Intel Sandy Bridge Processors & Embedded Computers

There has been a lot of talk regarding the "2nd generation Intel® Core™ processor family," previously known as Sandy Bridge. Some of the talk out there contains a bit of hype, but the reality is there are some major design changes to the processor in the Sandy Bridge architecture that will vastly improve single board computer, embedded motherboard and industrial computer system performance, power efficiencies and platform security.
Industrial computing solutions deployed in Mil-COTS defense applications, medical imaging and industrial automation systems are well suited to take full advantage of Sandy Bridge micro-architecture features. Trenton is hard at work developing a single processor system host board based on Sandy Bridge technology and expects to have evaluation units available by the end of Q1!

The way the processor sections on the Sandy Bridge CPU die have been re-ordered in this new architecture provides a tighter integration between the memory interface, processing cores and the traditional Northbridge functions. This is being argued as the first major, ground up x86 processor design since the Intel® Pentium® Pro was introduced back in the early '90s. That is the not Intel® hype per se, but in going though the re-ordering and re-structuring of the CPU die in Sandy Bridge, we can see validity of the claim that Sandy Bridge processors should provide a significant performance boost compared to the previous generation Westmere class of CPUs at a sharply reduced power consumption.

The Sandy Bridge architecture provides multiple processing cores with up to eight cores in the processor versions scheduled for release later this year and into the early part of next year. In addition to the processor cores, there is a separate graphics core and a new processor feature called Intel® AVX. AVX stands for Advanced Vector Extensions and it improves floating point computational speeds. A doubling of the vector widths to 256 bits and the ability to process partial width load and store operations also helps this AVX capability to boost performance.

All of this gets combined with a new capability of applying Intel® Turbo Boost Technology across all cores; including the graphics core, to dynamically boost selected core processing frequencies based on the demands of the system at any given time. This should boost high-def video and 3-D graphics performance in video processing applications. One of the other improvements in Sandy Bridge is the ability to use these new processor architecture features to support multiple video and 3D graphic interfaces directly out of the processor.

Benchmark testing for our future board and system designs will confirm and quantify just how much of a performance boost to expect in your industrial computer applications using Sandy Bridge technology. Trenton's first Sandy Bridge-based SBC will be introduced next month and supports some interesting features such as dual video interfaces and a mini-PCI Express connector to support industry standard mini-PCIe cards. Stay tuned for future Trenton developments or give your Trenton account manager a call at 770.287.3100 or 800.875.6031 for additional information.

This submission is by Jim Renehan, Director of Marketing at Trenton Technology


SOURCE - Are Sandy Bridge Processors & Embedded Computers a Good Fit?