StyM
04-16-2007, 09:29 PM
source here (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070416-intels-spring-idf-brings-details-on-penryn-soc-plans-and-discrete-gpu.html)
Gelsigner briefly introduced the QuickAssist initiative as an accompaniment to Tolopai. Much like AMD's Torrenza platform, the idea behind QuickAssist is to enable more widespread use of accelerator chips in servers.
There isn't much technical detail available yet, so at this stage it's difficult to gauge the prospects of Intel's initial stab at a coprocessor ecosystem effort. The main questions that need answering are:
* Is QuickAssist based on Intel's forthcoming common systems interconnect (CSI)?
* What kind of licensing will Intel offer third-party accelerator makers?
The answer to the first question is almost certainly "yes," and the answer to the second is probably "something similar to what AMD offers with coherent HyperTransport (cHT)." But we'll have to wait for precise answers to these questions.
One novel aspect of QuickAssist that appears to separate it from Torrenza is Intel's planned Accelerator Abstraction Layer (AAL) middleware package. This software layer will provide an interface to the different accelerators in the systems, making it easier for applications to manage them.
Gelsigner briefly introduced the QuickAssist initiative as an accompaniment to Tolopai. Much like AMD's Torrenza platform, the idea behind QuickAssist is to enable more widespread use of accelerator chips in servers.
There isn't much technical detail available yet, so at this stage it's difficult to gauge the prospects of Intel's initial stab at a coprocessor ecosystem effort. The main questions that need answering are:
* Is QuickAssist based on Intel's forthcoming common systems interconnect (CSI)?
* What kind of licensing will Intel offer third-party accelerator makers?
The answer to the first question is almost certainly "yes," and the answer to the second is probably "something similar to what AMD offers with coherent HyperTransport (cHT)." But we'll have to wait for precise answers to these questions.
One novel aspect of QuickAssist that appears to separate it from Torrenza is Intel's planned Accelerator Abstraction Layer (AAL) middleware package. This software layer will provide an interface to the different accelerators in the systems, making it easier for applications to manage them.