Intel Readies Industry To Deliver Next-Generation, Power-Efficient Mobile Computing Platforms

Intel Mobile Power Initiative Enables Future High-performance Mobile PCs While Preserving Battery Life

PALM SPRINGS, Calif., Sept. 16, 1998 - Marking the kick-off of the second day of the Intel Developer Forum (IDF), Intel Corporation today announced several advancements to the Mobile Power Initiative to enable high-performance, power-efficient mobile PCs. Intel's latest contributions to the Mobile Power Initiative include the Mobile Power Guidelines 2000, new low-power microprocessors, and improved tools to support the development of power-efficient hardware and software.

"A significant challenge facing the mobile computing industry is balancing increased system performance and capabilities, while managing the unique thermal and power consumption requirements of the mobile PC platform," said Robert Jecmen, vice president and general manager, Intel's Mobile and Handheld Products Group. "Intel's Mobile Power Initiative is a broad industry effort to address this challenge and offer users the latest mobile computing technology in a variety of form factors, while preserving system battery life."

Jecmen delivered a keynote address today at IDF entitled "Advancing Mobile Computing," in which he highlighted the Mobile Power Initiative and Intel's focus on mobile platform technical design challenges. The challenges include optimizing for performance and low power, lowering total cost of ownership and platform cost, and seamless connectivity.

First announced in September 1997, Intel's Mobile Power Initiative is a comprehensive, cross-industry effort that focuses on three key areas for managing power consumption on mobile PCs: system hardware, system software and application software. The Mobile Power Initiative has received tremendous industry support from over 35 leading suppliers of mobile components, PC systems and software.

System Hardware
Today Intel released its latest Mobile Power Guidelines 2000 for industry review. These guidelines, developed in conjunction with the mobile industry's leading PC OEMs and IHVs, set power targets for each component on the mobile PC platform and provide design recommendations for meeting these targets for systems in the year 2000. The Mobile Power Guidelines 2000 hold the power consumption of the mobile platform flat from systems in 1999, while significantly increasing performance and capability. For the first time, the Mobile Power Guidelines 2000 also span the full spectrum of mobile PCs, with power consumption targets for emerging form factors such as mini-notebook systems.

Intel is demonstrating its commitment to the Mobile Power Guidelines by delivering microprocessors specifically designed for the mobile market within the assigned power targets. For example, Intel's recently introduced mobile Pentium® II processor 300 MHz delivers higher performance at about the same power consumption as the 266-MHz version. The mobile Pentium II processor family includes an innovative, low-power Quick Start mode, which drops processor power consumption when the mobile PC is idle or inactive, preserving the battery life of systems. Additionally, Intel is introducing a new low-power Pentium processor with MMX™ technology 266 MHz to enable higher-performance mini-notebook PCs. In order to meet the power consumption and battery life requirements of the mini-notebook form factor, Intel reduced the 266-MHz processor core voltage from 2.0 volts to 1.8 volts, thereby reducing its power to less than 5 watts thermal design power (TDP) typical.

In addition, Intel's hardware tool, the Intel® Power Analyst (IPA), can assist PC OEMs in measuring individual system components to evaluate whether or not they meet the power targets.

System Software
Intel is providing development tools and guidelines to help ensure that systems supporting the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) provide a new level of power efficiency through operating system-directed power management. ACPI, developed by Intel, Microsoft* and Toshiba*, is available in systems today and is expected to continue to improve power management capabilities and battery life of mobile PCs.

The Intel Power Management and Analysis tool measures system power consumption in various ACPI states, which allows operating system vendors and PC system manufacturers to optimize their ACPI system power management. By measuring power and response time in different device power management states, developers can recognize the effects of power management policy and make the appropriate modifications. The latest version of this tool allows developers to make measurements from the notebook battery, making it optimal for use on mobile PCs.

Application Software
Intel is working with software vendors to provide tools that enable the development of power-efficient applications. Using the Intel Power Monitor (IPM) to optimize software code for improved power efficiency, dozens of software vendors have designed their applications to be "power-friendly" for mobile PCs. A new IPM version 3.1 is available today and supports Microsoft Windows* 98 and ACPI. More information on the Intel Mobile Power Initiative and its related tools and specifications can be found at developer.intel.com/design/mobile/intelpower.

The Intel Developer Forum is a three-day intensive semiannual forum providing hardware OEMs and IHVs in-depth information on Intel technologies and initiatives. More information on the Intel Developer Forum can be found at developer.intel.com/idf/. Updated information between Intel Developer Forums is available by subscribing to the Intel Developer Update Magazine at www.intel.com/update/.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.