Intel launches Atom chipset aimed at tablet market

Chip giant hopes new processor architecture can disarm ARM in tablet market

Chip giant Intel today launched its new Atom processor platform called Oak Trail at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in Beijing, China.

The Oak Trail architecture is formed from the new Intel Atom Z670 processor and the Intel SM35 Express chipset.

Intel is hoping to make a dent in the market share of UK chip designer ARM, which has the largest share of the tablet and smartphone chip market.

Intel admits it is facing problems trying to wrest share from ARM. Intel strategic marketing manager Kevin O'Donovan said: "We're well aware that we have a challenge in front of us."

Donovan said that the Oak Trail platform is a "fork" from Intel's normal Atom architecture specifically to address the burgeoning tablet market. At the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year in Las Vegas, more than 100 new tablets were announced.

Oak Trail is a system-on-a-chip (SoC) architecture allowing systems vendors to offer tablets that can run a variety of operating systems, including Windows 7, Android, and Intel's preferred solution MeeGo.

Donovan also said that Google's Chrome OS would be able to run on Oak Trail "in certain form factors".

MeeGo is a Linux project originally combining Intel's Moblin project with Nokia's Maemo software platform.

However, with Nokia signing up to the Windows 7 platform as the basis for its mobile devices earlier this year, Intel is going it alone with MeeGo.

Oak Trail is available in Intel's 45-nanometer (nm) process technology. Donovan said that the package is 60 per cent smaller than its Pine Trail predecessor and will have a thermal design power (TDP) consumption of 3W as against 7-8W for the previous generation.

Battery life in next-generation tablet designs will be a key differentiator in the battle between ARM and Intel.

The next generation architecture after Oak Trail will be Cedar Trail, said Donovan.

"This will be aimed at ultra-thin fanless devices and will be based on 32nm process technology, giving another 30-50 per cent reduction in the TDP."

The architecture after Cedar Trail, which currently has no codename, will use the more power-efficient 22nm process technology and is scheduled to appear in 2013.