Nvidia Aims at MIDs with New Tegra Processors

On Monday, Nvidia formally launched its Tegra chip, an integrated CPU that the company is targeting at the Mobile Internet Device (MID) space.

Nvidia also lassoed the APX 2500, a chip that the company launched earlier this year for smartphones running the Windows Mobile operating system, and has rebranded it under the Tegra name. However, the new Tegra 600 and 650 will be Nvidia's focus as it tries to penetrate the MID space.

In some ways, the thrust toward integration in the compact mobile Internet device space is reminiscent of the early days of the integrated X86 processors, spearheaded by devices like the National Semiconductor Geode, a product later purchased by AMD. Intel has tried to create a market around its Atom processor and its Menlow platform, that Nvidia claims is too like a normal PC chipset, and therefore too complex and expensive.

"Historically, if you look at mobile computing, a MID is an attempt to basically take a mobile computer and make it smaller and smaller and smaller," said Mike Rayfield, general manager of Nvidia's mobile and handheld division. "It's like trying to dehydrate a notebook computer and turn it into a MID."

Instead, Nvidia started from the ground up, designing the Tegra to minimize power. The Tegra architecture, according to Rayfield, is 193 sq. mm including a peripheral chip; that's a tenth the size of the Menlow platform, he said. Assuming a battery of 30 watt/hours, the new Tegra chips can play back 720p video for 30 hours continuously.

Future generations of the Tegra line will continue to emphasize battery life, pushing up performance while maintaining idle power consumption under 10 milliwatts.

Instead of the Atom, an ARM11 core is at the heart of the Tegra, surrounded by audio and video decode engines as well as ultra-low-power GeForce graphics and peripheral blocks. The chip can be run either under the Windows CE or Windows Mobile operating systems.

Two versions of the Tegra will be available: the 600, which runs at 700 MHz, provides resolutions of up to 1280 x 1024 and can render up to 720p video; and the 700, which runs at 800 MHz, renders up to resolutions of 1680 x 1050 and can provide full 1080p playback.

According to Rayfield, the response to the MID concept has been "amazing": "We really think that there is something there," he said. Personally, Nvidia refers to it as a "lifestyle" PC, one that can do some light work on the road, but is really geared more toward entertainment. An HDMI interface could also be bolted on to allow playback of hi-def videos in a hotel room, he said.

(taken from: here)