Intel Gets PA-RISC Engineers

Doctor_D writes "Well it looks like Intel has done it again. They have absorbed more processor engineers, this time from HP. Alpha is gone, PA-RISC is going, what's going to be left? MIPS? SPARC? AMD? Crusoe? "

Comments

Linux jobs, HP-Intel partnership

[Bruce Perens]

Not my official HP hat on, folks. I'm making this posting on my own, not speaking for the company.

Before you protest too much: They are adding Linux positions, and the money has to come from somewhere.

HP has been transitioning its processor operation to Intel for years. HP partnered with Intel to develop the IA-64 architecture. Did anyone think that PA-RISC would continue in parallel to that forever?

The world has some very serious single-source issues regarding high-end silicon in general. The fabrication lines have become so incredibly expensive as chips become more dense that most companies have given up on new CPU fab construction. And you can't make new chips with those old FABs. Perhaps we'll be lucky and there will be a revolution in microfabrication technology, but I've not heard of one on the horizon.

Another place where this hurts us is in high-end graphics, where we are down to two manufacturers.

I'd like to see more work on Open Sourced processor designs that run in field-programmable logic. This is a place where we can innovate without the expense of a fab, and then when we have good ideas that get proven, people can fab them.

Thanks

Bruce