Nehalem Architecture, Research Paper Example

The innovative modular CPU microarchitecture is arriving in the world market and distinguishing the Intel Core among other producers of microprocessors. However, the reasons for its arrival in the hardware business as well as the incentives that brought about the fundamentally new architecture are to be understood clearly before discussing the characteristics of processors created according to Nehalem architecture. First of all, it is necessary to emphasize the former non-modular design of the Core microarchitecture. The Core 2 type was designed as a dual-core semiconductor dies, and even in multi-core and Xeon solutions the processors were composed of several dual-core dies that had difficulties in communicating with each other (First Look at Nehalem Microarchitecture (page 2) – X-bit labs, n.d.).

Among other drawbacks of dual-core processors of Core 2 one should consider the following one: “Although Intel had already solved the problem of sharing the system bus between processors by launching new chipsets providing an individual bus to each processor, the performance of these systems would often be limited by insufficient memory bus bandwidth” (First Look at Nehalem Microarchitecture (page 2) – X-bit labs, n.d.). Thus, the main strategy for development comprised the increase of the systems performance, which could be done by adding more processor cores to CPU’s and more processors to the system. Besides, the newly introduced modular design of CPU’s seems to solve critical problems of previous models – the CPU consists of several building blocks, i.e. the processor core with an L2, L3 cache, QPI bus controller, memory controller etc. There is a wide selection of modifications depending on the necessary market segment; the strength of Nehalem architecture is in its flexibility (First Look at Nehalem Microarchitecture (page 2) – X-bit labs, n.d.).

To understand the nature of innovation in computer technology microarchitecture, one should consider the whole realm of modifications and improvements introduced with Nehalem. Besides those already named, the most prominent ones are the following:

• Two, four or eight cores (with two typically met in smartphones, four integrated in the laptops and eight met in servers that need to handle large workloads (First Look at Nehalem Microarchitecture (page 2) – X-bit labs, n.d.)
• Three levels of cache-memory: 64KB L1 cache per core, 256KB L2 cache per core, up to 24MB shared L3 cache (First Look at Nehalem Microarchitecture (page 2) – X-bit labs, n.d.)
• Integrated memory controller supporting several DDR3 SDRAM channels (First Look at Nehalem Microarchitecture (page 2) – X-bit labs, n.d.)
• Monolithic design: the CPU consists of a single semiconductor dies (First Look at Nehalem Microarchitecture (page 2) – X-bit labs, n.d.)
• 45nm production process (which shows the truly remarkable breakthrough in nanotechnologies, making more sophisticated and miniature appliances) (First Look at Nehalem Microarchitecture (page 2) – X-bit labs, n.d.)
• Possibility to integrate a graphics core into the CPU (First Look at Nehalem Microarchitecture (page 2) – X-bit labs, n.d.)
• New QPI bus with point-to-point topology connecting the processor with the chipset or the processors with each other (First Look at Nehalem Microarchitecture (page 2) – X-bit labs, n.d.).

Some more serious advantages represented in the new microprocessor produced according to the Nehalem architectural design can be seen on Figure 1:

Figure 1. Advantages of Nehalem Architecture

Note. From Jobling, H. (2008). Intel Core i7 (Nehalem) Architecture Overview. Trusted Reviews. Retrieved April 5, 2010, from http://www.trustedreviews.com/cpu-memory/review/2008/11/03/Intel-Core-i7–Nehalem–Architecture-Overview/p2.

Judging from the elements that have already been named, one can conclude that Nehalem microarchitecture is a particularly valuable option in the sphere of computer technology. Businesses and individuals will surely feel the advantages offered by Nehalem architecture, especially the opportunity to increase performance, improve parallelism and promote prediction operations.  However, it goes without saying that these advantages are not the limit of Nehalem architecture. Some other aspects offered by producers and promising to benefit consumers are as follows. Firstly, it is necessary to pay attention to the innovated SSE4.2 application that has facilities for improved processing of XML files. This introduction has profound significance with the growing popularity of XML files usage and preference. Error detection code calculation, voice recognition, and DNA sequencing are also notable changes of unquestionable importance and value for users (Jobling, 2008).

Secondly, the sphere of prediction settings’ capacity has also been significantly improved. The overall function of prediction pertains to the ability to guess what needs to be done further and set up before the action starts to complete it quicker. This capacity of a computer has also been innovated with the addition of a second level branch predictor under the Nehalem architecture principles. More accurate prediction has become possible, but the innovation cost the microprocessor the speed of prediction. However, in case one considers the amount of mistakes avoided in the process of additional checks, it will be possible to assess the level of unnecessary work avoided by eliminating mis-predictions. Thus, in the result of Nehalem processors’ performance pays off – they work much faster than any other ones (Jobling, 2008).

Among other advantages that surely should be mentioned are the simultaneous MultiThreading (or HyperThreading) (SMT) allowing the quicker data transition and new miniaturization opportunities, the renewed cache structure, the introduction of the new second-level Translation Look-aside Buffer (TLB), QPI etc. It is complicated to project what impact the introduction of Nehalem architecture is likely to produce on the world market and various industries. However, the impact of Inter Core i7 has already become apparent in the military embedded computer industry. The field has found some outstanding advantages in this innovation:

“Although several of Intel’s powerful new microprocessors are based on the company’s 32-nanometer submicron processing technology, what has the military computer board industry excited most is the floating-point processing capability of the i7 device” (Keller, 2010).

The floating-point processing has been created for reasons other than fitting the processor for the needs of aerospace and defense needs. The actual reason for its construction effort aims at the development of innovative desktop computers – the floating-point processing technology enables to download video applications faster than it has ever been possible. This advantage offers enormous benefits for all kinds of users who increasingly use the Internet for video uploads. Nonetheless, the federal military service does not accept it as a main benefit that speaks for the necessity of moving to operation on Intel Core i7. The officials are more attracted by the opportunity to use digital signal processing (DSP) to process data from radars, electronic warfare data sources as well signals intelligence systems at a much faster pace (Keller, 2010).

With all these facts taken into account, one can assume that Nehalem architecture has many obvious advantages, and even under the condition of assessing a number of drawbacks it has because of additional elements it still proves the meaningful competitive advantage in the computer technology market. It is possible to estimate the emergence of Nehalem architecture in the world of computer technology as a clear step forward, with innovative possibilities for any business worldwide. Nehalem microprocessors are scalable, miniaturized and extensively filled with supplementary software applications suiting the modern customer needs. All these characteristics assume the growing popularity and competitive advantage of Intel Core i7, and Nehalem microarchitecture in the world computer design business.

References

First Look at Nehalem Microarchitecture (page 2) – X-bit labs. (n.d.). Retrieved April 7, 2010, from http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/nehalem-microarchitecture_2.html

Jobling, H. (2008). Intel Core i7 (Nehalem) Architecture Overview. Trusted Reviews. Retrieved April 6, 2010, from http://www.trustedreviews.com/cpu-memory/review/2008/11/03/Intel-Core-i7–Nehalem–Architecture-Overview/p1

Keller, J. (2010). Intel i7 microprocessor set to produce tectonic shift in industry. Military Aerospace Electronics. Retrieved April 6, 2010, from http://mae.pennnet.com/display_article/372897/32/ARTCL/none/none/1/Intel-i7-microprocessor-set-to-produce-tectonic-shift-in-industry/?cmpid=EnlMAEMarch312010