Centrino Dothan Sonoma Processor Info

 

The core of the Mobile Entertainment PC's audio and video capabilities comes from an overhaul of Intel's Centrino mobile technology. Centrino is Intel's mobile processor, chip set and wireless radio combination that many laptop manufacturers use because of its power efficiency and respectable processing capabilities.

Centrino's revamp actually starts this month with the introduction of Dothan, an update of Centrino's Pentium M processor. Dothan is thinner (90 nanometers), made of a special silicon that enables faster electron flow, and packs 2MB of L2 cache--twice that of its predecessor. In an Intel demonstration that involved CAD, Excel and video-rendering tasks, Dothan seemed to be about 20 percent faster than the current Pentium M processor.

Sonoma is the complete revamp of Centrino that is featured in the Mobile Entertainment PC. Sonoma sees a much faster version of Dothan. Sonoma's Dothan features a 533-MHz front-side bus--increased from the 400-MHz spec on the version coming this month. Greater speed means that more information can be processed in the same amount of time.

Sonoma's new chip set is called Alviso. One of Alviso's chips, named Azalea, makes Dolby 7.1 surround sound possible on a mobile PC. Sonoma has the wireless chip set that features 802.11 a, b, and g radios, important for sharing media files on a wireless network. Underscoring this new commitment to connectivity are the Mobile PC's Bluetooth keyboard, multimedia remote and VoIP (Internet phone) handset. If you want to stream all of your music and videos to your home theater equipment, a wider-bandwidth Direct Media channel can be used.
 
The Sonoma package, it will combine a chipset, code-named Alviso; a wireless component with 802.11a/802.11b/802.11g support, called Calexico 2; and a future version of the Pentium M processor. Better battery life, a better audio experience, a better connection to peripherals, and a better connection to wireless. In addition, Sonoma is expected to include support for the Azalia audio interface; for the PCI Express connection technology for PCs and peripherals; and for Serial ATA, a high-speed interface standard for disk drives that cuts down on the cabling within PC boxes.