Power-saving chips step up performance

Thin-clients, network appliances could all benefit

Chipmaker VIA Technologies has announced new PC-compatible processors for embedded applications where small size and low power consumption are needed. The move could lead to greater performance for thin client terminals and other devices such as network appliances.

Available now, the new processors extend the firm’s Eden and Eden ULV (ultra low voltage) lines to clock speeds up to 1.5GHz while consuming just 7.5W of power, according to VIA. This compares with 15 to 23W for the low-power version of Intel’s new Core Duo mobile chips.

“To offer processor speeds up to 1.5GHz within such a low-power envelope is a remarkable advance for the x86 market, placing us clearly ahead of the competition and enabling more powerful embedded and silent systems,” said VIA vice-president of marketing Richard Brown.

Low power consumption, excellent heat dissipation and leading power efficiency make the Eden processor ideal for applications such as thin client terminals and mini PC systems, according to VIA.

The Eden processors already include a number of security features, such as VIA’s Padlock security engine that provides hardware random-number generation and acceleration for the AES encryption algorithm. They also support the NX flag, which allows Windows XP Service Pack 2 to mark areas of memory as non-executable, protecting against some buffer overflow attacks.

VIA’s new Eden chips are based on last year’s C7 processor. This is made using a 90nm process technology and is capable of clock speeds up to 2GHz.