Intel & Poison Ivy Bridge Processors - 22nm in an Iso-Linear of Their Own

The mighty pyramids of stone

That wedge-like cleave the desert airs,

When nearer seen, and better known,

Are but gigantic flights of Stairs

Longfellow, The Ladder of St. Augustine

Today is a very historic day in the Chip fabrication world. This Thursday May 5^th 2011AD Intel announced the development of the first Iso-Linear chip, Star Trek: The Next Generation style.

Intel has unveiled the development of a new type of Microchip architecture combined with a 22nm process called Ivy Bridge to put them back on top of the Chip technology game by at least a year. It has been almost ten (10) years worth of Research and Development since 2002AD and its clever name is a testament to American ingenuity.

Intel hopes with this successor to Sandy Bridge (already? Guess I must be getting old Intel!) that their new chips poisonous charms as described above will woo smartphone and Tablet makers with a chip that is 37% more efficient than the 32nm chips. Ivy Bridge is expected in products at the end of 2011.

This as smartphones are a rapidly growing market as PC and Laptop sales plummet based on statistically evidence proffered in the Geezam Blog article entitled “Are we witnessing Laptop and PC Extinction?” as well as my blog article entitled “Tablets and the Future of the PC - Jurassic Park and License to Kill”.

Along with the debut of LightPeak, renamed ThunderBolt, not to mention having McAfee antivirus baked into the Chip as stated in my blog article entitled “Intel and LightPeak - Race toward the Sun” and the article  “MacBook Pro and Intel LightPeak - Thunderbolt and the Fantastic Mr. Fox”, 2011 is truly Intel’s year!

Today is almost as historic as coming development of Racetrack Memory by IBM (International Business Machines) as stated in the article “IBM's RaceTrack memory moves closer to the checkered flag” published December 23, 2010 06:41 PM ET By Robert McMillan. ComputerWorld and corroborated by the official IBM Press Release in the article “Made in IBM Labs: Scientific Moves Racetrack Memory closer to Reality”, published December 23 2011, IBM.

Well, actually almost as defining as the development of Thunderbolt and CPU/GPU Sandy Bridge Processors and its February 24, 2011AD debut on Apple MacBook Pro line, with PC’s later this 2011AD as stated in my blog article entitled “MacBook Pro and Intel LightPeak - Thunderbolt and the Fantastic Mr. Fox”.

Or even the introduction of a Cloud-Based CR-48 smartbook powered by Google Chrome OS and made with Intel, Samsung and Acer hardware as stated in my blog article entitled “Google Chrome OS and Open Source - Star Wars A New Hope”.

The development codenamed Ivy Bridge and is reported in so many articles, that I felt compelled to list them all, as they all make for interesting reading:

1. “For computer chip builders, only one way to go: up”, published Wednesday May 4, 2011 7:32 pm ET By JORDAN ROBERTSON, Associated Press, Yahoo News
2. “Intel unveils 22nm 3D Ivy Bridge processor”, published 4 May 2011 Last updated at 16:31 GMT, BBC News
3. “Intel's Ivy Bridge chip technology may drive mobile push”, published Wednesday May 4, 2011 4:23 pm ET By Noel Randewich and Paul Sandle, Reuters, Yahoo News
4. “Intel unveils new 3D transistor Structure”, published MAY 4, 2011 9:49 AM PDT by Erica Ogg, Circuit Breaker - CNET News
5. “Intel sticks to Moore's Law with 3D Transistors”, published May 5, 2011 By Geoff Duncan, DigitalTrends

Moore’s Law is validated yet again, folks. At 22nm, a huge leap over the current 32nm process, Intel can cram more transistors into the same space and still keep moving on up, The Jefferson’s (TV Series 1975 - 1985) Style!

But now with the development of Ivy League Chip Architecture that enabled the design of 3D transistors, Intel can build Chips that have connections that stack in interconnected layers on top of each other. Effectively, Intel is on the brink of Developing Iso-linear chips as often seen in “Star trek: The Next Generation”.

Much in the same way that you have skyscrapers that make more efficient use of land by allowing more dwellings and office spaces to be built on a piece of land.

This is the concept behind Ivy Bridge is so named due to the fact that like Poison Ivy Plant, more scientifically known as Toxicodendron Radicans, Intel’s seductive 3D Architecture epiphyte will cling to potential suitors in the smartphone and Tablet world, the only areas Intel’s 80% market dominance does not extend.

To wit, combining a 22nm process and a 3D architecture on the chip substrate with so called Tri-Gate Transistors that enable layers upon layers of transistors to be built, Intel achieves:

1. Higher transistor density, both planar (2D) and vertically (3D)
2. Lower power usage as a 3D chip core means more performance without additional power due to the smaller transistor size and higher packing density.
3. Better heat dissipation with a 3D core, thermal heat is more easily extracted due to better conduction through a 3D core.

Intel is now at least two years ahead of its fellow chip competitors, effectively in A League of their Own (1992).

The Video by PCWorld in the article “Intel 3D Transistors promises Faster, more Efficient Devices”, published May 5, 2011 12:30 PM By IDG News Service, PCWorld and on YouTube video entitled “Video Animation: Mark Bohr Gets small: 22nm Explained” are worth watching on this historic day, Thursday May 5^th 2011AD. Quotes cannot suffice for the full Press court

This time it is Intel’s Day, Thursday May 5^th 2011AD, The Sun Salutes You Style!