Embedded Pointers

Is Intel's Atom a Game Changer?

I had a friend of mine a few months back tell me that Intel's Atom processor was a "game changer" for embedded systems. The theory goes that Intel is now in the low-power marketplace and the days of processors like the ARM and Power cores are numbered. After I stopped laughing, I took some time to really think it through from his perspective.

He is in the consumer electronics biz. He makes DVRs. For devices that are always plugged in and generally always on, I suppose that the Atom could be a significant player. Previously, the most power efficient x86 variants like the P8400, were in the 25 watt range. The Atom drops that down to about 2 watts. That's very good for the processor. But, the Atom's southbridge like the ICH7 draws close to 11 watts by itself. So, this means that a current technology Atom design will be in the 10-15 watt range for just the processor and southbridge.

This is laugable when compared to an OMAP 3430 at less than 500 miliwatts. But, Intel is working on integrating the southbridge and producing a single SOC. That should bring the power requirements down even further. We'll have to wait and see what Intels latest deal with the SOC manufacturer TSMC reveals.

So, his point was well taken. For a number of platforms like DVRs, set-top boxes, TV sets, etc. having an x86-compatible device at even half of the power requirements of a typical laptop has some advantages. First of all, fanless operation becomes a real possibility. And, you can eliminate a lot of the hassles of cross development. Just use a standard x86 as the development platform and run native code.

However, from a "green" perspective, leaving even the Atom running 24/7 is not very efficient. There are already way too many devices out there where "off" is not really off. If we want the flexibility of instant on, then we have to be willing to pay the price of the parasitic power draw or come up with even better power management capabilities. Intel has the engineering talent to make something like this happen, but the legacy of the 8086 (introduced in 1978) may be working against them. Time will tell.

So, from the viewpoint of a battery-operated device such as a cell phone or handheld game device, I don't see the Intel Atom as much of a player -- yet. For devices with AC power available all of the time, yeah I think maybe the Atom is a game changer. It can certainly cut development costs and Intel is pricing these things aggressively. Aggressively enough to make it cheaper to use the 1.6 GHz Atom instead of that 300 MHz 486-based SOC I've been using for some industrial applications. BTW, I apologized for laughing...

posted by PTR-Mike @ 3:47 PM