Intel Releases 32-Bit Emulation Technology For Itanium

The compiler will enable emulation of the 32-bit software over the Itanium platform and, with the tools Intel is making available, will give applications on the 64-bit platform performance equal to that on a 1.5GHz Xeon processor, said Mike Fister, senior vice president and general manager of Intel's Enterprise Platforms Group.

It is available now for the Microsoft Windows platform but will eventually be available for Linux, executives said.

For now, the IA-32 Execution Layer (IA-32 EL) is supported on Microsoft's Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition for 64-bit Itanium-based systems, Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition for 64-bit Itanium-based systems and Windows XP 64-bit Edition.

"As we turn up the frequency of an Itanium, software emulation code will continue to run faster, [between] 50 percent and 70 percent of native, Itanium performance," Fister said.

Previously, 32-bit software applications that ran on Itanium were constrained in performance.

By providing emulation for 32-bit applications on Itanium, Intel is directly attacking one of the chief value propositions of the Opteron processor, which is made by Intel rival Advanced Micro Devices. The 64-bit Opteron, launched by AMD last year, is natively backward-compatible with 32-bit software.

Fister said market conditions were improving but said technology spending in the enterprise continues to be targeted.

"Some of the top 100 are buying $50 million worth of computers, and a lot of that is for servers," Fister said. "We are seeing that IT spending is going up, but customers are being cautious about their spending. That has been a catalyst to buy Itanium as a replacement for more expensive RISC servers."

Fister and other Intel executives made the announcement during what they called an "Enterprise State of the Union," where the company also unveiled a series of other enhancements to its higher-end road map.

Intel said it would be able to provide a processor core for Itanium that will be half the size of its 32-bit Xeon processors. That would allow twice the number of cores per each die Intel produces during the manufacturing process. "We, very consciously, for the first time today said the Itanium core is smaller than the IA-32 core," said Lisa Graff, Intel's director of Itanium's worldwide ramp. "It's a very big deal. It's that capability, while maybe uninteresting today, when you get to the multicore [processor that] gives you the incredible performance."

Intel also said it was on track to release its Xeon-based, Nocona processing platforms--with forthcoming Lindenhurst and Tumwater chipsets--in the second quarter. The technology would include a faster front-side bus, PCI-Express, DDR2 and dual Gigabit Ethernet capability.

In addition, the company said that during 2004 it would provide new PNI instructions for its Xeon platform, as well as an 800MHz front-side bus, PCI Express and enhanced power management technology for Xeon.

Other announcements included Intel saying it would produce a four-processor, Xeon MP server blade in the first quarter and roll out Itanium-based blade servers by next year. The new enhancements could provide opportunities for solution providers in migrating customers to the IA 64 platform.

"If their customers had bought RISC, Itanium becomes a big opportunity to capture new business," Graff said. "It gives the channel an edge over their competition."

Rochelle Garner contributed to this article.