With Intel Corp’s 64-bit Merced processor not out of the gate yet, sources at the are already talking about a second implementation of the IA-64 instruction set that’s expected to appear in 2001. The Microprocessor Report says the second 64-bit CPU core has evolved from a previous effort begun by Intel’s partner on 64-bit design, Hewlett-Packard Co, originally codenamed Gunnison after a river in Colorado. The project, which would have been called P8 under Intel’s old naming convention, following the P7 Merced, is still in the early stages of development and hasn’t yet been given a river name, according to the Report. While Merced has been developed by an all-Intel engineering team, the new development is thought to be taking advantage of HP’s main CPU design team based in Fort Collins, Colorado, responsible for HP’s PA-RISC processors including the PA-8000 family. The PA-8500, which may or may not be the last in that line, depending which HP executives are talking, is approaching tape out, and the team is supposedly turning its attention to the new IA-64 processor. The project will be lead by Intel, which will manufacture and sell the part. Microprocessor Report expects the chip to deliver more than twice Merced’s performance and retain binary compatibility and to debut in Intel’s 0.18 micron design process. It’s supposedly an indication that Intel and HP are committed to taking the IA-64 architecture forward. The Report thinks that by using the design resources of both companies. the two will be able to crank out processors more often than either could alone.
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