La prossima architettura x86 di VIA, di cui abbiamo dato notizia qui, non punterà tanto alle pure prestazioni velocistiche, quanto ad un'eccellente polivalenza. Centaur Technology e Via Technology sembrerebbe si siano date quale obiettivo quello di realizzare una CPU in grado di operare in più ambiti, così da alleggerire il lavoro dei propri partner, soprattutto in ambito Embedded e dello sviluppo software.
Il 7 luglio, sul profilo Twitter di VIA, è comparso il seguente post: "The engineers are working very hard (and very smart) on the new nano, we are looking forward seeing it too!". Gli ingegneri di VIA hanno lavorato, così è scritto, in maniera molto furba/intelligente.
Cosa significa questo? Nel "lontano" 2012 VIA ha depositato due brevetti che sono passati abbastanza in sordina, l'US 20120260067 (Microprocessor that performs x86 isa and arm isa machine language program instructions by hardware translation into microinstructions executed by common execution pipeline) e l'US 20120260065 (Multi-core microprocessor that performs x86 isa and arm isa machine language program instructions by hardware translation into microinstructions executed by common execution pipeline).
Se leggiamo i brevetti, veniamo a scoprire che il futuro processore x86 di VIA, conosciuto al momento come Isaiah II, potrebbe funzionare sia con codice x86 sia con codice ARM: "A microprocessor includes a plurality of processing cores each including a hardware instruction translator that translates instructions of x86 instruction set architecture (ISA) machine language programs and Advanced RISC Machines (ARM) ISA machine language programs into microinstructions defined by a microinstruction set of the microprocessor. The microinstructions are encoded in a distinct manner from the manner in which the instructions of the x86 and ARM instruction sets are defined. Each core includes an execution pipeline that executes the microinstructions to generate results defined by the x86 ISA and ARM ISA instructions. Each core uses and associated indicator to determine whether it will boot as an x86 ISA core or an ARM ISA core when reset. The indicators are configurable to indicate that at least one of the cores will boot as an x86 ISA core and at least one other of the cores will boot as an ARM ISA core".
Perché VIA dovrebbe realizzare un processore del genere? Perché con una sola macchina, e quindi un solo acquisto, sviluppatori, sistemi Embedded e clienti Industriali possono avere la massima flessibilità di utilizzo. Basterebbe solo aggiornare il software, senza cambiare l'hardware, con un notevole risparmio di denaro. Sempre nei brevetti si legge: "However, as the performance of ARM cores increases and the power consumption and cost of certain models of x86 processors decreases, the line between the different markets is evidently fading, and the two architectures are beginning to compete head-to-head, for example in mobile computing markets such as smart cellular phones, and it is likely they will begin to compete more frequently in the laptop, desktop and server markets. This situation may leave computing device manufacturers and consumers in a dilemma over which of the two architectures will predominate and, more specifically, for which of the two architectures software developers will develop more software. [...] For another example, a given user may have a crucial application that only runs on the x86 architecture so he purchases an x86 architecture system, but a version of the application is subsequently developed for the ARM architecture that is superior to the x86 version (or vice versa) and therefore the user would like to switch. Unfortunately, he has already made the investment in the architecture that he does not prefer".
Che VIA possa tornare in grande stile nel mercato delle CPU x86? Se davvero Isaiah II implementasse questa feature diverrebbe un must buy non solo per le aziende, ma anche per l'utenza consumer.