The concept of Centrino: Intel Centrino mobile computing technology is Intel's most outstanding notebook computer technology. More than just a processor, it offers integrated wireless LAN capabilities, superior mobile computing performance, and long battery life in a lightweight, thin laptop form factor that's easy to carry. These components include the Intel Pentium M processor, the mobile Intel 915 Express chipset family or the Intel 855 chipset family, and the Intel PRO/Wireless LAN family.
Main features:
1. Integrated wireless LAN capabilities: With the integrated wireless LAN capabilities of Intel Centrino mobile computing technology, there is no need to use cables, boards and antennas. With Intel Centrino mobile computing technology's Wi-Fi authentication technology, information and live communications can be accessed through wireless Internet and network connections. Many public Wi-Fi networks (called "wireless hotspots") located around the world provide this connectivity. In addition, Intel Centrino mobile computing technology is designed to support a wide range of industrial wireless LAN (WLAN) security standards and leading third-party security solutions such as Cisco Compatibility Extensions, so you can be sure that your data is protected by the latest wireless security standards . In addition, Intel will work with vendors such as Cisco to provide support for leading third-party security solutions.
2. Excellent mobile computing performance: Facing today’s multi-tasking mobile computing life, you also want to obtain excellent mobile computing performance when you are away from home or office. As mobile computing applications become more complex and require faster and more efficient computing performance, Intel Centrino mobile computing technology is designed to deliver faster instruction execution speeds with lower power consumption to meet all needs The needs of emerging and future applications. Some of the key features in Intel Centrino mobile technology that enable outstanding mobile computing performance include: Micro-operation fusion, which combines operations to reduce the time and energy required to execute instructions. Energy-efficient L2 cache and enhanced data prefetching reduce the number of off-chip memory accesses and increase the availability of valid data within the L2 cache. Advanced instruction prediction capabilities will analyze past behavior and predict what operations may be needed in the future, eliminating repetitive CPU processing. A dedicated stack manager can improve processing efficiency by performing common "housekeeping" functions.
3. Support long-lasting battery life: Intel Centrino mobile computing technology can provide excellent mobile computing performance, while supporting long-lasting battery life with the following energy-saving technologies, and intelligent power distribution technology can distribute system power For applications with the highest processor demands. New energy-saving transistor technology optimizes energy use and consumption to reduce CPU energy consumption. Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology support can dynamically enhance application performance and power utilization.
4. A wide range of notebook computer designs: Intel Centrino mobile computing technology can support the latest notebook computer designs from thin and light to full-size models. To integrate high-performance processors into the latest slim and ultra-slim laptops, tablets, and other leading computer designs, Intel Centrino mobile computing technology uses Micro FCPGA (Flip-Chip Grid Array) and FCBGA (Flip-Chip Ball Grid Array) technology to support packaged processor chips optimized for thinner, lighter laptop designs. The smaller form factor of new laptops requires specific considerations to reduce energy consumption to control heat dissipation. To meet this requirement, Intel Centrino mobile computing technology uses low voltage (LV) and ultra-low voltage (ULV) technology to allow the processor to run at a lower voltage, thereby reducing heat dissipation in tablets and ultra-slim notebook computers
Centrino Second Generation: The new Intel Centrino mobile computing technology platform (codenamed Sonoma), which is composed of a 90nm process Dothan core (2MB L2 cache, 533MHz FSB) PentiumM processor, a new Aviso chipset, a new wireless model Set Calexico2 (Intel PRO/Wireless 2915ABG or 2200BG Wireless LAN Assembly) consists of three main components.
Added new technologies: new Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 graphics core, energy-efficient 533MHz front-side bus, and dual-channel DDR2 memory support to facilitate adoption of the mobile Intel 915GM Express chipset with integrated graphics System, get double the graphics card performance improvement. In addition, the new Intel Centrino mobile computing technology also supports the latest PCI Express graphics interface, which can provide up to 4 times the graphics bandwidth for high-end systems using independent graphics cards. With system manufacturer support, you’ll also get options like a TV tuner, Intel High Definition Audio with Dolby Digital and 7.1 Surround Sound, a personal video recorder, and a remote control, while continuing to enjoy the long-lasting battery of Intel Centrino Mobile Technology computing Use time advantage. Features that help manufacturers achieve long-lasting battery life include Display Power Technology 2.0, low-power DDR2 memory support, and enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology.
1. Brand new PentiumM processor: Dothan processor introduces many features of the more mature NetBurst architecture based on Banias, and adds Enhanced Data Prefecher (advanced data prefetching) and Enhanced Register Data Retrieval (advanced record data recovery) two new technologies.
Compared with Banias core products, Dothan processors have three main changes. First, the production process has been upgraded from 0.13 microns to the new 90 nanometers, which can produce smaller and faster transistors. Therefore, the Dothan processor has doubled the cache compared to Banias, but its size and power consumption have basically remained unchanged. Secondly, Dothan uses new "strained silicon" material technology. According to Intel testing, the flow speed of electrons in strained silicon is much faster than that of other current silicon materials, which has greatly improved the main frequency of Dothan, currently reaching a maximum of 2.13G. In addition, the Dothan L2 cache has been increased to 2MB, which improves performance by about 20% compared to the original same-frequency Banias Pentium-M processor while maintaining roughly the same energy consumption. Dothan CPU achieves energy saving and consumption reduction in many aspects. Its level 2 cache adopts an 8-way joint operation mode, and each channel is divided into 4 power consumption areas. Since the processor can only One of the power consumption areas is used, so the power consumption area that is currently unused is closed under the control of a dedicated stack management technology, thereby greatly reducing the power consumption of the second-level cache. In addition, Dothan CPU supports the new Enhanced SpeedStep energy-saving technology, which is completely completed by the processor's voltage adjustment mechanism and has little to do with the chipset. The operations of switching between these modes are all automatic and completely based on the load of the processor at that time. This will allow the energy consumption to be accurately controlled and achieve more energy-saving purposes.
2. New Aviso chipset: In addition to the Dothan CPU, the core of the Sonoma platform is the Alviso (915PM/915GM) chipset, which contains many of the latest technologies. In addition to supporting the PCI Express bus architecture, it also includes It supports low-power DDR-2 memory and the new EG3 graphics core. In addition, the Alviso chipset is also equipped with a mobile southbridge chip code-named ICH6-M, which can provide four serial ATA hard disk interfaces and integrates the new generation Azalia Sound chip and new ExpressCard external expansion interface. As a replacement for "Centrino", "Sonoma" has further improved its wireless, display and audio functions, and its computing speed has also increased by about 30%.
The PCI Express bus will completely replace the AGP bus and PCI bus on the Alviso chipset. This is the most gratifying progress. You no longer have to worry about data transmission bottlenecks in the future. The huge increase in bandwidth has played an important role in video processing and multimedia production that cannot be ignored. The PCI Express bus also has the characteristics of low power consumption, which is also very critical for notebooks. At the same time, the new system will also be equipped with high-performance, low-power DDRII memory and support dual channels, which will be able to provide a maximum bandwidth of 8.4G/s, which can meet the development needs of processors for a long time in the future, while also supporting integrated graphics cards. Performance improvements also pay dividends. Along with the Sonoma platform, Intel will launch the "Extreme Graphics 3" integrated display chip. The hardware supports PS 2.0, VS 2.0 and DirectX 9. It also uses special power management technology to reduce power consumption, allowing users to balance performance and power consumption. Make a free choice between. The new integrated packaging model of video memory puts the display core and video memory on the same substrate. The advantage of this is that it can increase the data exchange speed between the video memory and the core and effectively reduce the size.
The biggest advantage of the "Azalia" sound technology integrated on the Sonoma mobile platform is its excellent performance, that is, parallel processing capabilities and standardized architecture. Azalia technology supports up to 32bit/192kHz audio sampling rate and 7.1-channel output. In addition, Azalia uses a unified bus driver for control, since any Azalia audio device can use the same driver. Azalia sound effect technology will bring unprecedented audio effects to notebook computers. Coupled with increasingly powerful mobile display technology, playing games on notebook computers will become a pleasure.
On the Sonoma mobile platform, the PCMCIA Card that has been used for many years will also undergo major changes. With the popularity of high-bandwidth video and network applications, traditional PCMCIA PC Cards are increasingly unable to adapt to this situation. There is an urgent need for a new technology to replace it. ExpressCard is such a technology that will be lighter, thinner, faster and easier to use than traditional PC Card technology.
In addition to ExpressCard34 for notebook computers, there is also ExpressCard54 for desktop computers, thus building another bridge between notebooks and desktop computers. Because ExpressCard achieves a more ideal balance among various features such as form factor, performance, reliability, adaptability, hot-swappability and automatic setup, it is likely to replace the PC Card that has been used for many years.
3. New wireless module Calexico2: One of the most important development trends in mobile computing is the large-scale promotion of wireless LAN (Wi-Fi) applications. Support for wireless connectivity is a core component of Intel Centrino technology. However, compared with the Dothan processor and Alviso chipset, the technological innovation of the Calexico2 wireless module is obviously insufficient, because the same technology actually appeared as an independent product two years ago, and Intel only integrated it into the Sonoma mobile platform , and name it Calexico2.
On the Sonoma mobile platform, the wireless communication module, which is an important part of Centrino technology, will be equipped with the latest Calexico2 wireless communication module, which adds support for IEEE 802.11a/g on the basis of supporting IEEE 802.11b. Wireless technology support. Among them, IEEE802.11a works in the 5.0GHz frequency band and can easily avoid interference from the 2.4GHz frequency band. In addition to different frequency bands, IEEE 802.11a uses an improved information encoding method, which allows the transmission speed to reach 54Mbps. The IEEE 802.11g technology has the characteristics of both IEEE 802.11a and IEEE 802.11b. IEEE 802.11g operates in the 2.4GHz frequency band, thus achieving compatibility with IEEE 802.11b. However, IEEE 802.11g uses the same information encoding method as IEEE 802.11a, which also enables the transmission frequency to reach 54Mbps.