Details leak of Intel Calpella notebook platform

Information has surfaced for Intel's future Calpella notebook platform, according to an alleged leak from companies that will produce mainboards based on the technology. The design will be the first mobile design to drop the need for separate northbridge and southbridge chipsets by moving the DDR3 memory controller and other typical northbridge components to the processor itself, which uses the new Nehalem architecture; a new bridge chip, nicknamed Ibex Peak-M, will handle all the remaining duties.

The processors attached to the platform can also integrate further components. While a traditional processor codenamed Clarksfield will depend on an external chip for graphics, a sibling known as Auburndale will build graphics into the processor itself. Intel itself has already confirmed that most processors built for Calpella will run on a smaller, cooler 32 nanometer manufacturing process and have improved power management.

Like the current Centrino 2 platform, wireless will be available through either an 802.11n Wi-Fi module (now referred to as Puma Peak) or an expanded WiMAX chipset (Kilmer Peak) that supports more wireless frequencies.

Calpella is reportedly scheduled to launch roughly a year after Centrino 2, appearing in summer 2009 along with Clarksfield and Auburndale. Intel is also slated to phase out today's 1.6GHz single-core Atom processor by the start of summer next year and will likely be replaced by a faster design.

Filed under: computers, industry
Other story tags: Intel, Atom, WiMAX, Nehalem, Calpella, Clarksfield, Auburndale