Intel plans 22nm, 15nm Atom

At the IDF 2010 in San Francisco, Intel not only announced the Atom E610 for embedded systems and the Atom CE4200 Processor for consumer electronics devices, but also demonstrated the future roadmap of the Atom family.

The Atom family will also become increasingly large under the escalating semiconductor process support. From now on, Intel Atom product line has been divided into five series, namely Atom N series for netbooks, Atom D series for minicomputers, Atom Z series for handheld devices, Atom CE series for consumer electronics, and embedded devices. Atom E series, the production process will evolve simultaneously.

The newly announced Atom E610 and CE4200 development codenames are Bonnell and Tunnel Creek, respectively, and are manufactured on 45nm process. The corresponding next-generation product codes are Saltwell and Stellarton, which will be upgraded to 32nm process.

In the future, Intel will also introduce Atom processors with a 22nm process or even a 15nm process across the board. What is the concept of 15nm? 1nm is equivalent to the width of several atoms side by side, DNA molecules are only about 2nm, 15nm is almost 60 atoms.

Intel will officially launch 22nm process in the second half of next year. The timing of 15nm has not yet been announced. However, if it is following Intel's consistent approach, it may become a reality in late 2012 or early 2013. Of course, it will definitely be a year or two later on various Atoms.

From smart phones to tablet PCs, from in-car systems to web TVs, Intel Atom is gradually seeping into every area and the future may really be everywhere.