【CES 2019】10nm processor debuts, Intel releases new era blueprint

The annual consumer electronics event CES (International Consumer Electronics Show) was held in Las Vegas as scheduled, and Intel, as an industry leader, would certainly not be absent. At this year's CES, Intel held a press conference with the theme of "Innovation and Computing Cornerstones", unfolding an exciting new technology blueprint for everyone.

Before the event officially started, a "band" performance at the venue attracted everyone's attention, not only because the passionate music completely ignited the enthusiasm of the audience, but also because this live band of only two people, the baton and the main instrument are the same PC. This may be an artistic expression of the theme of this event: we are at the starting point of a new computing era.

In the new 10nm era, will PCs undergo major changes?

I believe that among the many product information and technology updates released, the most popular ones are the new processors and PC product updates. In this era defined by data, PCs will still be our first choice for data access. Therefore, Gregory Bryant first brought us the news of 10nm and the new generation of processors at the press conference.

The new mobile PC platform equipped with the 10nm "Ice Lake" processor is definitely one of the biggest focuses of this CES. This platform product using the 10nm Sunny Cove microarchitecture processor has many firsts, including the first use of the Sunny Cove microarchitecture processor, the first use of the 11th generation core graphics card, the first integrated graphics card with TF-level computing power, the first support for Wi-Fi 6, and the first use of AI acceleration instruction set.

At the event, Intel demonstrated the Ice Lake processor's ability in AI learning, achieving incredible AI processing speed. Ice Lake also made a gratifying breakthrough in GPU performance. The 11th generation core graphics card is the first integrated graphics chip to achieve 1TF computing power.

Key points: At this CES conference, you must know about this new innovation plan called Project Athena. It is expected to drive the entire PC industry to make full use of new technologies such as 5G and AI to innovate, and form a set of innovative specifications to bring everyone a brand new PC experience. Project Athena's PC devices have four key elements - first-class performance, ultra-long battery life, connectivity and stylish design, and are expected to meet you in the second half of this year.

Intel also brought the Soc platform Lakefield with a hybrid CPU architecture and Foveros 3D packaging technology. The platform has the characteristics of high performance, ultra-long battery life and strong connection, and is mainly used in thin and light or ultra-portable devices.

After adopting the Foveros 3D packaging technology, the size of Lakefield is only 12mm×12mm. The Lakefield motherboard on display at the site is only the length of 5 25-cent coins and can be held in one palm.

Of course, the 9th generation Core processors that have already been released have been expanded at the conference . The new 6 family products can cover different levels of gamers, makers, and enthusiast/professional users. This series of desktop processor products is expected to be launched this month, and notebook computers based on the 9th generation Core processor will be launched later (expected to be in the second quarter).

Improving computing power with advanced technology

Driving a data-centric world

Data centers, servers and other technologies seem to be very far away from consumer electronics, and many people may think that they should not appear at CES. But in the new era, data is everywhere, and data centers play a vital role in computing power and user experience.

For example, on Double 11, everyone placed orders, right? This was a huge sale with a turnover of over 213.5 billion, truly the world's largest shopping festival. At 0:00 on the 11th, when the discounts were the most generous, orders would pour in. Alibaba worked with Intel to provide technical support such as Intel Xeon processors and Optane data center persistent memory, so that no matter how many people were buying things, they could still enjoy a smooth shopping experience.

The computing power of Xeon processors has been setting records in the past 20 years. Currently, Intel Xeon Scalable Processor Cascade Lake has begun shipping and is mainly used in the field of high-performance computing.

Intel has also prepared Xeon Scalable Processors based on 10nm process technology for the future, code-named Ice Lake.

For enterprises that aim to develop their businesses using AI, computing power is scarce and expensive. Intel Nervana neural network inference processors can help enterprises with high AI load requirements speed up inference.

Computing power changes the world and makes life better

Computing power is actually not far away from us at all. The continuous improvement of computing power makes it possible for more dreams to become reality.

For example, modern athletes cannot achieve good results without high-tech training methods. Intel and Alibaba are jointly developing AI athlete tracking technology, which is expected to be deployed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.