For Intel to do the same, the company worked over a period of time to integrate the chip technologies by creating enough in common between their three different manufacturing processes so it could blend them into one chip, Fazio said. As a result, Intel can build a single chip that includes an XScale processor core, flash memory and a MicroSignal Architecture DSP core. A DSP serves to refine signals, such as a voice, coming into a cell phone. However, it's likely that device makers will start with chips with a lower clock speed. At the same time, Intel said the chip will consume less power by eliminating the buses, or data pipelines, that connect the three chips.
Buses burn a relatively large amount of power.
TI recently began sending samples of its first OMAP chip to manufacturers. TI's emphasis, as shown in a recent speech by CEO Tom Engibous, is on ensuring that the connection between a phone or handheld and a network is strong. Intel, for its part, may be more focused on processing power than on communications. However, it plans to begin shipping its first chips based on the three-way technology in the first half of 2002. Because of the onboard memory, Intel predicts its new integrated chip will double the performance of its current, separate chips for handhelds and cell phones.