Intel Unveils Next-Gen Moorestown Atom Platform

Name: Intel Unveils Next-Gen Moorestown Atom Platform - Page 3
Brand: Intel

by Marco Chiappetta — Tuesday, May 04, 2010, 11:59 AM EDT

As we have already mentioned, the Intel Platform Controller Hub MP20 (previously codenamed Langwell) and the Briertown Mixed Signal IC (MSIC) are both low-powered chips designed to bring the total power consumption of the Moorestown platform down versus the previous-gen Menlow platform.

The slides above illustrate what features and capabilities are integrated into each chip. We should add that the MP20 is a 14x14x1.3mm chip with a 0.5mm pitch BGA.

The Briertown MSIC integrates power delivery and things like audio codecs, intelligent battery charging circuitry, a touch screen controller, and analog and current sensors, among other features. It also acts as part of the power gating solution, with multiple voltage rails connected to Lincroft and Langwell. The MSIC also enables fast ramping for Burst mode and enables faster transitions into and out of power states, which will allow more frequent and longer residency in power saving states, like S0i1 and S0i3.

In total, the combination of the new Intel Atom Processor Z6xx, the Intel Platform Controller Hub MP20, and the Briertown MSIC at the center of Moorestown results in a platform that consumes less power under load than the previous-gen Menlow did at idle. That kind of power consumption allows the Moorestown platform, when paired to a Blackberry-esque 1500mAh batter, to offer roughly 11 days of standby time, versus 6-14days for competing solutions. Moorestown also offers about 2 days of music playback time versus .5 to 1.2 days for competing solution, roughly 5 hours of video playback time versus 4-11 hours, and about 5 hours of web browsing versus 3 - 7 hours of other products. And that's with the highest clocked, 1.5GHz smartphone part.

While Intel doesn't claim the absolute best battery life, bar none, they are keen to point out that Moorestown gets the company in the necessary ballpark to play with the big guns in the smartphone space. Reportedly, Moorestown also competes this way while offering about 1.5x – 3x the compute performance of other mobile platforms--at least according to Intel's numbers.

Aava Mobile Moorestown-Based Prototype smartphone

Tags: Intel, smartphone, Atom, Platform, low power, Moorestown, handset

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com