The old server was getting a bit long in the tooth (an old Athlon 64 X2 4200+, 2.2GHz 1MB L2 cache) so we have transitioned The CPU SHack to a new and better server. It is an Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3GHz dual core CPU with 6MB of L2 cache.

It should be a bit speedier.

Much buzz and attention has been given to the Apple iPad, while the jury may still be out as to what Apples tablet is or isn’t useful for, one thing is true, it packs apples first self-branded processor.  Apple touted the processor of the iPad as a new creation and the most advanced yet, which is a bit of a stretch.

Apple A4

The Apple A4 is a ARM Cortex-A9 based SoC, it uses the ARM Mali graphics core (which is fairly robust). It was Created by P.A. Semiconductor who Apple purchased a couple years back. P.A. use to be a PowerPC company, apparently not any more. It makes sense for Apple to use an ARM based processor in the iPad as that is what powers the iPhone and iPod.  The Mali graphics core is a bit of a mystery, as Apple holds a license to its competitor, made by PowerVR, and alas the iPhone uses a PowerVR core and not a Mali core.

Essentially the Apple A4 (based on what we currently know about it) is an off the shelf design. It is not any thing revolutionary, or in fact new at all. The Nvidia Tegra 2 is also a 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor. TI has a 1GHz OMAP, Qualcomm the 1GHz Snapdragon (soon to be 1.5GHz), ST has the Nomadic, and Marvel has a 1.2GHz ARM.

Perhaps then, the iPad is a ‘version 2′ product, much like the very first iPhone, Apple has lots of room to make it better, to make it outperform, and not merely match the competition. Time will tell.

The CPU Shack Museum is proud to announce the exclusive availability of The Collector’s guide to Vintage Intel Microchips, written by George Phillips Jr. This e-book (PDF) contains over 1300 pages, and 900 photographs of Intel Microchips from the 1960’s and 70’s along with their functions, package variations, rarity, and valuations.  Everything from the 3101 Static RAM to the i4004 4-bit processor.

Order now for $29.95 + $5.00 shipping anywhere in the world!

The Nvidia Tegra series of processors 9really SoCs as they integrate memory controller, I/O bridges, etc all on one chip) just keeps getting bigger and better.

Tegra Processor

The new Tegra 2 announced at CES 2010 now integrates a dual core ARM Cortex-A9 running at up to 1GHz.  That’s all well and dandy but it doesn’t stop there. Nvidia also adds separate processor units for HD encoding, still image processing, audio, 2d/3D, HD playback and mobile phone baseband functions.  Each core can be independently clocked, throttled, or turned off as needed, resulting in a processor that can run at 500mW.

This is the type of processor you will be seeing in devices like the forthcoming Apple tablet, and future smart phones.  All this again begs the question: When will Microsoft port Windows 7 to ARM?

More Info here

EETimes has another article about a person being charged/convicted of selling counterfeit chips to the US navy. This has been a growing problem in the electronics industry for the last decade, but has its roots much earlier then that.

It was common in the 90’s for counterfeiters (aka remarkers) to take a processor, wipe the markings, and mark it with a higher speed. This was rather common with the Pentium era and newer, but occurred with 486’s as well. To a computer user this typically meant that their computer ran much warmer, and often times less stable.

To a collector this means you must be VERY careful when looking at processors in your museum to ensure that rare sample you have, is not in fact a clever forgery, or that Pentium 133 is not in fact a remarked 75.

Having your computer crash or having a few fake CPUs in your collection is a mere annoyance, but what about actual use? For example a part listed as mil-spec, with a wide temperature operating band, that controls a ships defensive systems? If this is in fact a fake (remarked from a commercial spec IC, which has been happening). The system could and likely WILL fail at the worst time. The result? People lose their lives.

As EPROM capacities increased due to insatiable demand for more storage, die sizes increased rapidly as process shrinks could not keep pace. This is the result.

ST M27C160-150F1

This is a 16Mbit EPROM from ST from around 1995. Today we have Flash, and in the same space can store Gigabytes of data.

Perhaps 2 of the most famous RISC architectures, ARM, and MIPS, have been around for years.  Like many well designed architectures, they continue to be adapted, enhanced, and used in litterally billions of devices.

Recently Altera (maker of FPGAs and CPLD’s) licensed the use of the MIPS32 core.  This is a first for MIPS, as they now join ARM, and PowerPC as major cores available in FPGAs. Source: EETimes

On the topic of ARM, they have been working extensively recently with GlobalFoundries to provide customers with proven IP, specifically the ARM Cortex-A9.  They are developing as a SoC core on a 28nm process.  ARM currently works with TSMC to test, and prove various cores on TSMC’s process, and now will do so with GlobalFoundries. What this does in enable system builders to have IP blocks that are PROVEN on a given manufacturing node. It takes some of the guess work, and certainly risk, out of developing a ASSP, ASIC, or SoC.

Yah a bit of merger madness, NEC Electronics has merged with Renesas, further consolidating the Japanese microcontroller market. This will put the new company third in global IC sales, behind only Intel and Samsung.  It will be interesting to see which products survive the merger, as there will be some overlap.

What does this mean for CPU collectors? Just as happened when Mitsubishi and Hitachi merged, deprecated and eliminated devices will become increasingly hard to find data on.

Source: EE Times

In case you missed it last week, GlobalFoundries (the company AMD spun off to manage its foundries) has acquired Chartered Semiconductor in Singapore.  This changes the playing field a lot in the foundry world.  A world dominated by UMC and TSMC.

Acquiring Chartered allows GlobalFoundries to dissolve some of AMDs interest in the company, as well as bring on board many more customers.  Before, Global only had AMD, and STm as clients, now they have all of Chartered’s which includes such names as Toshiba, and Microsoft.

A game changer for sure. While they are not as big as TSMC, they certainly will be making TSMC look over their shoulder more.  This will help the foundry industry remain competitive and force TSMC and GlobalFoundries to remain innovative and on the cutting edge of fab technology.