Intel has just lifted the NDA on the Tolapai, a SoC (System On a Chip) solution mainly destined for "embedded" systems. It combines a CPU and chipset in a single external envelop.
At first glance, the absence of a graphic controller may seem surprising but
some presentations show this component wouldn’t have much interest as this is a solution which is essentially oriented towards VPNs/Firewalls. The accent has thus been put on network/professional connectivity.
Of course, the company has higher ambitions for its latest creation and, for example, it could eventually rival ARM processors. Future evolutions of this chip should therefore be interesting to follow. One thing is certain however: with Consumer Electronics (CE) and telephones, the creator of x86 is sees a lot of potential.
While Intel is currently relying on the very time tested architecture of the Pentium M (with 90nm engraving), it should rapidly be replaced by that of the Atom’s (45nm) to notably lower TDP even more. A propos, reductions in the size of CPU circuits to 32nm and even 22nm has already been mentioned. In short, there should be a way to advance quite far in this domain.
Finally, we should note the extent to which the Californian company insists on QuickAssist technology in its documents sent to the press. This is actually a rather flexible AAL (acceleration abstraction layer) that is found in drivers and which enables accelerating the speed of encryption and the processing of "packets". When used correctly by applications conceived with VPN/Firewall or VoIP environments, it allows freeing up CPU cycles.
