Surprised by the number of customers that are already using the Pentium processor in embedded systems applications, Intel Corp has now extended its embedded offerings above the 80186, 80386 and 80486 parts it currently aims at point-of-sale terminals, industrial controllers, avionics and the like. This week at the Embedded Systems Conference in San Jose, California, Intel is showing off its new embedded family of Pentiums, in 100MHz, 133+VRT and 166MHz versions. The 133+VRT includes Intel’s voltage reduction technology already used by many laptop manufacturers. There are also two chip sets for the PCI bus: the 82430MX, designed for mobile applications that need a fast bus (from 25MHz to 33MHz); and the 430HX PCIset, Intel’s first chip set to support its Universal Serial Bus. The 430HX is a two-chip package with fast Enhanced Data Out random access memory, better CPU to PCI performance, additional buffering, and arbitration and writeback enhancements. No prices were given, though both sets are in production. Intel has added specific support for embedded applications and enlisted third parties to provide tools, operating systems and BIOS. It will maintain support for the chips way beyond the typical life-cycles of desktop systems.
