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The Meaning Behind Intel Code Names?

Posted by Cliff on from the have-fun-with-it dept.

Scozza asks: "In the name of science and decency, we have been trying to find the meanings of the code names used by Intel for their processors. The only problem is that we can't find links to a couple of names and would really appreciate it if Slashdot could help fill the blanks!"

10 of 84 comments (clear)

  1. Cascades by HughsOnFirst · · Score: 3, Informative

    The mountains from which many of the rivers used as names for Intel chips flow.
    I hear the cascades are made mostly of silicon with some trace impuritys , just like Intel chips

  2. Re:Names... by UnknowingFool · · Score: 3, Informative
    Tejas is the Spanish name for Texas.

    Tejas was named by the Spanish after the Tejas Indians.

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  3. Suggestions... by complete+loony · · Score: 5, Informative
    Banias:
    "The term [Banias] is widely used to identify members of the traditional mercantile or business castes of India... "

    Alderwood:
    "Browse real estate and homes for sale by area! Washington State Snohomish County Lynnwood Alderwood"

    Caswell County

    Cascades?

    --
    09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.
  4. Additions... by zamboni1138 · · Score: 5, Informative
    Intel has a lot of bases around Oregon, allow me to help out a little:

    • Alderwood is the name of a street in Portland, if you've ever had to go the FedEx location at the airport, you've been on Alderwood and Cornfoot.

    • Foster is also a street in Portland. The topless bar at 92nd and Foster is quite the hole.

    • Tualain is also a burb of Portland, on the west side, which is where all of the Intel locations are. Large numbers of Intelers probably reside here.

    • Yamhill is also a county in Oregon, very near where most of the Intel locations are (I think all are in Washington county). Lots of wine grapes are made in Yamhill.

    • Prescott is also a street in Portland.

    • Cascades is of course a reference to the cascade range of rock piles, Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, and the Three Sisters being a few of the bigger name mounts in the range.

  5. Keeping with the body of water theme... by TechnoPops · · Score: 2, Informative

    After some quick Googling, Alderwood seems to be a lake in Wisconsin, and Caswell a lake in Mississippi.

    --
    "Each time you smile, it'll only last awhile. Life may be scary, but it's only temporary."
  6. Missing Codenames by GreenHell · · Score: 5, Informative

    This isn't explanations of missing codenames, but rather ones you're missing since I see that you have the Pentium II (Klamath, Deschutes), but not the Celerons from the same era. So, here they are:

    Covington: A city in Kentucky, Washington, Georgia (the US state, not the country), Virginia, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania.
    Mendocino: A city in California

    --
    "I won't mod you down - I feel the need to call you a twit explicitly, rather than by implication."
  7. Re:Names... by Monkelectric · · Score: 2, Informative
    Tejas is the Spanish name for Texas

    It's also a tasty ZZ Top album.

    --

    Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley

  8. It's pretty simple by scheme · · Score: 4, Informative

    Intel picks code names based on geographical locations near the place where the chip is designed. So the chips designed in Oregon have code names taken from places or things in Oregon. Likewise the Pentium-M chips designed in Israel have code names based on locations in Israel.

    --
    "When you sit with a nice girl for two hours, it seems like two minutes. When you sit on a hot stove for two minutes, it
  9. Re:As a former Intel employee... by CodeMonkey4Hire · · Score: 2, Informative

    This article is exactly like a subthread in a previous Slashdot post.
    Thanks for providing firsthand experience. We don't get enough of that sometimes. (The process was described to me as an intern there, but it sounds like you've actually been involved with it.)

    --

    Let's go Hurricanes!!! 2006 Stanley Cup Champions!!!
  10. Re:As a former Intel employee... by doughmein_dot_net · · Score: 2, Informative
    As a current Intel employee, I've been in a few groups where the code names weren't named after geographical locations. But these were usually exceptions.


    For one project I worked on, the code name started out as "Cezanne" (after the artist, I would assume) but was renamed to a geographical location mid-way through the development cycle. We engineers never understood why, and most of the team still kept using the old name in server directories, passwords, etc. We thought we were rebels... ah, the joys of youth.


    Another poster has commented that the Pentium(R) M processors had code names from geographic locations in Israel, where most of the design team was located. This also holds true for other projects, where the design teams are based in various nations. It's common to see code names based on a small city (for example, in Ireland) that nobody here had ever heard of, until the project started and the name was explained.


    Other times, the project manager got to choose a "custom" name based on one of his/her favorite places to visit. One project manager named all of his ill-fated projects after small coastal towns along the Pacific Northwest, presumably places he had visited during his frequent (and inconveniently scheduled) vacations.


    I'd also argue that code names do have meaning, at least for the engineers involved with the project. A code name gives a team a rallying point, or a central concept by which we can understand our involvement in the project. Depending on our experiences in that project, whenever we hear or see that name later on in life, we engineers can either feel bursts of pride, or shudders of grief and disgust.


    BTW - Hi Brad! I used to work with you on "Rainier".


    PS - I do not speak for my company.

    --
    Super ninja monkeys will one day rule the world!