Intel Atom is a line of
IA-32
IA-32 (short for "Intel Architecture, 32-bit", commonly called ''i386'') is the 32-bit version of the x86 instruction set architecture, designed by Intel and first implemented in the i386, 80386 microprocessor in 1985. IA-32 is the first incarn ...
and
x86-64
x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit extension of the x86 instruction set architecture, instruction set. It was announced in 1999 and first available in the AMD Opteron family in 2003. It introduces two new ope ...
instruction set
ultra-low-voltage processors by
Intel Corporation
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer components such as central processing ...
designed to reduce electric consumption and power dissipation in comparison with ordinary processors of the
Intel Core
Intel Core is a line of multi-core (with the exception of Core Solo and Core 2 Solo) central processing units (CPUs) for midrange, embedded, workstation, high-end and enthusiast computer markets marketed by Intel Corporation. These processors ...
series. Atom is mainly used in
netbook
A netbook is a small-sized laptop computer; they were primarily sold from 2007 until around 2013, designed mostly as a means of accessing the Internet and being significantly less expensive than regular-sized laptops.
At their inception in l ...
s,
nettop
A mini PC (or miniature PC, nettop, or Smart Micro PC) is a small-sized, inexpensive, low-power, Legacy free PC, legacy-free desktop computer, desktop computer designed for basic tasks such as Web navigation, web browsing, accessing web appl ...
s, embedded applications ranging from health care to advanced robotics,
mobile Internet device
A mobile Internet device (MID) is a multimedia capable mobile device providing wireless Internet access. They are designed to provide entertainment, information and location-based services for personal or business use. They allow 2-way communicati ...
s (MIDs) and phones. The line was originally designed in
45 nm
Per the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, the 45 nm process is a MOSFET technology node referring to the average half-pitch of a memory cell manufactured at around the 2007–2008 time frame.
Matsushita and Intel started mas ...
complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (
CMOS
Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS, pronounced "sea-moss
", , ) is a type of MOSFET, metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) semiconductor device fabrication, fabrication process that uses complementary an ...
) technology and subsequent models, codenamed ''Cedar'', used a
32 nm
The "32 nm" node is the step following the "45 nm" process in CMOS (MOSFET) semiconductor device fabrication. "32-nanometre" refers to the average half-pitch (i.e., half the distance between identical features) of a memory cell at this technolo ...
process.
The first generation of Atom processors are based on the
Bonnell microarchitecture.
On December 21, 2009, Intel announced the ''Pine Trail'' platform, including new Atom processor code-named ''Pineview'' (Atom N450), with total kit power consumption down 20%.
On December 28, 2011, Intel updated the Atom line with the ''Cedar'' processors.
In December 2012, Intel launched the 64-bit ''Centerton'' family of Atom CPUs, designed specifically for use in
servers.
''Centerton'' adds features previously unavailable in Atom processors, such as
Intel VT virtualization
In computing, virtualization (abbreviated v12n) is a series of technologies that allows dividing of physical computing resources into a series of virtual machines, operating systems, processes or containers.
Virtualization began in the 1960s wit ...
technology and support for
ECC memory
Error correction code memory (ECC memory) is a type of computer data storage that uses an error correction code (ECC) to detect and correct ''n''-bit data corruption which occurs in memory.
Typically, ECC memory maintains a memory system immun ...
.
On September 4, 2013, Intel launched a
22 nm successor to ''Centerton'', codenamed
''Avoton''.
History

Intel Atom is a direct successor of the Intel A100 and A110 low-power processors (code-named
Stealey), which were built on a 90 nm process, had 512 kB L2 cache and ran at 600 MHz/800 MHz with 3 W
TDP (Thermal Design Power). Prior to the Silverthorne announcement, outside sources had speculated that Atom would compete with
AMD
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California and maintains significant operations in Austin, Texas. AMD is a hardware and fabless company that de ...
's
Geode
A geode (; ) is a geology, geological secondary formation within sedimentary rock, sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Geodes are hollow, vaguely spherical rocks, in which masses of mineral matter (which may include crystals) are secluded. The crys ...
system-on-a-chip
A system on a chip (SoC) is an integrated circuit that combines most or all key components of a computer or electronic system onto a single microchip. Typically, an SoC includes a central processing unit (CPU) with memory, input/output, and dat ...
processors, used by the
One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project, and other cost and power sensitive applications for
x86
x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel, based on the 8086 microprocessor and its 8-bit-external-bus variant, the 8088. Th ...
processors. However, Intel revealed on October 15, 2007, that it was developing another new mobile processor, codenamed Diamondville, for OLPC-type devices.
"Atom" was the name under which Silverthorne would be sold, while the supporting chipset formerly code-named
Menlow was called
Centrino
Centrino was a brand name of Intel Corporation which represented its Wi-Fi and WiMAX wireless computer networking adapters. The brand name was first used by the company as a platform-marketing initiative. The change of the meaning of the brand n ...
Atom.
At Spring
Intel Developer Forum
The Intel Developer Forum (IDF) was a biannual gathering of technologists to discuss Intel products and products based on Intel products. The first IDF was held in 1997.
To emphasize the importance of China, the Spring 2007 IDF was held in Beijin ...
(IDF) 2008 in
Shanghai
Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
, Intel officially announced that Silverthorne and Diamondville are based on the same microarchitecture. Silverthorne would be called the Atom Z5xx series and Diamondville would be called the Atom N2xx series. The more expensive lower-power Silverthorne parts was to be used in Intel
mobile Internet device
A mobile Internet device (MID) is a multimedia capable mobile device providing wireless Internet access. They are designed to provide entertainment, information and location-based services for personal or business use. They allow 2-way communicati ...
s (MIDs) whereas Diamondville was to be used in low-cost desktop and notebooks. Intel and
Lenovo
Lenovo Group Limited, trading as Lenovo ( , zh, c=联想, p=Liánxiǎng), is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in designing, manufacturing, and marketing consumer electronics, personal computers, software, servers, conv ...
also jointly announced an Atom powered MID called the
IdeaPad
IdeaPad (stylized as IDEAPΛD and formerly ideapad) is a line of consumer-oriented laptop, laptop computers designed, developed and marketed by Lenovo. The IdeaPad mainly competes against computers such as Acer Inc., Acer's Acer Aspire, Aspire, D ...
U8.
In April 2008, a MID development kit was announced by Sophia Systems and the first board called
CoreExpress
CoreExpress modules are complete computer-on-module (COM) highly integrated, compact computers that can be used in an embedded computer board design, much like an integrated circuit component. COMs integrate CPU, memory, graphics, and BIOS, and c ...
-ECO was revealed by a German company LiPPERT Embedded Computers, GmbH. Intel offers Atom based motherboards.
In December 2012, Intel released Atom for servers, the S1200 series. The primary difference between these processors and all prior versions, is that
ECC memory support has been added, enabling the use of the Atom in mission-critical server environments that demand redundancy and memory failure protection.
Availability
Atom processors became available to system manufacturers in 2008. Because they are
soldered onto a mainboard, like
northbridges and
southbridges, Atom processors are not available to home users or system builders as separate processors, although they may be obtained preinstalled on some
ITX motherboards. The Diamondville and Pineview Atom is used in the HP Mini Series, Asus N10,
Lenovo IdeaPad S10,
Acer Aspire One
Acer Aspire One is a line of netbooks and laptops first released in July 2008 by Acer Inc.
Many characteristics of a particular model of Acer Aspire One are dictated by the CPU platform chosen. Initial models are based on Intel Atoms. Later, ...
& Packard Bell's "dot" (ZG5), recent
ASUS Eee PC
The ASUS Eee PC is a netbook computer line from Asus, and a part of the ASUS Eee product family. At the time of its introduction in late 2007, it was noted for its combination of a lightweight, Linux-based operating system, solid-state drive (S ...
systems, Sony VAIO M-series, AMtek Elego,
Dell Inspiron Mini Series,
Gigabyte M912, LG X Series,
Samsung NC10, Sylvania g Netbook Meso, Toshiba NB series (100, 200, 205, 255, 300, 500, 505),
MSI Wind PC
MSI Wind PC is a nettop counterpart to the MSI Wind Netbook. The MSI Wind PC is sold in Europe, Asia, and in the United States, barebones kits were available until Summer 2009, when desktop units also became available.
On January 15, 2009, MSI an ...
netbooks, RedFox Wizbook 1020i, Sony Vaio X Series, Zenith Z-Book, a range of Aleutia desktops, Magic W3, Archos and the ICP-DAS LP-8381-Atom. The Pineview line is also used in multiple AAC devices for the disabled individual who is unable to speak and the AAC device assists the user in everyday communication with dedicated speech software.
Marketing
Intel has applied the Atom branding to product lines targeting several different market segments, including:
MID/
UMPC
An ultra-mobile PC, or ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC), is a miniature version of a Pen computing, pen computer, a class of laptop whose specifications were launched by Microsoft and Intel in Spring 2006. Sony had already made a first at ...
/
Smartphone
A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...
,
Netbook
A netbook is a small-sized laptop computer; they were primarily sold from 2007 until around 2013, designed mostly as a means of accessing the Internet and being significantly less expensive than regular-sized laptops.
At their inception in l ...
/
Nettop
A mini PC (or miniature PC, nettop, or Smart Micro PC) is a small-sized, inexpensive, low-power, Legacy free PC, legacy-free desktop computer, desktop computer designed for basic tasks such as Web navigation, web browsing, accessing web appl ...
,
Tablet,
Embedded, Wireless
Base Stations
Base station (or base radio station, BS) is – according to the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU) Radio Regulations (RR) – a " land station in the land mobile service."
A base station is called '' node B'' in 3G, '' eNB'' in LT ...
(for
5G networking infrastructure),
Microserver/
Server
Server may refer to:
Computing
*Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides requested information for other programs or devices, called clients.
Role
* Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending custome ...
and
Consumer electronics
Consumer electronics, also known as home electronics, are electronic devices intended for everyday household use. Consumer electronics include those used for entertainment, Communication, communications, and recreation. Historically, these prod ...
.
Intel consumer electronic (CE) SoCs are marketed under the Atom brand. Prior to application of the Atom brand, there were number of Intel CE SoCs including:
Olo River (CE 2110 which had an
XScale
XScale is a microarchitecture for central processing units initially designed by Intel implementing the ARM architecture (version 5) instruction set. XScale comprises several distinct families: IXP, IXC, IOP, PXA and CE (see more below), with some ...
ARM architecture
ARM (stylised in lowercase as arm, formerly an acronym for Advanced RISC Machines and originally Acorn RISC Machine) is a family of reduced instruction set computer, RISC instruction set architectures (ISAs) for central processing unit, com ...
) and
Canmore (CE 3100 which like
Stealey and
Tolapai had a 90 nm
Pentium M microarchitecture). Intel Atom CE branded SoCs include:
Sodaville,
Groveland, and
Berryville.
Instruction set architecture
All Atom processors implement the
IA-32
IA-32 (short for "Intel Architecture, 32-bit", commonly called ''i386'') is the 32-bit version of the x86 instruction set architecture, designed by Intel and first implemented in the i386, 80386 microprocessor in 1985. IA-32 is the first incarn ...
instruction set
In computer science, an instruction set architecture (ISA) is an abstract model that generally defines how software controls the CPU in a computer or a family of computers. A device or program that executes instructions described by that ISA, s ...
; support for the
x86-64
x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit extension of the x86 instruction set architecture, instruction set. It was announced in 1999 and first available in the AMD Opteron family in 2003. It introduces two new ope ...
instruction set was not added until the desktop ''Diamondville'' and mobile ''Pineview'' cores. The Atom N2xx and Z5xx series Atom models cannot run x86-64 code.
except if an unofficial modded Bios is being used. The ''Centerton'' server processors also support the x86-64 instruction set.
Intel states the Atom supports 64-bit operation only "with a processor,
chipset
In a computer system, a chipset is a set of electronic components on one or more integrated circuits that manages the data flow between the processor, memory and peripherals. The chipset is usually found on the motherboard of computers. Chips ...
,
BIOS
In computing, BIOS (, ; Basic Input/Output System, also known as the System BIOS, ROM BIOS, BIOS ROM or PC BIOS) is a type of firmware used to provide runtime services for operating systems and programs and to perform hardware initialization d ...
" that all support
Intel 64
x86-64 (also known as x64, x86_64, AMD64, and Intel 64) is a 64-bit extension of the x86 instruction set. It was announced in 1999 and first available in the AMD Opteron family in 2003. It introduces two new operating modes: 64-bit mode an ...
. Those Atom systems not supporting all of these cannot enable Intel 64. As a result, the ability of an Atom-based system to run 64-bit versions of operating systems may vary from one motherboard to another. Online retailer mini-itx.com has tested Atom-based motherboards made by Intel and Jetway, and while they were able to install 64-bit versions of
Linux
Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...
on Intel-branded motherboards with D2700 (Cedarview; supports maximum of 4 GB memory DDR3-800/1066) processors, Intel 64 support was not enabled on a Jetway-branded motherboard with a D2550 (Cedarview) processor.
Even among Atom-based systems which have Intel 64 enabled, not all are able to run 64-bit versions of
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
Windows
Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
. For those ''Pineview'' processors which support 64-bit operation, Intel Download Center currently provides 64-bit
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, released five years earlier, which was then the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft W ...
and
Windows 7
Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, ...
drivers for
Intel GMA
The Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) is a series of integrated graphics processors introduced in 2004 by Intel, replacing the earlier Intel Extreme Graphics series and being succeeded by the Intel HD and Iris Graphics series.
This serie ...
3150 graphics, found in ''Pineview'' processors. However, no 64-bit Windows drivers are available for Intel Atom ''Cedarview'' processors, released Q3 2011. However, Intel's Bay Trail-M processors, built on the
Silvermont
Silvermont is a microarchitecture for low-power Atom, Celeron and Pentium branded processors used in systems on a chip (SoCs) made by Intel. Silvermont forms the basis for a total of four SoC families:
* ''Merrifield'' and ''Moorefield'' cons ...
microarchitecture and released in the second half of 2013, regain 64-bit support, although driver support for Linux and Windows 7 is limited at launch.
The lack of 64-bit Windows support for ''Cedarview'' processors has been speculated to be due to a driver issue. A member of the Intel Enthusiast Team has stated in a series of posts on enthusiast site Tom's Hardware that while the Atom D2700 (Cedarview) was designed with Intel 64 support, due to a "limitation of the board" Intel had pulled their previously available 64-bit drivers for Windows 7 and would not provide any further 64-bit support. Some system manufacturers have similarly stated that their motherboards with Atom Cedarview processors lack 64-bit support due to a "lack of Intel® 64-bit
VGA
Video Graphics Array (VGA) is a video display controller and accompanying de facto graphics standard, first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, which became ubiquitous in the IBM PC compatible industry within three years. T ...
driver support". Because all ''Cedarview'' processors use the same Intel GMA 3600 or 3650 graphics as the D2700, this indicates that Atom Cedarview systems will remain unable to run 64-bit versions of Windows, even those which have Intel 64 enabled and are able to run 64-bit versions of Linux.
Microarchitecture
The first Atom processors were based on the ''
Bonnell'' microarchitecture.
Those Atom processors are able to execute up to two instructions per cycle. Like many other x86 processors, they translate x86-instructions (
CISC instructions) into simpler internal operations (sometimes referred to as
micro-ops, i.e., effectively
RISC
In electronics and computer science, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) is a computer architecture designed to simplify the individual instructions given to the computer to accomplish tasks. Compared to the instructions given to a comp ...
style instructions) prior to execution. The majority of instructions produce one micro-op when translated, with around 4% of instructions used in typical programs producing multiple micro-ops. The number of instructions that produce more than one micro-op is significantly fewer than the
P6 and
NetBurst
The NetBurst microarchitecture, called P68 inside Intel, was the successor to the P6 microarchitecture in the x86 family of central processing units (CPUs) made by Intel. The first CPU to use this architecture was the Willamette-core Pentium ...
microarchitecture
In electronics, computer science and computer engineering, microarchitecture, also called computer organization and sometimes abbreviated as μarch or uarch, is the way a given instruction set architecture (ISA) is implemented in a particular ...
s. In the Bonnell microarchitecture, internal micro-ops can contain both a memory load and a memory store in connection with an
ALU operation, thus being more similar to the x86 level and more powerful than the micro-ops used in previous designs.
This enables relatively good performance with only two integer ALUs, and without any
instruction reordering,
speculative execution
Speculative execution is an optimization (computer science), optimization technique where a computer system performs some task that may not be needed. Work is done before it is known whether it is actually needed, so as to prevent a delay that woul ...
, or
register renaming
In computer architecture, register renaming is a technique that abstracts logical processor register, registers from physical registers.
Every logical register has a set of physical registers associated with it.
When a machine language instructio ...
. The Bonnell microarchitecture therefore represents a partial revival of the principles used in earlier Intel designs such as
P5 and the
i486
The Intel 486, officially named i486 and also known as 80486, is a microprocessor introduced in 1989. It is a higher-performance follow-up to the i386, Intel 386. It represents the fourth generation of binary compatible CPUs following the Inte ...
, with the sole purpose of enhancing the
performance per watt
In computing, performance per watt is a measure of the energy efficiency of a particular computer architecture or computer hardware. Literally, it measures the rate of computation that can be delivered by a computer for every watt of power con ...
ratio. However,
Hyper-Threading is implemented in an easy (i.e., low power) way to employ the whole
pipeline
A pipeline is a system of Pipe (fluid conveyance), pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries ...
efficiently by avoiding typical single thread dependencies.
Atom branded processors have historically featured the following microarchitectures:
*
Bonnell
**
Saltwell
*
Silvermont
Silvermont is a microarchitecture for low-power Atom, Celeron and Pentium branded processors used in systems on a chip (SoCs) made by Intel. Silvermont forms the basis for a total of four SoC families:
* ''Merrifield'' and ''Moorefield'' cons ...
**
Airmont
*
Goldmont
Goldmont is a microarchitecture for low-power Atom, Celeron and Pentium branded processors used in systems on a chip (SoCs) made by Intel. They allow only one thread per core.
The ''Apollo Lake'' platform with 14 nm Goldmont core was unve ...
**
Goldmont Plus
Goldmont Plus is a microarchitecture for low-power Celeron and Pentium Silver branded processors used in systems on a chip (SoCs) made by Intel. The ''Gemini Lake'' platform with 14 nm Goldmont Plus core was officially launched on Decemb ...
*
Tremont
*
Gracemont
*
Crestmont
Performance
The performance of a single-core Atom is about half that of a
Pentium M
The Pentium M is a family of mobile 32-bit single-core x86 microprocessors (with the modified Intel P6 (microarchitecture), P6 microarchitecture) introduced in March 2003 and forming a part of the Intel Centrino#Carmel platform (2003), Carmel no ...
of the same
clock rate
Clock rate or clock speed in computing typically refers to the frequency at which the clock generator of a processor can generate pulses used to synchronize the operations of its components. It is used as an indicator of the processor's s ...
. For example, the Atom N270 (1.60 GHz) found in many
netbooks
A netbook is a small-sized laptop computer; they were primarily sold from 2007 until around 2013, designed mostly as a means of accessing the Internet and being significantly less expensive than regular-sized laptops.
At their inception in l ...
such as the
Eee PC
The ASUS Eee PC is a netbook computer line from Asus, and a part of the ASUS Eee product family. At the time of its introduction in late 2007, it was noted for its combination of a lightweight, Linux-based operating system, solid-state drive (SS ...
can deliver around 3300
MIPS and 2.1
GFLOPS
Floating point operations per second (FLOPS, flops or flop/s) is a measure of computer performance in computing, useful in fields of scientific computations that require floating-point calculations.
For such cases, it is a more accurate measu ...
in standard benchmarks, compared to 7400 MIPS and 3.9 GFLOPS for the similarly clocked (1.72 GHz)
Pentium M
The Pentium M is a family of mobile 32-bit single-core x86 microprocessors (with the modified Intel P6 (microarchitecture), P6 microarchitecture) introduced in March 2003 and forming a part of the Intel Centrino#Carmel platform (2003), Carmel no ...
740.
The Pineview platform has proven to be only slightly faster than the previous Diamondville platform. This is because the Pineview platform uses the same Bonnell execution core as Diamondville and is connected to the memory controller via the FSB, hence
memory latency
''Memory latency'' is the time (the latency) between initiating a request for a byte or word in memory until it is retrieved by a processor. If the data are not in the processor's cache, it takes longer to obtain them, as the processor will ha ...
and performance in CPU-intensive applications are minimally improved.
Collaborations
In March 2009, Intel announced that it would be collaborating with
TSMC
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC or Taiwan Semiconductor) is a Taiwanese multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company. It is one of the world's most valuable semiconductor companies, the world' ...
for the production of the Atom processors.
The deal was put on hold due to lack of demand in 2010.
On September 13, 2011, Intel and
Google
Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
held a joint announcement of a partnership to provide support in Google's
Android operating system for Intel processors (beginning with the Atom). This would allow Intel to supply chips for the growing
smartphone
A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...
and
tablet market.
Based on this collaboration, in 2012, Intel announced a new
system on chip
A system on a chip (SoC) is an integrated circuit that combines most or all key components of a computer or electronic system onto a single microchip. Typically, an SoC includes a central processing unit (CPU) with memory, input/output, and dat ...
(SoC) platform designed for smartphones and tablets which would use the Atom line of CPUs. It was a continuation of the partnership announced by Intel and
Google
Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
on September 13, 2011, to provide support for the
Android operating system on Intel x86 processors. This range competed with existing SoCs developed for the smartphone and tablet market from companies like
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American multinational semiconductor company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It is one of the top 10 semiconductor companies worldwide based on sales volume. The company's focus is on developing analog ...
,
Nvidia
Nvidia Corporation ( ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and incorporated in Delaware. Founded in 1993 by Jensen Huang (president and CEO), Chris Malachowsky, and Curti ...
,
Qualcomm
Qualcomm Incorporated () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software and services related to wireless techn ...
and
Samsung
Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...
.
On April 29, 2016, Intel announced the decision to cancel the Broxton SoC for smartphones and tablets. Broxton was to use the newest Atom microarchitecture (Goldmont on a 14 nm node) in combination with an Intel modem.
Competition
Embedded processors based on the
ARM
In human anatomy, the arm refers to the upper limb in common usage, although academically the term specifically means the upper arm between the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) and the elbow joint. The distal part of the upper limb between ...
version 7 instruction set architecture (such as
Nvidia
Nvidia Corporation ( ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and incorporated in Delaware. Founded in 1993 by Jensen Huang (president and CEO), Chris Malachowsky, and Curti ...
's
Tegra
Tegra is a system on a chip (SoC) series developed by Nvidia for mobile devices such as smartphones, personal digital assistants, and mobile Internet devices. The Tegra integrates an ARM architecture central processing unit (CPU), graphics pr ...
3 series, TI's 4 series and Freescale's i.MX51 based on the
Cortex-A8
The ARM Cortex-A8 is a 32-bit processor core licensed by ARM Holdings implementing the ARMv7-A architecture.
Compared to the ARM11, the Cortex-A8 is a dual-issue superscalar design, achieving roughly twice the instructions per cycle. The Cortex ...
core, or the
Qualcomm Snapdragon
Snapdragon is a suite of system-on-chip (SoC) semiconductor products for mobile devices designed and marketed by Qualcomm, who often refers to these SoCs as "mobile platforms". They typically integrate central processing units (CPU) based o ...
and Marvell Armada 500/600 based on custom ARMv7 implementations) offer similar performance to the low end Atom chipsets but at roughly one quarter the power consumption, and (like most ARM systems) as a single integrated system on a chip, rather than a two chip solution like the current Atom line. Although the second-generation Atom codenamed "Pineview" should greatly increase its competitiveness in performance/watt, ARM plans to counter the threat with the multi-core capable
Cortex-A9
The ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore is a 32-bit multi-core processor that provides up to 4 cache-coherent cores, each implementing the ARM v7 architecture instruction set. It was introduced in 2007.
Features
Key features of the Cortex-A9 core are:
* ou ...
core as used in Nvidia's
Tegra
Tegra is a system on a chip (SoC) series developed by Nvidia for mobile devices such as smartphones, personal digital assistants, and mobile Internet devices. The Tegra integrates an ARM architecture central processing unit (CPU), graphics pr ...
2/3, TI's
OMAP
OMAP (Open Multimedia Applications Platform) is a family of image processor, image/video processors that was developed by Texas Instruments. They are proprietary system on chips (SoCs) for portable and mobile multimedia application software, ap ...
4 series, and
Qualcomm
Qualcomm Incorporated () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software and services related to wireless techn ...
's next-generation Snapdragon series, among others.
The
Nano and Nano Dual-Core series from VIA is slightly above the average thermal envelope of the Atom, but offers hardware AES support,
random number generator
Random number generation is a process by which, often by means of a random number generator (RNG), a sequence of numbers or symbols is generated that cannot be reasonably predicted better than by random chance. This means that the particular ou ...
s, and out-of-order execution. Performance comparisons of the Intel Atom against the Via Nano indicate that a single core Intel Atom is easily outperformed by the Via Nano which is in turn outperformed by a dual core Intel Atom 330 in tests where multithreading is used. The Core 2 Duo SU7300 outperforms the dual-core Nano.
The
Xcore86 (also known as the
PMX 1000) is x586 based System on Chip (SoC) that offers a below average thermal envelope compared to the Atom.
In 2014, Kenton Williston of
EE Times
''EE Times'' (''Electronic Engineering Times'') is an electronics industry magazine published in the United States since 1972. EE Times is currently owned by AspenCore, a division of Arrow Electronics since August 2016.
Ownership and status
'' ...
said that while Atom will not displace ARM from its current markets, the ability to apply the PC architecture into smaller, cheaper and lower power form factors will open up new markets for Intel.
In 2014, ARM claimed that Intel's Atom processors offer less compatibility and lower performance than their chips when running Android, and higher power consumption and less battery life for the same tasks under both Android and Windows.
Issues
In February 2017
Cisco
Cisco Systems, Inc. (using the trademark Cisco) is an American multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, s ...
reported a clock signal issue that would disable several of its products. Cisco stated, "we expect product failures to increase over the years, beginning after the unit has been in operation for approximately 18 months". Soon after, The Register broke the news that this issue was linked to the Intel Atom SoC, and reports of other vendors
being affected started appearing online. This issue affects only C2000 chips, so only the SoC families ''Avoton'' and ''Rangeley'' from the
Silvermont
Silvermont is a microarchitecture for low-power Atom, Celeron and Pentium branded processors used in systems on a chip (SoCs) made by Intel. Silvermont forms the basis for a total of four SoC families:
* ''Merrifield'' and ''Moorefield'' cons ...
microarchitecture.
See also
*
List of Intel Atom processors
Intel Atom is Intel's line of low-power, low-cost and low-performance x86 and x86-64 microprocessors. Atom, with codenames of ''Silverthorne (microprocessor), Silverthorne'' and ''Diamondville (microprocessor), Diamondville'', was first announc ...
*
Intel Edison
*
Intel Quark
Intel Quark is a line of 32-bit x86 SoCs and microcontrollers by Intel, designed for small size and low power consumption, and targeted at new markets including wearable devices. The line was introduced at Intel Developer Forum in 2013, and di ...
Notes
References
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linuxdevices.com - Intel announces first Atom chipshardwaresecrets.com - Inside Atom Architecture*
ttps://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/02/03/cisco_clock_component_may_fail/ - FYI: Ticking time-bomb fault will brick Cisco gear after 18 months- Intel Atom SoC bricking more than Cisco products
External links
Intel - Intel Atom Processor Family
{{Authority control
Atom
Atoms are the basic particles of the chemical elements. An atom consists of a atomic nucleus, nucleus of protons and generally neutrons, surrounded by an electromagnetically bound swarm of electrons. The chemical elements are distinguished fr ...
Atom
Atoms are the basic particles of the chemical elements. An atom consists of a atomic nucleus, nucleus of protons and generally neutrons, surrounded by an electromagnetically bound swarm of electrons. The chemical elements are distinguished fr ...
Computer-related introductions in 2008