operate around the clock. Intel® Architecture (IA) processors offer embedded teams a leg up in reliable system design. That advantage is precise temperature sensors on chip, and automatic thermal protection capabilities integrated into the processor. Read more...

This is the first in a five part series that will guide developers through the software considerations of migrating to Intel® architecture. This article includes an overview of the series topics and discusses Step 1 - Porting the code to the target operating system. Read more...

Let’s discuss how Intel® extensions to the general purpose x86 architecture, can accelerate applications such as image processing or speech recognition. SIMD (single instruction multiple data) extensions called SSE (Streaming SIMD Extensions) allow one instruction to operate on multiple data elements. SSE allows IA processors to handle applications for which other general-purpose processors might require an additional resource such as a dedicated DSP IC. Read more...

As you may have noticed, code and data security is a hot topic. Today, security is tougher than ever because almost all systems, even embedded ones, connect to networks and the Internet. Moreover cost concerns result in the mix of secure and non-secure applications on the same multi-core and/or multiprocessor systems. The good news is that software technology such as separation kernels along with new security-centric features integrated in Intel® processors enable secure system design. Read more...

Embedded design teams often have legacy considerations that dictate system design with each revision or evolution -- especially where software is concerend. Today’s Intel® Architecture multi-core processors provide a very cost effective platform that can easily replace a dozen or more processors in a legacy system. But how do you migrate the software? Read more...

Generally, Intel® Hyper-Threading technology (Intel® HT technology) seeks to boost performance in systems by making the most efficient use of multiple execution units in a superscalar processor core. It turns out, however, that Intel HT technology can also be leveraged in a virtualization application -- running both a general purpose OS (operating system) like Windows and a RTOS (real time operating system) simultaneously on a single core. Such an implementation on an Intel® AtomTM processor allows the ultra-low-power and low-cost processor to respond to external events with latency under 10 microseconds - achieving what is commonly called hard real-time performance. In such an application, Atom can usurp the need for a processor such as a PowerPC that's often dedicated to the real-time task. Read more...

JTAG debug is an indispensable component of the developer’s toolkit. Until very recently, engineers developing with Intel® Architecture had only a single choice of JTAG emulator. Today there are two, and more options are on the way in the near future… Read more...

Most microcontrollers, DSPs or other types of embedded processors boot pretty fast, typically in the order of a couple hundred milliseconds or less. But if you're using an Intel® Architecture (IA) processor and running a standard BIOS, boot times are measured in seconds which can be a showstopper for some embedded applications. Learn how IA Boot times can be shortened significantly by "slimming down" the traditional BIOS or replacing it with an alternative bootloader. Read more...

Ever had trouble decoding an Intel code name? Got a ordering code or SPEC code, but got no idea what it is? Ever want to see ALL the products Intel had to offer WHILE clearly seeing which ones are intended to be used in Embedded markets? Look no further - this Blog will introduce you to the Intel® Quick Reference guide: http://ARK.intel.com Read more...