Current Developments in

Computer Hardware,
Software and
Communication
Dr. Gu Wei
Senior engineer
Intel Corporation

``Overview

Hardware
Software (System)

Software (Application)
Communication

Birth of a Chip (ICs)

Transistors / Die
0.18 to 0.13 micron technology
200mm to 300mm wafers
Gordon Moores Law
The number of transistors that
would be incorporated on a
silicon die would double every
18 months for the next several
years

IA-32 Architecture

Intels 32-Bit (Incl. 16-Bit) Architecture

Function Units
Connections
Machine Instruction Sets

Intel 4004, 8085/8080, 8086/8088, 286, 386, 486, Pentium,

P6, Penium Pro, PentiumII, PeniumIII, Penium4...
Compatibility of software (object code created in 1978 can
still executed on newst processor)
Every new generation deliver significantly higher
performance

Intel
Processor

Date

Freq.
(MHz)

Trans.
(/Die)

E.Bus Addr.
(Bits)

Caches

8086

1978

29 K

16

1 MB

None

286

1982

12.5

134 K

16

16 MB ??

386 DX

1985

20

275 K

32

4 GB

??

486 DX

1989

25

1.2 M

32

4 GB

L1: 8 KB

Pentium

1993

60

3.1 M

64

4 GB

L1: 16 KB

Pentium Pro

1995

200

5.5 M

64

64 GB L1: 16 KB
L2: 256 KB
Or 512 KB

Pentium II

1997

266

7M

64

64 GB L1: 32 KB
L2: 256 KB
Or 512 KB

Pentium III

1999

500

8.2 M

64

64 GB L1: 32 KB
L2: 256 KB
Or 512 KB

Pentium 4

2000

1.5
GHz

42 M

64

64 GB 12 K op Trace
8 KB L1
256 KB L2

MMX technology
Introduced with Pentium family
Addtional 64 bits Registers, Instructions,
SIMD execution model,
Paralle computation on packed 64 integer data
for multimedia applications

Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE)

Introduced with Pentium III
Addtional 128 bits Registers, Instructions ...

Multiprocessorsystem
2 or 4 processors (with shared memory)

TM

Pentium 4 Processor

1. Imp. of Intel NetBurst micro-architecture

Rapid Execution Engine
Hyper Pipelined Technology
(Instruction prefetch, Branch prediction...)
Advanced Dynamic Execution
(Out of order core...)
New cache subsystem
Streaming SIMD Extension 2 (SSE2)
...
400 MHz NetBurst system bus
...

Support for system programming

Control Registers
Debug Registers
Performance monitoring Counters
Time-Stamp Counter

IA-64: Itanium

Intels 64-bit architecture

Goals:
Overcome the limitations of todays architecture
Provide world class floating point performance
Support large memory needs with 64-bit
addressability
Protect existing investments with IA-32
compatibility
Support growing high-end application workloads for
e-business, enterprise, & technical computing

IA-64: Data types & Registers

Data:
Integer: 8, 16, 32, 64
Floating-point: 32, 64, 82
Registers
128 General
128 Floating-point
128 Application
64 Predicate
8 Branch
1 Instruction Pointer

IA-64: Boosting Performance

Increases instruction level parallelism

Instruction bundle/group
supporting hyper software pipelines,...
Improves branch handling
more branch register
predicate register before an instruction,...
Hides memory latencies
more general registers for temporary data
Nat-bit, register stack, ...
Supports modular code
data/control dependencies
preloading,...

Connecting system units

Bus & Port

Pins (number & function)
Access signals and timing
Size
Internal bus & port
ISA/ESIA, PCI, mini PCI,... (P&P)
Parallel ATA Serial ATA (flexible,thin cable)
AGP
External bus & port
SCSI, -2, -3, PCMSIA,
RS-232, PS-2, FireWire, USB,...
(Com-P&P, hot P&P)

Software

Compiler optimization

Benefiting from new processor

Use of new registers & instructions
Exploitation of paralelism

Pro - Program analysis and restructuring

...

Software

Operating System (e.g. Windows 2000, Whistler)

Benefiting from new processor

Advanced I/O Subsystem
Fast boot & application launch
Advanced resource (memory, devices,etc.) & power management
More supports for error detection & debugging, system file protection
Support for programming in multi-thread/processor
Interlocked-Operations (inc, dec, exchange,...)
Spinlocks, synchronization objects,...
API
(Opened or Closed, Documented/Undocumented)
For writing programs & Libraries
For writing drivers

Software

Advanced Installation

Monitoring & Administration

Events view
Log files

Error detecting & recovering

Detecting enviroment (processor, memory,...)

Selecting the optimized version
Configuration

SFP
LastKnownGood
...

Saving current system& appls. status by shutdown

Software

Standalone or combination of
Server-Client
Expert system
Database
Management
Communication...
Multimedia (Game, Hoppy,...)
E- and I-Business
Security

Software

Middleware
used to integrate incompatible applications
Vaporware
Announced long before it is ready to be shipped
Interpreter & Execution
Java
HTML XML
...

Communication

Physical channels
Wire
Phone line
high frequence (1 2 M bits) xDSL
Cable
Glass Fiber
Multiwavelength sources, ultra-switch,...
Wireless
Ground stations
Satelite

Communication

Channel allocation
Voice band, . . .
Transfer Technology
Analog v. Digital
Circuit/Packet switching
ATM
Multiple Access Control
FDMA
TDMA
CDMA

Communication

Protocols
A set of rules govering the information flow
within a communication infrastructure
Symbols (characters), format, timing, error
correction, and running order
Examples:
HDLC, X.25, Internet(TCP/IP), HTTP,
WAP, ...

Communication

Networking
Connectionless vs. Connection-oriented
Communications
LAN (ethernet, token ring/bus)
WAN
Communication network/Computer network
X.25
ISDN, B-ISDN, SONET,...
Internet, Intranet, Extranet, Evernet

Communication

More powerful DSP & Controller

Intended to embedded systems/devices (Set-Top Box,

Handy, HPC,...)
Example:
100MBits ethernet controller with many integrated
protocol implementations, a mini-pci interface and a
interface for attaching a DSP (LAN+Modem ComboCard for Notebooks)

Simple & cheep ICs

Intented as an extension of a PCs (normally as a build-in

card)
Use of PCs CPU power (via a driver)
Examples:
Controllerless modem, software modem,...

IXA: Intel Internet Exchange

Architecture

A combination of solutions for network and

communication system manufacturers (OEMs)
Building blocks
Processors (PentiumIII, IXP1200 network processor,
...)
Supporting chip sets
Software from third party and Intel labs
DriversSDKs & DDKs
For quickly developping various networking and
communications products

LAN: Use of power line

More than one PC at home
Most used lines and plug-in interface in a
building
Problems:
Different goals in USA and Europe
Disturbances
Standards

WAN: Mobile + Internet Service

One in fours PCs now sold are notebooks
WAP & Bluetooth
UMTS
`Anytime/Anywhere communications