Intel has cut the power consumption of its Atom processor for designing in to energy-sensitive home networking and storage devices.
The company says there is a 50% power reduction compared to previous Atom processors.
Intel has combined the Atom D410 single-core or D510 dual-core processors with the 82801IR I/O controller in an integrated design aimed at network storage (NAS) devices which can be used in the home and not just the office.
According to Seth Bobroff, general manager at Intel's Data Center group: “Households and small offices have an ever-increasing number of computers, laptops, netbooks and mobile phones…..that is creating the need for centralised network storage solutions for the home and small office.”
In another home application, Amino Communications has used an Intel Atom processor for an IPTV set-top box design.
The Cambridge-based developer is aiming the set-top design at new types of interactive TV applications including on-demand and open Internet “over-the-top” (OTT) services.
Another feature of this latest NAS device design is its six PCI Express lanes and 12 USB 2.0 ports.
There is also a gigabit Ethernet MAC controller.
There is OS support for Microsoft Windows Home Server and open source Linux.
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