Tukwila (processor)
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- This article is about the forthcoming Intel processor. For the city in Washington, see Tukwila, Washington.
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This article contains information about a scheduled or expected future product. It may contain preliminary or speculative information, and may not reflect the final version of the product. |
Tukwila is the code-name for a future generation of Intel's Itanium processor family following Itanium 2 and Montecito. It is expected to come to market in 2008. While its features have not been publicly disclosed in detail, it is said to utilize both multiple processor cores (sometimes called CMP) and SMT techniques. The engineers said to be working on this project are ones acquired from the DEC Alpha effort, the EV8 iteration of which was to be focused on SMT.
It is thought that the chip will have at least 4 processor cores; it may only be able to run at full rated clock with some of them deactivated. In this way it can be configured for highest multithreaded performance or highest single thread performance, while staying within its thermal limits.
[edit] Xeon compatibility
It has been publicly disclosed that Tukwila and its associated chipset would bring socket compatibility between Intel's Xeon and Itanium processors, by introducing a new interconnect called Common System Interface (CSI). This ultimate endeavor would help reduce product development costs for both Intel and its partners, by allowing for greater reuse of components and manufacturing processes.[1] CSI is also purported to provide much better performance than AMD's Hypertransport.
Tukwila is reported to have four "full" CSI links and two "half" links [2]
Although Tukwila would be the first Itanium processor to feature CSI, the first Xeon processor with CSI is codenamed Whitefield, which has suffered significant project delays and development difficulties.[3] Ongoing uncertainties regarding the release dates of both processors may prevent simultaneous availability, minimizing some of the initial benefits of having processor socket compatibility. As of December 2005, the CSI roadmap for Xeon processors has been delayed until at least 2008 or 2009.
[edit] Trivia
Tukwila was previously code-named Tanglewood until late 2003 when someone — presumably the people who run the Tanglewood music festival — complained.
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