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Transmeta Unveils 256-bit Microprocessor Plans
nam37 writes "PCWorld has an article about how Transmeta has outlined its initial plans for a new 256-bit microprocessor dubed the TM8000. They claim it will offer significant advantages over their current TM5x00 line of chips. The processor will be a switch to a 256-bit VLIW (very long instruction word), allowing twice as many instructions in one clock cycle and greater energy efficiency." The article also touches on the popularity Transmeta enjoys in Japan, noting that 92% (CD: corrected from 55%) of the company's revenue comes from there.
From the article:
In the first quarter of the current fiscal year, 92 percent of Transmeta's net revenue came from Japan, a figure which is up from 55 percent in the year earlier.
In other words, in the first quarter, 92% of their revenue was from Japan. Last year during the first quarter, 55% of their revenue was from Japan.
That could mean anything, btw.
That's just what I was thinking. I am rocking the house with 32 bits of athlon XP, what the hell am I going to do with 256 bits? Unless the CPU (which is a very kind term for the transmeta kludge, last I checked) (and no I didn't read the article) can partition itself into 8 seperate 32-bit machines, what's in it for me?
...now we can have 64-digit hexadecimal constants! This is certainly a much-needed advance!
Washington, DC: It's like Hollywood for ugly people.
This marketing-speak is silly. They will fetch a 256 bit VLIW word. I guess the Itanium is a 128 bit machine since it fetches a 128 bit word. By convention, when someone says they have a 64 or 32 bit processor, they are referring to the datapath. The width of the ALUs and the number of bits used to address memory.
If a really low power processor was useful, then Intel or AMD would already have an ultra-low power product out the door to fulfill the market need.
Transmeta claims they can get equivalent performance at much lower power. This is a dubious claim given that their past products have fallen far short of this goal. Their customers are few and far between and the stock price has reacted accordingly.