Rick Merritt, EETimes
8/23/2012 1:43 PM EDT
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – A new front has opened up in the war over server microprocessors between Intel and ARM—interconnect. The technology is key to a range of chip-to-chip uses from high-speed networking to future non-volatile memory interfaces, supercomputer clusters and 3-D chip stacks.
Backers of RapidIO have been quietly courting ARM, ARM SoC and server makers, encouraging them to adopt RapidIO as an open alternative to proprietary technologies in Intel Xeon chips. RapidIO got its start as a fast, low latency link among DSPs in cellular base stations and other high-end embedded systems, and now sees an opportunity in ARM servers.