英特爾的愿景:萬物聯(lián)網(wǎng)
上圖為英特爾的“愛迪生”開發(fā)平臺(tái),它也是英特爾公司豪賭物聯(lián)網(wǎng)的核心產(chǎn)品之一。
圖片提供:Intel
????英特爾當(dāng)初錯(cuò)過了搶占移動(dòng)市場(chǎng)的先手,被AMD和高通鉆了空子。但眼下,英特爾決心豪賭計(jì)算領(lǐng)域的下一次大變革:物聯(lián)網(wǎng),讓英特爾的芯片進(jìn)入一切有形的物體。 ????今年六月,英特爾(Intel)披露了一些處理器技術(shù)的重大進(jìn)展。首先是推出了英特爾的下一代至強(qiáng)融核(Xeon Phi)處理器。據(jù)英特爾公司自行估計(jì),未來五年,這款處理器將給它的高性能計(jì)算業(yè)務(wù)帶來每年20%的收入增長(zhǎng)點(diǎn)。同時(shí),英特爾還公布了Atom芯片的新架構(gòu)。Atom可以說是芯片界的萬金油,從平板電腦到汽車,幾乎隨處都是它大顯身手之地。另外,英特爾還對(duì)正在研發(fā)中的很多處理器項(xiàng)目(如Bay Trail、Merrifield、Avaton和Rangely等等)進(jìn)行了升級(jí)。 ????英特爾的這番大手筆充分彰顯了它對(duì)未來的雄心壯志,以及它致力于開發(fā)所謂“物聯(lián)網(wǎng)”的決心。更重要的是,它彰顯了英特爾絕不放棄計(jì)算行業(yè)另一次重大變革的決心。 ????雖然英特爾是全球最大的半導(dǎo)體產(chǎn)品制造商,但它在移動(dòng)計(jì)算行業(yè)無疑起步較晚。雖然英特爾一直主宰著超級(jí)計(jì)算機(jī)和個(gè)人電腦市場(chǎng),但近年來由于對(duì)移動(dòng)市場(chǎng)的突然崛起缺乏遠(yuǎn)見(又或許是時(shí)機(jī)把握得不好),使得AMD和高通(Qualcomm)等競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手得以在這個(gè)快速崛起的市場(chǎng)上從容地竊取不少市場(chǎng)份額。隨著PC銷量逐漸下滑(英特爾有70%左右的收入來自PC市場(chǎng)),英特爾顯然已經(jīng)意識(shí)到繼續(xù)墨守成規(guī)的命運(yùn)。它不打算第二次錯(cuò)過這條船。 ????英特爾公司的未來學(xué)家、首席工程師布萊恩?大衛(wèi)?約翰遜指出:“我們已經(jīng)見證了世界的屏幕化,我們也在讓我們的計(jì)算能力順應(yīng)這種環(huán)境進(jìn)行轉(zhuǎn)變。”也就是把以智能手機(jī)和平板電腦為中心的計(jì)算能力,向以可穿戴技術(shù)和物聯(lián)網(wǎng)技術(shù)為中心的計(jì)算能力轉(zhuǎn)變?!皬那拔覀?cè)?jīng)問過自己:‘我們可以把臺(tái)式電腦縮小到可以放在人們的膝蓋上嗎?我們能把筆記本電腦縮小到能放到人們的口袋里嗎?’當(dāng)時(shí)問題總是‘我們能做到嗎?’但是現(xiàn)在,隨著承載重要計(jì)算能力的芯片尺寸縮小到幾乎可以忽略不計(jì),大家?guī)缀蹩梢园讶魏螙|西變成一臺(tái)電腦。因此現(xiàn)在的問題也就變成了:‘我們想把什么東西變成一臺(tái)電腦?為什么?’” |
????After missteps in mobile, Intel is betting big on the next big shift in computing: The Internet of Things. ????In June, Intel pulled back the veil on a number of significant advancements in processing technology. It introduced its next-generation Xeon Phi processor, a piece of technology that the company predicts will drive 20 percent annual revenue growth in its high-performance computing business in the next few years. It announced new architecture for its versatile Atom chip, found in everything from tablet computers to cars. And it offered an update to the myriad processor projects—Bay Trail! Merrifield! Avaton! Rangely!—in development. ????Much of this plays into Intel’s vision of the future, one that signals the company’s commitment to developing the so-called Internet of Things—and, perhaps more important, its intense desire not to miss out on another major shift in computing. ????The world’s largest maker of semiconductors was, without question, a late entrant to the mobile computing space. Though Intel has historically dominated the supercomputing and personal computer markets, its lack of foresight (or timing) for the sudden and rapid growth of the mobile market allowed competitors like AMD and Qualcomm to steal market share in the fastest-growing computing arena. With PC sales declining—Intel derives some 70 percent of its revenues from the PC market—the chipmaker is certainly aware of its own mortality. It doesn’t plan to miss the boat a second time. ????“We’ve seen the screenification of the world, and now we’re moving to computational power in the environment,” says Brian David Johnson, Intel’s resident futurist and principal engineer, of the transition from smartphone- and tablet-centric computing toward wearable technology and other new types of computing that comprise the Internet of Things. “Before, we had to ask ourselves, ‘Can we take a desktop and make it fit onto somebody’s lap? Can we take a laptop and make it small enough to fit in somebody’s pocket?’ The question was always, ‘Can we do it?’ But now, as the size of meaningful computing power approaches zero, you can turn anything into a computer. So the question now becomes, ‘What do we want to turn into a computer, and why?’” |
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