Intel Centrino Mobile Technology

Seminar Report ’03

Intel Centrino Mobile Technology

1. INTRODUCTION Intel is expanding its history of innovations with new notebook PC capabilities designed specifically for the mobile world. This technology allows users to work, play and connect without wires and choose from a whole new world of thin and light notebook PCs that are designed to enable extended battery life. This new innovative technology delivers breakthrough mobile performance and low power enhancements to enable extended battery life in notebook PCs, combined with integrated wireless LAN capability and standards based security support. With

Intel®Centrino

mobile

technology,

three

components work together to deliver a breakthrough in freedom and capability-to work , learn and play on the go, these components include; •

Intel®Pentium® M Processor

•

Intel® 855 chipset family

•

Intel®PRO/Wireless network connection The Intel Pentium M processor is offered at speeds of

1.30 GHz, 1.40 GHz, 1.50 GHz, 1.60 GHz and 1.70 GHz. In the Highest Frequency Mode(HFM), the notebook PCs can achieve Dept. of CSE

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high performance on the most complex business and Internet applications. The lowest frequency mode (LFM) speed on all processor is 600 MHz which reduces power consumption and enables extended battery life. The on demand performance switches between HFM,LFM and intermediate Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology operating points based on user needs, optimizing application performance and batterylife. When an Intel

Pentium

M processor is used in

conjunction with the Intel® 855 chipset, the resulting platform provides

reliable

,

balanced

mainstream notebook

performance

for

today’s

PCs, with head room to remain

productive as new applications emerge. The

Intel® 855

chipset family offers support for DDR memory technology and offers a system bus frequency of 400 MHz. The integrated Wi-Fi Certified Intel PRO/wireless 2100 network connection has been validated to work with all of the Intel

Centrino

Mobile

Technology

components

and

is

interoperable with 802.11b Wi-Fi certified access points. It supports industry standards- based wireless LAN security such as 802.1x, WEP and WPA. Intel PRO/ wireless 2100 network connection also supports WLAN security enhancements for CISCO compatible extensions on certain models. Subject to PC manufactures interoperability

availability with

and

CISCO

validation Aironet

this

enables

wireless

LAN

infrastructure. For comprehensive security support The Intel

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PRO/ 2100 network connection has been verified with leading VPN suppliers like CISCO, Microsoft, Intel and CheckPoint. Notebook PC performance does not depend on the microprocessor

alone.

Hardware

and

software

system

components such as the Operating Systems, the Graphics and the IO subsystems, application software, and memory may significantly affect performance results. For this reason this report illustrates Intel Centrino Mobile Technology and its performance on a consistent PC configuration.

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2. THE INTEL PENTIUM M PROCESSOR The Intel Pentium M Processor is designed with a mobile optimized architecture that delivers advanced performance at very low power. The highlights of the Intel Pentium M Processor: •

Available at 1.3 GHz, 1.4 GHz, 1.4 GHz, 1.6 GHz, 1.7

GHz. •

Supported by the Intel 855 chipset family.

•

Featuring a high performance, low power mobile

optimized micro architecture. •

On-die, primary 32KB instruction cache and 32KB write-

back data cache. •

On-die, 1MB level-2 cache with Advanced Transfer

Cache Architecture. •

Advanced power management including enhanced Intel

speed step technology support with multiple operating points. •

Fully compatible with existing Intel architecture based

software. •

Streaming SIMD Extension 2.

•

Intel MMX media enhancement technology.

•

Available in Micro FCPGA and micro FCBGA packages.

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•

Based

Intel Centrino Mobile Technology

upon

Intel’s

advanced

0.13µ maufacturing

process.

3. INTEL PENTIUM M PROCESSOR PRODUCT FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS The Intel Pentium M Processor micro-architecture is optimized for high performance and low power. It includes a number of features including Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology support, a high performance power optimized 400MHZ system bus, 32KB level1 instruction and data cache, 1MB level 2 advanced transfer cache , streaming SIMD Extension 2 capabilities.

support and advanced thermal monitoring These

features

and

resulting

benefits

are

described in more detail below:

High performance and low power core The

Intel

Pentium

processor

features

a

high

performance core architecture that uses techniques like Micro–op

fusion

and

Advanced

Stack

Management

to

maximize performance. Micro-op fusion combines micro-ops derived

from

the

same

macro-op.

Advanced

Stack

Management reduces the number of micro-ops in the stack related operations by tracking relative stack pointer changes locally. Reduction in the number of micro-ops results in more efficient scheduling and better performance at lower power. Dept. of CSE

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The Intel Pentium M Processor core can operate at very low voltages and use advanced techniques to minimize clock and signal switching resulting in very low power dissipation in the active

state.

The

processor

features

dynamic

power

management states that consists of Stop Grant, Sleep, Deep Sleep, and Deeper Sleep Alert states that allow the processor to quickly enter and exit from these states to provide fast responsiveness and significant power savings.

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology The Intel Pentium M processor features Enhanced Intel SpeedStep® technology. Unlike previous implementations of Intel SpeedStep technology, this technology enables the processor to switch between multiple frequency and voltage points instead of two. This will enable superior performance with optimal power savings. Switching between states is software controlled unlike previous implementations where the GHI# pin is used to toggle between two states. The following are the key features of Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology: • Multiple voltage/frequency operating points provide optimal performance at the lowest power. • Voltage/Frequency selection is software controlled by writing to processor MSR’s (Model Specific Registers) thus eliminating chipset dependency.

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• The processor controls voltage ramp rates internally to ensure glitch free transitions. • Low transition latency and large number of transitions possible per second. • No bus master arbiter disable required prior to

transition and no processor cache flush necessary. • Improved Intel Thermal Monitor mode.

400 MHz System Bus with low power features The Intel Pentium M processor supports Intel’s highest performance mobile system bus by delivering 3.2 GB of data per second into and out of the processor .this is accomplished through a physical signaling scheme of quad pumping the data transfers over a 100-MHz clocked system bus and a buffering

scheme

allowing

for

sustained

400-MHz

data

transfer .the system bus features the following low power enhancement: •

Low voltage swing

•

Intelligent

disabling

of

data,

address

and

control signal buffers •

Dynamic on-die termination disabling

32KB Level 1 Instruction and Data Caches Dept. of CSE

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Both instruction and data Caches on the Intel Pentium processor are 32KB in size. Large L1 caches provide fast access to critical instructions and data, resulting in very high performance.

1MB Level 2 Advanced Transfer Cache The Level 2 Advanced Transfer Cache (ATC) is 1MB in size and delivers an extremely high data throughput channel between the level 2 Cache and the processor core. The Advanced Transfer Cache transfers data on each core clock. Features of the ATC include: •

Non-blocking, full speed, on-die Level 2 Cache

•

8-way set associativity

•

data clocked into and out of the cache every clock cycle

Advanced Branch Prediction and Data Prefetching The Intel Pentium M processor features an advanced branch prediction architecture that combines three types of predictors –Global, Bi-Modal and Loop Detector. The processor automatically selects the most optimal algorithm to use, significantly reducing the number of mis-predicted branches. The processor also features an advanced data prefetcher that can track up to 8 upstream and 4 downstream operations simultaneously. Data is perfected from main memory to the L2 Dept. of CSE

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cache in advance, resulting in higher performance by reducing the need to access system memory.

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Streaming SIMD Extensions 2(SSE2) The Intel Pentium M processor supports the complete SSE2 instruction set. These instructions include 128-bit SIMD integer arithmetic and 128-bit SIMD double-precision floatingpoint

operations.

These

instructions

reduce

the

overall

number of instructions required to execute a particular program task and as a result can contribute to an overall performance increase.

Features used for test and performance/thermal monitoring •

Built in Self test (BIST) provides single stuck at fault

coverage of the micro code and large logic arrays, as well as the testing of the instruction cache, data cache, translation look aside buffers(TLBs) and ROMs. •

IEEE 1149.1 standard test access port and boundary scan

mechanism enables testing of the Intel Pentium M Processor and system connections through a standard interface.

•

Internal

performance

counters

can

be

used

for

performance monitoring and event counting.

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•

Intel Centrino Mobile Technology

Includes an on–die thermal diode and Intel thermal

monitor feature for thermal management purpose. The Intel Pentium M processor features a new thermal monitor mode which uses Enhanced Intel Speed Step technology instead of clock

control.

This

technique

achieves

efficient

thermal

management with minimal performance impact.

•

The Intel Pentium M processor has a maximum junction

temperature (TJ) specification of 100 degree Celsius.

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4. INTEL 855PM CHIPSET PRODUCT FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS

As the next step in the evolution of Intel Hub architecture for note book PCs using Intel Centrino mobile technology, the Intel 855 PM Chipset was designed in tandem with the Intel Pentium M processor. The Intel 855 PM memory controller hub delivers support for either PC 1600 and PC 2100 DDR memory technology and a 400 MHz system bus , providing the latest graphics support through 1.5 v ADP4X technology. Together these features deliver the highest total bandwidth capabilities to the PC platform. The enhanced 82801 DBM I/O Controller Hub 4 (ICH4-M) delivers twice the I/O bandwidth over traditional bridge architecture and provides dedicated data path to fully optimize the additional bandwidth. The ICH4-M makes a direct connection from the graphics and memory for faster access to peripherals and provides the features and bandwidth required for a high performance note book PC. In addition to advanced application support , the Intel 855 chipset was designed with the following features to enhance the end-user experience:

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•

Intel Centrino Mobile Technology

400MHz system bus delivers a high bandwidth connection

between the Intel Pentium M processor and the platform •

The DDR channel memory delivers up to 2.1 GB per

second of memory bandwidth to the processor. High memory bandwidth,

coupled

with

an

efficient

protocol, deliver

a

balanced platform support and provide the memory bandwidth necessary to extract the highest performance from the Intel Pentium M processor. •

AGP4X interface allows graphics controllers to access main

memory over 1 GB/s, twice that of previous AGP platform •

Support

for

high

speed

USB

2.0

with

backward

compatibility with USB 1.1 •

AC97 2.2 interface with support for a third codec to

provide 20 bit resolution. The latest AC97 audio delivers six channels of audio for enhanced sound quality and full surround sound capability for live broadcast and other digital dashboard programming. •

LAN Connect Interface (LCI) provides flexible network

solutions such as home phone line, 10/100 Mbps Ethernet, and 10/100Mbps Ethernet with LAN manageability. •

Dual Ultra ATA-100 controllers support the fastest IDE

interface for transfer to storage devices. •

Support for ACPI-defined power states C1-C4, S1, S3-S5.

•

Support for enhanced Intel Speed Step Technology.

•

Support for “deeper sleep” power state.

•

Allows wake up from sleep states S1-S4.

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The 855PM Chipset is designed for low power and great performance supporting architectural features for power reduction techniques including: •

Chipset MCH core voltage reduced to 1.2V for reduced

power consumption •

Management of DDR SO-DIMM (platform) power by using

aggressive use of CKE Power-Down when memory interface is idle and enhancement of per-bank page-closing policy for the memory interface. •

Management of Intel 855PM MCH DDR I/O power with

aggressive tri-stating of control signals when not needed and partial drive of command signals when possible and including during idle cycles reducing toggle rates of control line. •

Support for DDR Read Throttling via External Thermal

Sensor to prevent memory overheating, disabling of I/O buffers and DDLs when possible, turning off Hub interface and Host PLLs also add to increased power savings for the 855PM chipset. Some of the features added to the Intel 855PM Chipset design to boost MCH performance include: •

Significant timing improvements to allow a robust DDR266

channel with a combination of significant logic changes and I/O changes. •

Shorter memory refresh sequence with shorter memory

controller queues provides additional bandwidth. •

Reduction in page miss occurrences due to significant

improvements in page closing algorithms

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5. INTEL PRO /WIRELESS 2100 NETWORK CONNECTION To access the Internet wirelessly, a laptop uses radio signals to communicate with a wireless LAN via base band circuitry, a media access controller, and a radio. (Centrino does this with three chips.) A wireless LAN operates with one of two IEEE standard protocols finalized in 1997 and differing in data rate and signal frequency. The two standards are the 802.11a and 802.11b, the latter often called Wi-Fi. The 802.11a operates at 5 GHz and can transmit data at up to 54 Mb/s. The 802.11b operates at 2.4 GHz and transmits data at 11 Mb/s. The two protocols are not compatible: a laptop equipped with 802.11b circuitry alone cannot access the Internet at a hotspot running 802.11a. A newer protocol, IEEE 802.11g, is being finalized and should be out this summer. It has the same data rate as 802.11a but operates on the same frequency as 802.11b and is compatible with it. According to Shane Rau, senior research analyst at International Data Corp. (Framingham, Mass.), Centrino’s success, at least initially, will not be due to its wireless component. First, it uses separate chips for the 802.11b base band and media access controller functions, whereas many companies combine them on the same chip, and so are able to provide a more compact two-chip set that includes the radio. Second, although dual-band a+b chips are being sold by Intersil Corp. (Irvine, Calif.), Atheros Communications Inc. Dept. of CSE

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(Sunnyvale, Calif.), and others, Intel’s chips contain only the radio for 802.11b and not the one for 802.11a. So a Centrinobased machine can access the Internet only at 802.11b hotspots. “The consensus is that to be competitive, you at least need a dual-band solution,” says Rau. Another source of dismay may well be that only one of the three chips, the media access controller, was designed and built by Intel. IDC’s Ken Furer told IEEE Spectrum that Intel’s original plan was to develop its own 802.11a+b chipset as a part of Centrino. “However, it was apparent Intel was still having some problems with the 802.11a RF component, so they launched Centrino in a tiered approach.” The current version uses an 802.11b base band chip that incorporates a good deal of intellectual property from Symbol Technologies Inc.

(Holtsville,

N.Y.)

and

is

manufactured

by

Texas

Instruments Inc. (Dallas). Intel is buying 802.11b radio chips from

Royal

Philips

Electronics

NV

(Amsterdam,

the

Netherlands). According to Intel spokesperson Howard High, the company had built 802.11a radio ICs before the Centrino launch, but decided it needed more time to ensure the chip lived up to Intel’s reliability and quality standards. The RF circuitry for 802.11a should be ready by midyear. The 802.11a base band circuitry is already part of the media access controller chip.

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Highlights of the Intel PRO/ wireless 2100 network connection include: •

Single band support ,providing the ability to connect to

802.11b networks •

Industry

standards

and

extended

wireless

security

support(WEP,802.1X and Cisco LEAP) •

Available Intel PROSet software with advanced profile

management support, allows multiple setup profiles to connect to different WLAN networks •

Available Intel PROSet software with automatic WLAN

switching support enables automatic switching between wired and wireless LAN connections •

Available

Intel

PROSet

software

supports

Cisco*,Checkpoint*,Microsoft* and Intel VPN connections •

Intel Wireless Coexistence system support enables

reduced interfernce between PRO /Wireless and Bluetooth* devices •

Per-packet antenna section enables optimized WLAN

performance •

Intel Intelligent Scanning Technology, reduces power by

controlling the frequency of scanning for access points •

Power Save Protocol(PSP) is a user selectable feature

with five different power states, which allows the user to make their own power versus performance choice when in battery mode.

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6. PERFORMANCE SUMMARY Mobile Experience- Mobile Mark *2002 Mobile Mark *2002 is used to evaluate notebook PC user experience by measuring both performance and battery life at the same time on the same workload. Mobile Mark *2002 is a tool that measures notebook PC performance on popular

business-

oriented

applications

in

Microsoft*

Windows* operating environment. The productivity usage model provides computations representing today’s business users using popular Office productivity and content creation applications. This usage model reports a performance score and a battery life score. The productivity workload of Mobile Mark *2002 consists of emerging usage model and popular productivity applications including; •

Adobe Photoshop 6.0.1

•

Macromedia Flash 5.0

•

McAfee Virus Scan 5.13

•

Microsoft Excel 2002

•

Microsoft Outlook 2002

•

Microsoft PowerPoint 2002

•

Netscape Communicator 6.0

•

WinZip 8.0

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7. CONCLUSION Although the wireless package is less than ideal, Centrino shines at improving battery life and performance. Power consumption is less than 60 percent that of the mobile version of Intel’s Pentium IV, while performance is better by 15 percent, as measured by the notebook PC benchmark Mobile Mark 2002. These pluses are largely due to Centrino’s centerpiece, the Pentium M processor, which was designed to save power by weighing the benefits of each processor function against its power consumption. Also, an enhanced version of Intel’s Speed- Step technology, included in the processor, saves power by stepping the operating voltage and frequency up or down to match the processing demands of the application running on the processor. Granted, previous Pentium mobile processors have also included SpeedStep. But for the Pentium M, designers have increased the number of steps over which frequency and voltage can be varied, to better match processor speeds to the needs of the application. Power is also saved by turning off clocks and circuits when they are not needed and running the secondary on chip cache more slowly than the processor. All told, then, laptop batteries can last much longer on a single charge. For example, Robert Enochs, IBM’s product manager for the T-

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series ThinkPad, told Spectrum that the company’s Centrinobased T40 can run up to 5.5 hours on a single charge of the standard T40 battery—almost three times the battery life of previous models. An optional high-capacity battery gives 7.2 hours of use, which can be extended a further 2.5 hours by plugging a second battery into the computer’s peripheral bay. The low power consumption can also do away with the need for fans, allowing notebook makers to design slimmer, lighter notebooks.

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8. REFERENCES

•

www.intel.com

•

www.pcquest.com

•

www.ibm.com

•

www.whitepapers.com

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Intel Centrino Mobile Technology

ABSTRACT Intel announced a new brand name for its next generation mobile processor technology: Centrino. It was designed to help manufactures to build notebooks that use less power and offer extended battery life along with better wireless networking facilities. Centrino family will also include supporting chipsets and wireless radio modules designed to allow new notebooks to use 802.11 wireless networking. The Pentium–M Chip runs at speed of about 1.4 GHz. Centrino extends its performance by adding features extended battery life and introducing enhanced speed step technology. The performance is also increased by using large caches. A wide range of notebook manufactures are expected to adopt the Centrino technology in a multitude of so called thin and light notebook models weighing 5 pounds or less.

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Intel Centrino Mobile Technology

CONTENTS 1.

Introduction

2.

Intel Pentium M processor

3.

Intel Pentium M processor Product Feature highlights

4.

Intel 855PM Chipset product feature highlights

5.

Intel PRO /Wireless 2100 Network Connection

6.

Performance Summary

7.

Conclusion

8.

Reference

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT I

express

Agnisarman

my

sincere

thanks

to

Prof.

M.N

Namboothiri (Head of the Department,

Computer Science and Engineering, MESCE),

Mr. Sminesh

(Staff incharge) for their kind co-operation for presenting the seminar. I also extend my sincere thanks to all other members of

the

faculty

of

Computer

Science

and

Engineering

Department and my friends for their co-operation and encouragement.

ARUN SIDHAN

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