48-Core Chips Could Redefine Mobile Devices

CWmike writes "Intel researchers are working on a 48-core processor for smartphones and tablets, but it could be five to 10 years before it hits the market. Having a 48-core chip in a small mobile device would open up a whole new world of possibilities. 'If we're going to have this technology in five to 10 years, we could finally do things that take way too much processing power today,' said analyst Patrick Moorhead. 'This could really open up our concept of what is a computer... The phone would be smart enough to not just be a computer but it could be my computer.' Enric Herrero, a research scientist at Intel Labs in Barcelona, explained that with the prototype chip someone could, for instance, be encrypting an email while also working on other power-intensive apps at the same time — without hiccups. Same for HD video. Intel's Tanausu Ramirez said it could also boost battery life. 'The chip also can take the energy and split it up and distribute it between different applications,' he said. Justin Rattner, Intel's CTO, told Computerworld that a 48-core chip for small mobile devices could hit the market 'much sooner' than the researchers' 10-year prediction."

Desktop

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's put a 48-core processor on a desktop or laptop before we talk about tablets or phones...

excessive

[fizzer06]

will it include a car battery?

It's just Larrabee

[Balial]

Keep floggin' that dead Larrabee horse, Intel.

3 options, pick any 2.

[Anonymous Coward]

Hmm. 48 cores. More processing power. Better battery life. And how large of a backpack will I need to transport those long-life batteries? Just trying to plan ahead.

Re:Desktop

[Lord Lode]

Fully agree:

5 years ago, the top of the line Intel consumer desktop CPU's had 4 cores.
today, the top of the line Intel consumer desktop CPU's have 4 cores.

So, get to it please! :)

Re:Desktop

[ByOhTek]

Because desktops have one less criteria to meet than tablets and phones - they don't have nearly as small of a power envelope.

The desktop, therefore could be seen as a logical step in the progression to getting it on the phone/tablet.

Re:Desktop

[Anonymous Coward]

And I don't want my 48-core machine to be fucking mobile. It means I would then be expected to take my work everywhere with me. Fuck that. Until we learn how to respect the sanctity of vacation time in the US and bring up the average vacation length for workers to something near European standard I would rather see this in a non-mobile version first.

projected uses

[Anonymous Coward]

Core 1-12 : DRM
  - these cores will check all audio/video/ebook files for copyright infringement

Core 13-24 : TPM
  - these cores will implement TPM and secure the DRM portion

Core 25-37 : Genuine Advantage Checking
  - these coes will check that the system state is valid, and all license keys are valid and updated

Core 38-40 : Virus Checking
  - these cores will implement malware checks and virus checks

Core 41-47 : OS and Sandboxing/Security
- these cores will run the base os, and run all applications in sandbox mode

Core 48 : User Application
- this core will be available for running user applications in the performance reduced sandbox mode. Priority is given to cores 1-47, in order of decreasing priority.

My phone != my computer

[Todd Knarr]

My phone won't become my computer because it's not about the CPU power. Hasn't been for ages now. The average phone already has more CPU power than the average desktop user makes use of. It's more about:

• Memory. My computer has something like 16x as much RAM as my phone, which means it can run a lot more stuff simultaneously. It can run all those system-tray programs, without breaking a sweat. But RAM means power, and putting 8GB of RAM into a phone increases the power draw (modern memory requires not just constant power but constant refresh access) and decreases the battery life.
• Size. My computer has 2 27" monitors on it, making for a lot more screen real-estate to work on. And I need it when I'm simultaneously writing a document, referring to a spreadsheet, several e-mail messages and a couple of Web sites, keeping track of a couple of IM conversations, and let's not forget Visual Studio with a dozen files open in it. You can't have that kind of screen space on a phone, you're physically limited by the size that can be conveniently held in one hand.
• Peripherals. I mentioned monitors. There's also my good Model M keyboard (you don't appreciate a good keyboard unless you're working in a job where you're typing nearly constantly for hours on end), the high-end mouse, the small input tablet, the good 5.1 speaker set for the music, the scanner for getting paper documents into electronic form... You can't attach all that to a phone in any useful way.
• Portability. Yes you can solve all the shortcomings of a phone with a dock and attached peripherals, but why? By the time you're done, you've removed the things you wanted from a phone: the ability to carry it in one hand, and to not have it tied down with wires. We're seeing with Win8 what the downsides are of trying to design a system for both phone/tablet and desktop uses, and you end up not being satisfactory for either so the idea of grabbing the phone out of the dock and going ends up hamstrung by that.
• Price. One reason desktops are cheap is that they can use commodity parts and have enough open space in the case that they don't have to worry about power so much. Phones are almost 100% custom-built with a lot of work going in to designing parts that can be packed into that small a package with no ventilation at all in 100-degree ambient heat and not incinerate themselves. They're going to inevitably be more expensive than a desktop just because of that. And while Microsoft may be willing to hemorrhage money on hardware because it supports other revenue streams, phone manufacturers can't.

So while more cores may help phones do phone-like things better, especially combined with nifty ideas like Google Glass, but it's not going to help the phone replace my desktop.

ownership

[vlm]

The phone would be smart enough to not just be a computer but it could be my computer.

As trends continue it will not be "my computer" it'll remain my service provider's computer which they graciously let me use a small fraction of its capabilities for a monthly fee.

Re:Desktop

[Type44Q]

This will then be your primary computing device that follows you around.

This will then be your primary computing device that:

A) you leave on the roof of your car.
B) gets dropped in the toilet.
C) you spill your beverage on.
D) gets chewed up by your dog.
E) you get mugged for.
F) you leave in your hotel room.
G) you have confiscated by the authorities (should you find yourself at the wrong place/time)
H) gets reverse-engineered/stress-tested by your toddler

Shall I continue? Seriously; fuck all this smartphone nonsense; give me a borderline-disposable Nokia 2600-series and I'll happily call it a day! :p

Re:Desktop

[jythie]

Tablets and phones will likely continue to represent scaled down devices.

48 core chips would be silly to release for small devices first. Developing software for a large number of cores is non-trivial, and is often inefficient or unstable... it is one of those things like AI or fusion that has always be 'right around the corner' for general purpose computing, but has neve really arrived.... college classes still teach the techniques poorly and people who 'learn it on their own' also usually produce poor architectures.

So if such a chip is going to be introduced, desktops, with more resources to waste and higher user tolerance for system failures, would be the logical place.