← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Centinel
Thread ID: 14854 | Posts: 3 | Started: 2004-08-29
2004-08-29 15:49 | User Profile
One word: [url=http://www.x86-64.org/]AMD64[/url]
From Haaretz: [url]http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/470428.html[/url]
Intel CTO: Israel is key to our R&D
By Oded Hermoni August 29, 2004
It is August 29, 2008. Your earring is ringing. Grandma - who suffers from Alzheimer's - is on the line telling you how the bedroom wall reminded her of her name, which she had recently forgotten, and that she was supposed to call you now.
You are so excited your pulse and blood pressure rise. Not a few seconds pass before you hear call-waiting beeping in your earring. Now your doctor is on the line, saying implanted sensors detected unusual excitement and asking if everything is all right.
This is just one possible scenario from the not-too-distant future thanks to recent research by Intel Corporation Chief Technology Officer Pat Gelsinger, the man in charge of an annual development budget of $4-5 billion.
Gelsinger visited Israel last week and granted an exclusive interview to Haaretz
Gelsinger's unwired vision crosses borders and disciplines. It leads Intel way beyond chipmaking and opens horizons like wireless and medical devices.
Gelsinger believes in integrating disciplines. "We plan chips for smart homes that will include a variety of wireless functions: sensors that enable non-invasive remote monitoring of patients; special houses for Alzheimer's patients that will remind them of the date, personal details and to take their meds; and chips that operate the house or car according to our needs as soon as we approach," he says.
A meeting with Gelsinger feels like "Back to the Future." In a small room in Intel's Petah Tikva development center, all the science fiction blockbusters of the past few years - from "Minority Report" to "Terminator" and "2010" - appear more realistic than ever as Gelsinger speaks about his plans and Intel's.
Three years ago, Gelsinger presented his vision for "Radio Free Intel," a research pilgrimage seeking the wireless connection of all electronic appliances - from computers to digital wristwatches - that would have new wireless chips and innovative antennas as well as relevant regulatory advances.
The technology sector was skeptical about Gelsinger's vision then, as Intel tried to enter the new arena with virtually no experience in radio technology. But last week, after various delays, Intel completed its central building block in the Gelsinger vision when it announced a single chip that will include 3G cellular communications, Wi-Fi wireless communications and the promising new protocol WiMAX which provides wireless broadband communications over long distances.
Gelsinger said Intel's Israeli development center is its most important after the U.S. in the Radio Free vision, which has become Intel corporate strategy.
Regarding Intel's future plans in Israel, Gelsinger states, "There is no threat on the horizon to Israel's importance as a central development center for Intel, which is far more important than if we build another plant here or not. I see a constant process of maturation and improvement since my first visit to Israel in the mid-'80s. Today Israel is developing Intel's most important products outside the research handled in the U.S."
"The idea is to combine all the wireless capabilities of every appliance so people have access to technology from every place - where there is 3G cellular reception, they will use cell service. If they enter an area with WiMAX coverage, they will roam to that technology. The chips will include a satellite-guided global positioning map and be embedded in any computer or electrical appliance, like handhelds and cellular devices. This process will have many business models," says Gelsinger, whose eyes shine as he speaks. "Everything progresses very quickly in this world. Two or three years ago, we didn't even know there would be WiMAX technology and here it is central to our vision. So our goal is to create flexible systems, so that in five years, when the Centrino 5 or 6 comes out, we won't need to build special chips for every new network invented. There will just be software updates. People will be connected to technology everywhere, all the time. The sensors will identify us and the service will not require passwords or special network connections," he says.
Gelsinger does not believe that laptop or desktop computers will disappear. He thinks they will still be around in another five years despite competition from handheld computers and other instruments. "We are looking at other new technologies, like holograms, but I am sure computers will continue to be part of our lives."
Thinking about big brother
Gelsinger's future plans, in which we are always connected to a network and it identifies every move we make, also create discomfort and fears of the use of technology for the kind of surveillance envisaged in Orwell's "1984." Gelsinger admits that this bothers him and occupies his thoughts, too. "We are investing a great deal of thought in finding ways to prevent abuse of technology for improper aims. There is a sort of mutual concession - I want to know where my son is at all times, but I don't want anyone else to monitor him. There is a need to balance the right to privacy with the technological capability to connect," he says.
"We don't make policy. We make chips. But 20 years ago we never thought we would be dealing in questions like security from privacy infringement, we focused on making chips. Now I have a whole department on technological policy that deals with questions like the right to privacy and how it can be protected. Things have undoubtedly changed. I believe these matters are critical," says Gelsinger.
Another area that Gelsinger has promoted in recent years is pro-active computing. "The computer won't just get orders from us, it will calculate in advance what we want according to habits and will prepare accordingly."
Isn't he worried he could create a Frankenstein that will turn on its creator?
Gelsinger admits he cannot ignore those fears. "We are still very far from that. Machines are still far from controlling a human mind, which is far more advanced. Brains work in parallel while computers execute orders linearly. But we are constantly careful in technological barter, not to lose the edge."
Moore's Law
One of the consistent questions in technology concerns Moore's Law. Intel founder Gordon Moore said a few decades back that the number of transistors on each silicon chip doubles every 18 months. Gelsinger thinks the law will continue to be true at least through 2010 when nanotechnology will make 10 billion transistors per chip able to process data at speds of 30 gigahertz. "It is true there is debate surrounding Moore's Law, but we already can project 20 years forward to where the industry is developing and we already are experimenting in 2 micron manufacturing technologies [current chips use 65-90 micron manufacturing technologies - O.H]."
But Moore's Law has another component that many forget - the cost of building chip plants, known as fabs, also increases with each leap in the number of transistors per chip. Gelsinger agrees, "It mandates consolidation. There will be few players who can build chips. The cost of a fab reaches $3 billion and building a new one every two years - that is a huge expenditure." One solution to reducing the cost, which Israeli start-ups have offered recently, is printing chips like radio frequency identification. Gelsinger says that solution is interesting for the market but unsuited for cutting edge technologies.
2004-08-29 17:01 | User Profile
I am confuse about this post, is it a propganda posting for the Jews?
The walls, ceiling and even the toilet* will spy on us,,,,,old news.
Intel is building "another" factory in the state of Israel and by doing that taking more jobs away from the good people of the US.
*About the toilet,,,,,,, Japan is using a toilet that when you sit it will check, aoutomaticlly, your blod preassure, your urine, your stool and more,,,,,,,and then it will pass the info to your doctor,,,,, all you have to do is to sit down.
2004-08-29 17:12 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Ponce]I am confuse about this post, is it a propganda posting for the Jews?
Someone on LF speculated it was boilerplate PR by Intel and the Israeli media dressed up as "news."