Intel wants to offer smaller-form-factor FPGAs aimed at the industrial, automobile, telecommunications, retail, and medical device industries where power economy is more important than performance, therefore boosting competitive pressure on AMD’s Xilinx.
Sundance Mesa is the codename for a new chip that will be added to the Agilex family of FPGAs by the Santa Clara, California-based business. When released to consumers next year, it will supposedly provide over 60% higher performance per watt than AMD’s Xilinx processors.
Intel Hopes To Make More Out OF Their Acquisition
FPGAs, or field-programmable gate arrays, are specialized processors that can be reprogrammed at any moment to meet the changing needs of a given application or to accommodate emerging technical requirements. The result is chips that can handle specific tasks more effectively than a regular, general-purpose CPU. When compared to ASICs, which are purpose-built semiconductors, FPGAs provide far greater versatility.
Briefing attendees before its Innovation event, Intel unveiled a new product roadmap that includes mid-range Agilex FPGAs for the edge and embedded sectors, where it is essential to process data locally to keep system-level latency in control and conserve power that is at a premium on the edge. The company’s Cyclone, Arria, and Stratix FPGAs built on the 20-nm, 28-nm, and other obsolete manufacturing nodes will be phased out in favor of the new devices.
U.S. chipmaker Xilinx has been gaining market share at the expense of AMD in recent years, but AMD’s acquisition of the FPGA behemoth Xilinx for $49 billion at the beginning of the year has prompted Xilinx’s management to claim that the company is now ready to become a stronger rival to AMD.
Longtime Intel executive Shannon Poulin, who CEO Pat Gelsinger elevated last year to lead the company’s programmable solutions business, described the event as “somewhat of a coming out celebration” (PSG). Intel is working hard to reclaim its position as the industry standard for chip production. The ambitious plan Gelsinger 2021 has laid forth for the years 2021-2025 includes the annual release of a new generation of process technology.
