Intel unveils IoT-enhanced processors

On Sep. 23 at the Intel Industrial Summit 2020, Intel introduced new enhanced internet of things (IoT) capabilities, with the release of its 11th Gen Intel Core processors, Intel Atom x6000E series, and Intel Pentium and Celeron N and J series. The new chips bring new artificial intelligence (AI), security, functional safety and real-time capabilities to edge computing customers.

"With a robust hardware and software portfolio, an unparalleled ecosystem and 15,000 customer deployments globally, Intel is providing robust solutions for the $65 billion edge silicon market opportunity by 2024. By 2023, up to 70% of all enterprises will process data at the edge," observed John Healy, Intel's vice president of the Internet of Things Group and general manager of Platform Management and Customer Engineering. He added, "The 11th Gen Intel Core processors, Intel Atom x6000E series, and Intel Pentium and Celeron N and J series processors represent our most significant step forward yet in enhancements for IoT, bringing features that address our customers’ current needs, while setting the foundation for capabilities with advancements in AI and 5G.”

After working closely with its customers to build proofs of concept, optimize solutions and collect feedback, the company says that the technology innovations delivered with its 11th Gen Intel Core processors, Intel Atom x6000E series, and Intel Pentium and Celeron N and J series processors are a response to challenges felt across the IoT industry: namely, edge complexity, total cost of ownership and a range of environmental conditions.

Building on its recently announced client processors, Intel says its 11th Gen Core silicon is enhanced specifically for essential IoT applications that require high-speed processing, computer vision and low-latency deterministic computing. The new chip delivers up to a 23% performance gain in single-thread performance, a 19% gain in multithread performance and up to a 2.95x performance gain in graphics over the previous generation of the platform.

New dual-video decode boxes allow the processor to ingest up to 40 simultaneous video streams at 1080p 30 frames per second and output up to four channels of 4K or two channels of 8K video. AI-inferencing algorithms can run on up to 96 graphic execution units (INT8) or run on the CPU with vector neural network instructions (VNNI) built in. Leveraging the Intel Time Coordinated Computing (Intel TCC Technology) and time-sensitive networking (TSN) technologies, the 11th Gen processors enable real-time computing demands while delivering deterministic performance across a variety of use cases, including those for:

Industrial sector: Mission-critical control systems (PLC, robotics, etc.), industrial PCs and human-machine interfaces.
Retail, banking and hospitality: Intelligent, immersive digital signage, interactive kiosks and automated checkout.
Healthcare: Next-generation medical imaging devices with high-resolution displays and AI-powered diagnostics.
Smart city: Smart network video recorders with onboard AI inferencing and analytics.

Intel’s 11th Gen Core processors already have over 90 partners committed to delivering solutions to meet customers’ demands.

For their part, the Intel Atom x6000E series and Intel Pentium and Celeron N and J series processors represent Intel’s first processor platform enhanced for IoT. The company says the new silicon delivers: enhanced real-time performance and efficiency; up to 2 times better 3D graphics; a dedicated real-time offload engine; the Intel Programmable Services Engine, which supports out-of-band and in-band remote device management; enhanced I/O and storage options; and integrated 2.5GbE time-sensitive networking.

These chips can support 4Kp60 resolution on up to three simultaneous displays, meet strict functional safety requirements with the Intel Safety Island, and include built-in hardware-based security. These processors have a variety of use cases, including:

Industrial: Real-time control systems and devices that meet functional safety requirements for industrial robots and for chemical, oil field and energy grid-control applications.
Transportation: Vehicle controls, fleet monitoring and management systems that synchronize inputs from multiple sensors and direct actions in semiautonomous buses, trains, ships and trucks.
Healthcare: Medical displays, carts, service robots, entry-level ultrasound machines, gateways and kiosks that require AI and computer vision with reduced energy consumption.
Retail and hospitality: Fixed and mobile point-of-sale systems for retail and quick service restaurant with high-resolution graphics.

The Intel Atom x6000E series and Intel Pentium and Celeron N and J series already have over 100 partners committed to delivering solutions.

At the Intel Industrial Summit, Intel brought the Industrial IoT (IIoT) ecosystem together to address their specific challenges while expanding what’s possible for tomorrow’s autonomous operations. With over 40 partners and sessions plus nine demos, customers learned about secure, interoperable, integrated solutions available to transform their business by reducing the time, costs and risks that come with IIoT deployments. Learn more.