Intel Shows 48-core Single-Chip Cloud Computer

Intel Labs demonstrated an experimental, 48-core Intel processor, or “single-chip cloud computer.” The design leverages a high-speed on-chip network for sharing information between the fully-programmable Intel cores, along with newly invented power management techniques that allow all 48 cores to operate extremely energy efficiently at as little as 25 watts, or at 125 watts when running at maximum performance.

Intel Labs said it nicknamed this test chip a “single-chip cloud computer” because it resembles the organization of datacenters used to create a “cloud” of computing resources. Researchers from Intel, HP and Yahoo’s Open Cirrus collaboration have already begun porting cloud applications to this 48 IA core chip using Hadoop, a Java software framework supporting data-intensive, distributed applications.

Intel plans to produce 100 or more of these 48-core chips to share with partners engaged in developing new software applications and programming models.
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