A family of 45nm IA processors

Nehalem is a family of next-generation IA processors for mobile, desktop and server segments implemented in 45nm high-kappa metal-gate CMOS. The family features a new system architecture, significantly enhanced Core architecture, innovations in power management and modular design. The 4-core 8MB-L3-cache die has 731M transistors. We introduce a coherent point-to- point link called QuickPath Interconnect that is the foundation for coherent communication between IA processors, chipsets, I/O hubs and coprocessors/accelerators for multiple generations. It features advanced power management, RAS capabilities and reduced hops/latency. At the physical level, it uses unidirectional variable-width differential signaling. The 45nm implementation features current-mode signaling with cascode driver, clock forwarding, source and sink termination, per-bit skew compensation and 2-tap driver equalization. Signaling speed is up to 6.4GT/S in 45nm but the basic approach scales to 20GT/s using conventional copper interconnect.