IDF Fall 2003: Bulverde showcased as next-gen XScale processor

By Alun Williams

Posted on 18 Sep 2003 at 09:50

The successor to Intelís XScale processor, 'Bulverde', was showcased today at the Mobile Technology keynote at IDF. And multimedia muscle is Intel's pitch for this future element of its Personal Client Architecture.

In his keynote presentation of Bulverde, Ron Smith, general manager of Intel's Wireless Communications and Computing group, highlighted the multimedia possibilities of a Bulverde-based device compared to current offerings, for example running games. With hi-fidelity sound and video camera-levels of resolution, high quality multimedia applications could be supported.

The three key elements to highlight are: Quick Capture technology, Wireless Speed Step power management and Wireless MMX.

With Bulverde supporting the use of 4MB pixel images, the use of MMX, and a capability of processing 30 frames per second, Quick Capture technology enables the retrieval of video and high-quality still images from a range of (CMOS and CCD) camera sensors. Its three modes of operation will be: Quick View (for previews), Quick Shot (for image capture up to 4MB) and Quick Video (for full motion, high-quality video capture).

Wireless Speed Step, as with its notebook cousin, involves dynamically optimizing battery life. This is achieved through dynamic voltage management (varying the voltage depending on the applicationís requirements) and dynamic frequency management (to avoid processing at full-throttle when not necessary).

Wireless MMX technology, announced last year, is a set of multimedia instructions to support desktop-like multimedia performance. As well as providing fast multimedia performance for less power, it should help simplify the porting of desktop applications to handhelds.

Again, as with the Dothan, the product was only being showcased - donít expect Bulverde-based handhelds or Smartphones to be appearing before the second half of 2004.

When I asked Ron Smith to highlight applications that would best use Bulverde features, he mentioned enterprise applications that combined communication needs with high-performance graphics. One possible example, he quoted, was the remote inspection of machines or materials, with the relayed pictures being interpreted remotely by experts. Networked gaming was an area for consumers.