As we can see in the example above, the "old" 32-inch TV has 491.52 square inches of screen area, and the 32-inch HDTV has 439.6 square inches — in other words, less. When comparing an "old" TV and HDTV of the same diagonal screen size, the HDTV screen is actually 11 percent smaller. This is true whether comparing 32-, 42, 50- or 60-inch screens: A 60-inch HDTV screen is 11 percent smaller than your old 60-inch non-HD projection screen. To make sure

your HDTV has the same screen area as your old TV, it needs to have a diagonal measure ("screen size") that’s six percent bigger. (Why not 11 percent? The math involves logarithms and square roots — i.e. Pythagorean geometry, not simple multiplication. Trust us on this.) In other words take the diagonal screen size of the old TV and multiply by 1.06. If you have a 32-inch regular TV, this means the HDTV needs a 34-inch screen if you don’t want your new TV picture to be smaller than the old one (32 times 1.06 equals 34). But this is not the whole story, especially when it comes to watching "old" TV shows on your new HDTV. Read on . . .

The “Seinfeld” Factor

A better yardstick (so to speak) than screen area is screen height. If your new HDTV has a screen that’s as tall as your old one, not only will you be sure that you’re getting a bigger picture, you’ll also be certain that when you watch "old," non-HD programs on your HDTV, the picture you’re looking at will not be drastically smaller than the one on your old TV set.

BACKGROUND: We’re all familiar with "letterboxed" TV -- bands across the top and bottom of the screen when we’re watching a widescreen movie on regular TV, for instance. When that situation is reversed — when we’re watching a "narrowscreen" program on HDTV — there are bands to the left and right of the picture. In other words, if we are watching anything from I Love Lucy to Seinfeld, or home videos, the pictures look like this:

AS YOU CAN SEE from the two 32-inch TVs above (the same TVs shown at the top of the page), watching "regular TV" on an HDTV with the same diagonal screen size as your old TV gives you a picture that’s 33 percent smaller — only about two-thirds as big as on your old set! To avoid this pitfall, use this rule of thumb: Make sure your HDTV has a screen that’

the same height as your old TV screen. To do this without taking a tape measure to Best Buy, you can either do the math yourself, or use our handy chart below. It’s based on this simple rule: To find the HDTV screen size (diagonal measure) that gives the same height as your old television, take the screen size of the old TV and multiply by 1.22. So if you want an HDTV with a screen that’s the same height as your old 34-inch TV, for example, the chart below shows that you need to buy an HDTV with a 42-inch screen, and that they will both have a height of 20.4 inches. On either TV, a non-HD picture will be the same size. The total HDTV picture area will be one-third greater than the total picture area of the old set.

Old Screen Size (Diag., Inches) Screen Height HDTV Screen Size (Diag.) 21 12.6 26 27 16.2 33 29 17.4 35 31 18.6 38 32 19.2 39 34 20.4 42 36 21.6 44 40 24.0 49 42 25.2 51 50 30.0 61 55 33.0 67 60 36.0 73

Above: If your old TV has a 34-inch screen, for older programs like I Love Lucy, Seinfeld etc. to be the SAME SIZE on your new HDTV, the new TV should have a 42-inch screen.

Xerox plans the future of today

Xerox’s Parc research lab is a shrine to innovation

A rare glimpse of the future has been given by Xerox at its famed Palo Alto Research Centre (Xerox Parc).

On show were a handful of innovations including re-usable paper, environmentally friendly plastic, solar power, water filtering and a cell detection method that could help save lives.

"I think it is extremely critical to continuously come up with innovative ideas and work with your partners to turn them into innovations that the customers of the world can benefit from.

"If you stand still you become obsolete."

Xerox along with commercial partners, universities and the government spends $1.5bn (£754m) on research and development at Parc and other research centres around the world.

Ms Vandebroek said this was just the tip of the iceberg and that she found it hard to choose just one project as a favourite to show journalists.

"It’s like picking between your children," she said.

"We picked 10 out of many more projects that are happening in the world today. The ones we have chosen today are among the newest, that are important to our customers and critical to the future of Xerox and they really enable a sustainable world. So that is really what Xerox and Parc is all about."

Parc is something of a shrine to innovation. Over the years it has given us ethernet, laser printing and pioneered the idea of ubiquitous computing. Today Xerox is hoping some of these innovations will have just as great an impact on our world and its bank balance.

1) Rare Cell Detection 2) Erasable paper 3) Panel plans

4) Spiral cleaning 5) Greener plastic 6) 3D print preview

RARE CELL DETECTION

Laser light is helping boost the chances of spotting cancerous cells

In America 1500 women every year miscarry after undergoing amniocentesis - a test that tries to spot genetic abnormalities in a child while still in the womb.

In the next two to four years scientists at Parc, along with colleagues at the Scripps Research Institute, believe they could replace amniocentesis with a simple blood test given when a foetus is between 8 to 12 weeks old.

Dr Richard Bruce said the ability to locate rare blood cells was done by combining laser techniques with a bundle of optical fibres that can accurately find circulating tumour cells and examine them with a high resolution digital microscope.

Their Fiber Array Scanning Technology is 1,000 times faster than digital microscopy, the current gold standard.

Dr Bruce labels blood with tiny markers and runs a laser over them to give off a fluorescent light. The different colours given off reveal what types of cancer is lurking in the blood.

"This has the potential to be ground breaking and more importantly save lives."

Dr Bruce has also been using the technique to detect breast and lung cancer.

Return to top

ERASABLE PAPER

Light is used to print on Xerox’s erasable paper

Although Xerox is a company largely built around printing and copying, some of its researchers are looking at ways to help people use less paper.

Researchers Paul Smith and Eric Shrader had green thoughts in mind when they came up with the idea of paper that erases itself completely after 24 hours.

Xerox research suggests that upwards of 40% of printed documents are used only once.

It’s estimated that 15.2 trillion pages of paper are printed worldwide and Xerox predicts the figure will grow by 30% in the next 10 years.

Said Mr Shrader: "The problem is getting a lot worse and its simply because people love paper."

Erasable paper is coated with photosensitive chemicals that turn dark when hit with a UV light.

The printer that goes hand in hand with it does not use toner or ink - instead light prints the images.

Mr Shrader said that after 24 hours whatever was printed on the paper disappears. the paper can be reused up to 100 times.

Sony offers cut-price PlayStation

The PlayStation 3 was launched last year in Japan

A cut price PlayStation 3 (PS3) with a smaller hard drive and no backwards compatibility with previous consoles goes on sale later this month.

The £299 PS3 has a 40-gigabyte hard disk and will be released in Europe, Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.

Sony has also slashed the price of the 60GB model from £425 to £349, as it hopes to ignite sales.

Ray Maguire, head of PlayStation UK, said he expected the PS3 user base to double by Christmas.

Mr Maguire said the release of the 40GB PS3 was a "strategic decision" and not the result of lower-than-expected sales of the PlayStation 3.

"We have done market research, looked at fans’ forums and the feedback from consumers is that they are anxious to get into PlayStation 3 but it is too expensive," he told BBC News.

Sony was the market leader in the previous two generations of console releases. However, Nintendo is now in pole position closely followed by Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

We want to get the console to the next level; we have re-engineered the machine to bring the price down Ray Maguire, Sony

More than 5.5 million PlayStation 3 consoles have been shipped worldwide, compared with more than 10 million each of the Wii and Xbox 360.

He said he expected some existing PS3 owners to feel frustrated at the price cut for the 60GB model coming just six months after the machine was first launched.

The new PS3 will be unable to play PlayStation 1 and 2 games, has a reduced number of USB ports, from four to two connections, and no slots for memory cards. It goes on sale from 10 October.

"The cost of peripherals for adding USB connections and memory stick options is low," said Mr Maguire explaining the alterations.

He added: "Backwards compatibility was reasonably expensive for us to implement and taking it out enabled us to reduce the price."

The entry-level PS3 is now the same price as an Xbox 360 Elite, which has a 120GB hard drive.

Extra expense

However, the PS3 has built-in wi-fi connectivity and a high definition Blu-ray DVD player.

An add-on HD-DVD drive and wi-fi peripheral are available to Xbox 360 owners at extra expense.

The Nintendo Wii costs £179 but does not have high definition graphics or DVD playback, and relies instead on an innovative motion-sensitive control system.

There is no confirmation on the launch of the 40GB PS3 in North America and Japan, which have their own divergent models and price points.

Mr Maguire said: "The people who want to get into new technology early are prepared to pay a premium.

"We want to get the console to the next level; we have re-engineered the machine to bring the price down."

He added: "We have invested a lot of money in reaching this price point."

Sony is still losing money on each console sold, said Mr Maguire, but would lose less money on the 40GB machine.

"We are in an investment phase," he said.

Sony was criticised last year when it unveiled its £425 price point for the PlayStation 3 with many analysts saying the firm would struggle to win over gamers.

"It has taken us that long to get the cost down, it’s as simple as that," said Mr Maguire.

Microsoft cuts Japan’s Xbox price

The Xbox has struggled for sales in Japan

Microsoft is cutting the Japanese price of its Xbox 360 games console by 13% as it struggles to match sales of rivals Nintendo Wii and Sony PlayStation 3.

Following similar price cuts earlier this year in the US and Europe, the standard model will now sell for 34,800 yen ($304; £148).

Earlier this month, Sony also cut the cost of the PlayStation in the US and introduced a cheaper version.

Both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are now trailing behind sales of the Wii.

Nintendo has a strong lead, not just in the Japanese market, but also in wider global sales.

Festive focus

In the first half of 2007, Microsoft sold 122,565 units of the Xbox 360 in Japan, compared with 503,554 PlayStation 3 units and 1.78 million of the Wii.

Microsoft’s basic Xbox 360 model will now sell in Japan for 29,800 yen.

So far, Nintendo has shipped 9.3 million units of the Wii, which was introduced last year.

Sony has sold 5 million of the PlayStation 3, which also first went on sale in 2006.

Microsoft has sold 11.6 million of the Xbox 360, although it has been on sale for a year longer.

All three firms are now targeting sales in the key pre-Christmas period.

Sony cuts game designers’ prices

Sales of the Playstation 3 have picked up since prices were cut

Sony has halved the price of a software development kit that designers need to make games for its PlayStation 3 (PS3).

The attempt to woo game designers follows last month’s price cut on the PS3 itself.

Although its predecessor dominated the games console market, the PS3 has struggled against the Nintendo Wii.

PS3 sales are particularly important for Sony because it plays the Blu-ray high definition DVD format, which is competing with the rival HD-DVD format.

Sony says that sales of the PS3 have improved since its price was cut from about $599 (£292) to about $499 in the US, Europe and Japan.

Sales of the PS3 in Japan beat the Wii for the first time in the week beginning 5 November.

The PS3 is technologically more advanced than the Wii, but that makes it more difficult and expensive to develop new games for it.

Many of the companies that originally designed games for the PlayStation 2 are now bringing out versions for the Wii.

Sony says that the price cut is part of its efforts to cooperate with software developers in the hope that they will design more games for the PS3.

Europe PS3 sales ’overtake 360’

A price cut in the summer of last year helped lift PlayStation 3 sales

Sony’s PlayStation 3 games console has outsold Microsoft’s Xbox 360 in Europe, according to figures released by Sony.

More than five million PS3s have been sold across the continent, Sony’s David Reeves confirmed.

Speaking at a European PlayStation event in London, he said: "The numbers are a testament to the strength of the PlayStation brand."

He said PlayStation 3 had been outselling the Xbox 360 since October last year.

"We have sold more PlayStation 3s throughout Europe than Xbox 360 even though they launched 16 months before us."

Mr Reeves, head of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, also said 12 million PSP handheld consoles and 48 million PlayStation 2s had been sold in Europe.

Despite Sony’s overhauling of Microsoft in Europe, both firms’ sales are a long way behind the Nintendo Wii.

Price tag

Sony has managed to overtake Xbox 360 sales despite a much higher price tag.

The cheapest PS3 is available for £299, versus £159 for the Xbox 360.

"We have been consistently outselling our closest competitor [Xbox 360] since October 2007, even with the latest price point," said Mr Reeves.

Microsoft cut the price of Xbox 360 in March.

The PS3 is far more mass market than 360, which has gone for traditional adult males Nick Parker, games consultant

The figures will cheer Sony after a painful launch period for the machine, which saw delays, stock problems and criticism from gamers that early titles for the machine were below par.

Kaz Hirai, Sony’s global head of PlayStation, said the first year of PS3 had been difficult.

Speaking at the London event, he said: "There were teething problems... and customers were a little underwhelmed by early games."

’No surprise’

He said Sony was going to promote the PS3 as a "multi-faceted interactive entertainment system" in the year ahead.

Games consultant Nick Parker said it was "no surprise" that PlayStation had overtaken Xbox in Europe.

"The PlayStation has held out remarkably well over the last 18 months despite the press slating it because of the price. People got behind the brand.

"The PS3 is far more mass market than 360, which has gone for traditional adult males - and that does not go down well in continental Europe."

He said consumers in Europe had "never gotten over the design ethos of the original Xbox."

Microsoft had set out to broaden the appeal of its titles "but never did come up with the goods", he went on.

The Xbox 360 was performing well in the UK but has a "problem on the continent".

He said PlayStation 3 had "every chance" of overtaking the Xbox 360 in its heartland of North America in the next two to three years.

The Core 2 brand refers to Intel’s x86 64-bit microprocessors (with the eighth-generation microarchitecture, named Core architecture) targeted at the consumer and business markets (except the servers) above Pentium Dual-Core. The Core 2 Duo branch covered dual-core CPUs for both desktop and notebook computers, Core 2 Quad - quad-core CPUs for desktop computers, and Core 2 Extreme - dual-core and quad-core CPUs for desktop computers and dual-core CPUs for notebook computers.
Contents

* 1 Dual-Core Desktop processors
o 1.1 Core 2 Duo
+ 1.1.1 "Conroe" (65 nm)
+ 1.1.2 "Allendale" (65 nm)
o 1.2 Core 2 Extreme
+ 1.2.1 "Conroe XE" (65 nm)
* 2 Quad-Core Desktop processors
o 2.1 Core 2 Quad
+ 2.1.1 "Kentsfield" (65 nm)
o 2.2 Core 2 Extreme
+ 2.2.1 "Kentsfield XE" (65 nm)
+ 2.2.2 "Yorkfield XE" (45 nm)
* 3 Single-Core Mobile processors
o 3.1 Core 2 Solo
+ 3.1.1 "Merom-2M" (ultra-low-voltage, 65 nm)
* 4 Dual-Core Mobile processors
o 4.1 Core 2 Duo
+ 4.1.1 "Merom" (standard-voltage, 65 nm)
+ 4.1.2 "Merom" (low-voltage, 65 nm)
+ 4.1.3 "Merom-2M" (standard-voltage, 65 nm)
+ 4.1.4 "Merom-2M" (ultra-low-voltage, 65 nm)
o 4.2 Core 2 Extreme
+ 4.2.1 "Merom XE" (standard-voltage, 65 nm)
* 5 See also
* 6 References
* 7 External links

Dual-Core Desktop processors

Core 2 Duo
"Conroe" (65 nm)

* All models support: MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST), Intel 64 (Intel’s x86-64 implementation), XD bit (an NX bit implementation), iAMT2 (Intel Active Management), Virtualization Technology, Trusted Execution Technology [a]
* Die size: 143 mm²
* Steppings: B2, G0

Model Number sSpec Number Frequency L2-Cache Front Side Bus Mult Voltage TDP Socket Release Date Part Number(s) Release Price (USD)
Core 2 Duo E6300 SL9SA (B2) 1866 MHz 2048 KiB 1066 MT/s 7x 0.85 - 1.3525 V 65 W LGA 775 July 27, 2006 HH80557PH0362M $183
Core 2 Duo E6320 SLA4U (B2) 1866 MHz 4096 KiB 1066 MT/s 7x 1.187 - 1.325 V 65 W LGA 775 April 22, 2007 HH80557PH0364M $163
Core 2 Duo E6400 SL9S9 (B2) 2133 MHz 2048 KiB 1066 MT/s 8x 0.85 - 1.3525 V 65 W LGA 775 July 27, 2006 HH80557PH0462M $224
Core 2 Duo E6420 SLA4T (B2) 2133 MHz 4096 KiB 1066 MT/s 8x 1.187 - 1.325 V 65 W LGA 775 April 22, 2007 HH80557PH0464M $183
Core 2 Duo E6540 [a] SLAA5 (G0) 2333 MHz 4096 KiB 1333 MT/s 7x 0.962 - 1.350 V 65 W LGA 775 July 22, 2007 HH80557PJ0534M $163
Core 2 Duo E6550 SLA9X (G0) 2333 MHz 4096 KiB 1333 MT/s 7x 0.962 - 1.350 V 65 W LGA 775 July 22, 2007 HH80557PJ0534MG $163
Core 2 Duo E6600 SL9S8, SL9ZL (B2)[1] 2400 MHz 4096 KiB 1066 MT/s 9x 0.85 - 1.3525 V 65 W LGA 775 July 27, 2006 HH80557PH0564M $316
Core 2 Duo E6700 SL9S7, SL9ZF (B2)[2] 2667 MHz 4096 KiB 1066 MT/s 10x 0.85 - 1.3525 V 65 W LGA 775 July 27, 2006 HH80557PH0674M $530
Core 2 Duo E6750 SLA9V (G0) 2667 MHz 4096 KiB 1333 MT/s 8x 0.962 - 1.350 V 65 W LGA 775 July 22, 2007 HH80557PJ0674MG $183
Core 2 Duo E6850 SLA9U (G0) 3000 MHz 4096 KiB 1333 MT/s 9x 0.962 - 1.350 V 65 W LGA 775 July 22, 2007 HH80557PJ0804MG $266

a Note: The E6540 does not support Intel Trusted Execution Technology.

"Allendale" (65 nm)

* All models support: MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST), Intel 64 (Intel’s x86-64 implementation), XD bit (an NX bit implementation), iAMT2 (Intel Active Management), Trusted Execution Technology
* Virtualization Technology supported by: E6x00
* Die size: 111 mm²
* Steppings: L2[3], M0

Model Number sSpec Number Frequency L2-Cache Front Side Bus Mult Voltage TDP Socket Release Date Part Number(s) Release Price (USD)
Core 2 Duo E4300 SL9TB (L2) 1800 MHz 2048 KiB 800 MT/s 9x 1.225 - 1.325 V 65 W LGA 775 January 21, 2007 HH80557PG0332M $163
Core 2 Duo E4400 SLA3F (L2) 2000 MHz 2048 KiB 800 MT/s 10x 1.162 - 1.312 V 65 W LGA 775 April 22, 2007 HH80557PG0412M $133
SLA98 (M0) 0.962 - 1.325 V July 22, 2007 $113
Core 2 Duo E4500 SLA95 (M0) 2200 MHz 2048 KiB 800 MT/s 11x 0.962 - 1.325 V 65 W LGA 775 July 22, 2007 HH80557PG0492M $133
Core 2 Duo E4600 SLA94 (M0) 2400 MHz 2048 KiB 800 MT/s 12x 1.162 - 1.312 V 65 W LGA 775 October 21, 2007 HH80557PG0562M $133
Core 2 Duo E6300 SL9TA (L2) 1866 MHz 2048 KiB 1066 MT/s 7x 1.225 - 1.325 V 65 W LGA 775 January 2007 HH80557PH0362M $183
Core 2 Duo E6400 SL9T9 (L2) 2133 MHz 2048 KiB 1066 MT/s 8x 1.225 - 1.325 V 65 W LGA 775 January 2007 HH80557PH0462M $224

a b c Note: The L2 Stepping as well as the models with sSpec SL9ZL, SL9ZF, SLA4U, SLA4T have better optimizations to lower the idle power consumption from 22W to 12W.[1]

Note: The M0 and G0 Steppings have better optimizations to lower idle power consumption from 12W to 8W.

See also: Versions of the same Allendale core with half the L2 cache disabled are available under the Pentium Dual-Core brand.

Core 2 Extreme

"Conroe XE" (65 nm)

[2][3]

These models feature an unlocked clock multiplier

* All models support: MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST), Intel 64 (Intel’s x86-64 implementation), XD bit (an NX bit implementation), iAMT2 (Intel Active Management), Virtualization Technology, Trusted Execution Technology
* Die size: 143 mm²
* Steppings: B2

Model Number sSpec Number Frequency L2-Cache Front Side Bus Mult Voltage TDP Socket Release Date Part Number(s) Release Price (USD)
Core 2 Extreme X6800 SL9S5 (B2) 2933 MHz 4096 KiB 1066 MT/s 11x 0.85 V - 1.3525 V 75 W LGA 775 July 27, 2006 HH80557PH0677M $999
Quad-Core Desktop processors

Core 2 Quad

"Kentsfield" (65 nm)

[4][5]

* All models support: MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST), Intel 64 (Intel’s x86-64 implementation), XD bit (an NX bit implementation), iAMT2 (Intel Active Management), Virtualization Technology, Trusted Execution Technology
* Die size: 2 ×143 mm²
* Steppings: B3, G0

Model Number sSpec Number Frequency L2-Cache Front Side Bus Mult Voltage TDP Socket Release Date Part Number(s) Release Price (USD)
Core 2 Quad Q6600 SL9UM (B3) 2400 MHz 2 × 4096 KiB 1066 MT/s 9x 1.1 - 1.372 V 105 W LGA 775 January 7, 2007 HH80562PH0568M $851
SLACR (G0) 95 W July 16, 2007 $266
Core 2 Quad Q6700 SLACQ (G0) 2667 MHz 2 × 4096 KiB 1066 MT/s 10x 1.1 - 1.372 V 95 W LGA 775 July 22, 2007 HH80562PH0678MK $530
Core 2 Extreme
"Kentsfield XE" (65 nm)

[6]

These models feature an unlocked clock multiplier

* All models support: MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST), Intel 64 (Intel’s x86-64 implementation), XD bit (an NX bit implementation), iAMT2 (Intel Active Management), Virtualization Technology, Trusted Execution Technology
* Die size: 2 ×143 mm²
* Steppings: B3, G0

Model Number sSpec Number Frequency L2-Cache Front Side Bus Mult Voltage TDP Socket Release Date Part Number(s) Release Price (USD)
Core 2 Extreme QX6700 SL9UL (B3) 2667 MHz 2 × 4096 KiB 1066 MT/s 10x 1.1 - 1.372 V 130 W LGA 775 November 14, 2006 HH80562PH0678M $999
Core 2 Extreme QX6800 SL9UK (B3) 2933 MHz 2 × 4096 KiB 1066 MT/s 11x 1.1 - 1.372 V 130 W LGA 775 April 9, 2007 HH80562PH0778M $1199
SLACP (G0) July 16, 2007 HH80562XH0778M $999
Core 2 Extreme QX6850 SLAFN (G0) 3000 MHz 2 × 4096 KiB 1333 MT/s 9x 1.1 - 1.372 V 130 W LGA 775 July 16, 2007 HH80562XJ0808M $999
"Yorkfield XE" (45 nm)

* These models feature an unlocked clock multiplier
* All models support: MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST), Intel 64 (Intel’s x86-64 implementation), XD bit (an NX bit implementation), iAMT2 (Intel Active Management), Virtualization Technology
* Die size: 2 × 107 mm²
* Steppings: C0

Model Number sSpec Number Frequency L2-Cache Front Side Bus Mult Voltage TDP Socket Release Date Part Number(s) Release Price (USD)
Core 2 Extreme QX9650 SLAN3 3000 MHz 2 × 6144 KiB 1333 MT/s 9x 0.85 - 1.3625 V 130 W LGA 775 November 11, 2007 [7] EU80569XJ080NL $999

Single-Core Mobile processors

Core 2 Solo

"Merom-2M" (ultra-low-voltage, 65 nm)

* All models support: MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST), Intel 64 (Intel’s x86-64 implementation), XD bit (an NX bit implementation), iAMT2 (Intel Active Management), Virtualization Technology, Trusted Execution Technology
* Die size: 111 mm²
* Steppings: M0

Model Number sSpec Number Frequency L2-Cache Front Side Bus Mult Voltage TDP Socket Release Date Part Number(s) Release Price (USD)
Core 2 Solo ULV U2100 1066 MHz 1024 KiB 533 MT/s 8x 5.5 W Micro-FCBGA September 2, 2007 LE80537UE0041M $241
Core 2 Solo ULV U2200 1200 MHz 1024 KiB 533 MT/s 9x 5.5 W Micro-FCBGA September 2, 2007 LE80537UE0091M $262

Dual-Core Mobile processors

Core 2 Duo

"Merom" (standard-voltage, 65 nm)

* All models support: MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST), Intel 64 (Intel’s x86-64 implementation), XD bit (an NX bit implementation), iAMT2 (Intel Active Management), Trusted Execution Technology
* Virtualization Technology: supported by all models except T5200 and T5500
* Intel Dynamic Front Side Bus Frequency Switching: Supported by E1, G0 Steppings
* Socket P processors are capable of throttling the FSB anywhere between 400-800 MHz as necessary.
* Die size: 143 mm²
* Steppings: B2, E1, G0

Model Number sSpec Number Frequency L2-Cache Front Side Bus Mult Voltage TDP Socket Release Date Part Number(s) Release Price (USD)
Core 2 Duo T5200 SL9VP (B2) 1600 MHz 2048 KiB 533 MT/s 12x 1.0375 - 1.3 V 34 W Socket M October 2006 LF80537GE0251M OEM
Core 2 Duo T5500 SL9SH (B2) 1667 MHz 2048 KiB 667 MT/s 10x 1.0375 - 1.3 V 34 W Socket M August 28, 2006 LF80537GF0282M $209
SL9SQ (B2) FCBGA6 LE80537GF0282M
Core 2 Duo T5600 SL9SG (B2) 1833 MHz 2048 KiB 667 MT/s 11x 1.0375 - 1.3 V 34 W Socket M August 28, 2006 LF80537GF0342M $241
SL9SP (B2) FCBGA6 LE80537GF0342M
Core 2 Duo T7200 SL9SF (B2) 2000 MHz 4096 KiB 667 MT/s 12x 1.0375 - 1.3 V 34 W Socket M August 28, 2006 LF80537GF0414M $294
SL9SL (B2) FCBGA6 LE80537GF0414M
Core 2 Duo T7300 SLA45 (E1) 2000 MHz 4096 KiB 800 MT/s 10x 1.0375 - 1.3 V 35 W Socket P May 9, 2007 LF80537GG0414M $241
SLA3P (E1) FCBGA6 LE80537GG0414M
Core 2 Duo T7400 SL9SE (B2) 2166 MHz 4096 KiB 667 MT/s 13x 1.0375 - 1.3 V 34 W Socket M August 28, 2006 LF80537GF0484M $423
SL9SK (B2) FCBGA6 LE80537GF0484M
Core 2 Duo T7500 SLA44 (E1) 2200 MHz 4096 KiB 800 MT/s 11x 1.0375 - 1.3 V 35 W Socket P May 9, 2007 LF80537GG0494M $316
SLA3N (E1) FCBGA6 LE80537GG0494M
SLAF8 (G0) Socket P September 2, 2007 LF80537GG0494M $241
SLADM (G0) FCBGA6 LE80537GG0494M
Core 2 Duo T7600 SL9SD (B2) 2333 MHz 4096 KiB 667 MT/s 14x 1.0375 - 1.3 V 34 W Socket M August 28, 2006 LF80537GF0534M $637
SL9SJ (B2) FCBGA6 LE80537GF0534M
Core 2 Duo T7700 SLA43 (E1) 2400 MHz 4096 KiB 800 MT/s 12x 1.0375 - 1.3 V 35 W Socket P May 9, 2007 LF80537GG0564M $530
SLA3M (E1) FCBGA6 LE80537GG0564M
SLAF7 (G0) Socket P September 2, 2007 LF80537GG0564M $316
SLADL (G0) FCBGA6 LE80537GG0564M
Core 2 Duo T7800 SLAF6 (G0) 2600 MHz 4096 KiB 800 MT/s 13x 1.0375 - 1.3 V 35 W Socket P September 2, 2007 LF80537GG0644ML $530
SLA75 (G0) FCBGA6 LE80537GG0644M

"Merom" (low-voltage, 65 nm)

* All models support: MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST), Intel 64 (Intel’s x86-64 implementation), XD bit (an NX bit implementation), iAMT2 (Intel Active Management), Virtualization Technology, Trusted Execution Technology
* Intel Dynamic Front Side Bus Frequency Switching: Supported by E1, G0 Steppings
* Die size: 143 mm²
* Steppings: B2, E1, G0

Model Number sSpec Number Frequency L2-Cache Front Side Bus Mult Voltage TDP Socket Release Date Part Number(s) Release Price (USD)
Core 2 Duo LV L7200 SL9SN (B2) 1333 MHz 4096 KiB 667 MT/s 8x 0.9 - 1.2 V 17 W FCBGA6 Q1 2007 LE80537LF0144M $284
Core 2 Duo LV L7300 SLA3S (E1) 1400 MHz 4096 KiB 800 MT/s 7x 0.9 - 1.1 V 17 W FCBGA6 May 2007 LE80537LG0174M $284
Core 2 Duo LV L7400 SL9SM (B2) 1500 MHz 4096 KiB 667 MT/s 9x 0.9 - 1.2 V 17 W FCBGA6 Q1 2007 LE80537LF0214M $316
Core 2 Duo LV L7500 SLA3R (E1) 1600 MHz 4096 KiB 800 MT/s 8x 0.9 - 1.1 V 17 W FCBGA6 May 2007 LE80537LG0254M $316
SLAET (G0) September 2, 2007 $284
Core 2 Duo LV L7700 1800 MHz 4096 KiB 800 MT/s 9x 0.9 - 1.1 V 17 W FCBGA6 September 2, 2007 $316

"Merom-2M" (standard-voltage, 65 nm)

[8]

* All models support: MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST), Intel 64 (Intel’s x86-64 implementation), XD bit (an NX bit implementation), iAMT2 (Intel Active Management), LaGrande Technology (Intel Trusted Execution Technology)
* Virtualization Technology: Supported by T5600, T7100, T7250 and some T5500 (those T5500 with stepping L2 only[9][10])
* Intel Dynamic Front Side Bus Frequency Switching: Supported by M0 Steppings
* Die size: 111 mm²
* Steppings: L2, M0

Model Number sSpec Number Frequency L2-Cache Front Side Bus Mult Voltage TDP Socket Release Date Part Number(s) Release Price (USD)
Core 2 Duo T5250 SLA9S (M0) 1500 MHz 2048 KiB 667 MT/s 9x 1.0375 - 1.3 V 35 W Socket P Q2 2007 OEM
Core 2 Duo T5270 1400 MHz 2048 KiB 800 MT/s 7x 1.0375 - 1.3 V 35 W Socket P October 2007 OEM
Core 2 Duo T5300 SL9WE (L2) 1733 MHz 2048 KiB 533 MT/s 13x 1.0375 - 1.3 V 34 W Socket M Q1 2007 LF80537GE0302M OEM
Core 2 Duo T5450 SLA4F (M0) 1667 MHz 2048 KiB 667 MT/s 10x 1.0375 - 1.3 V 35 W Socket P Q2 2007 OEM
Core 2 Duo T5470 SLAEB (M0) 1600 MHz 2048 KiB 800 MT/s 8x 1.0375 - 1.3 V 35 W Socket P July 2007 OEM
Core 2 Duo T5500 SL9U4 (L2) 1667 MHz 2048 KiB 667 MT/s 10x 1.0375 - 1.3 V 34 W Socket M Q1 2007 LF80537GF0282M $209
SL9U8 (L2) FCBGA6 LE80537GF0282M
Core 2 Duo T5600 SL9U3 (L2) 1833 MHz 2048 KiB 667 MT/s 11x 1.0375 - 1.3 V 34 W Socket M Q1 2007 LF80537GF0342M $241
SL9U7 (L2) FCBGA6 LE80537GF0342M
Core 2 Duo T7100 SLA4A (M0) 1800 MHz 2048 KiB 800 MT/s 9x 1.075 - 1.175 V 35 W Socket P May 9, 2007 LF80537GG0332M $209
SLA3U (M0) FCBGA6 LE80537GG0332M
Core 2 Duo T7250 SLA49 (M0) 2000 MHz 2048 KiB 800 MT/s 10x 1.075 - 1.175 V 35 W Socket P September 2, 2007 LF80537GG0412M $209
SLA3T (M0) FCBGA6 LE80537GG0412M

See also: Versions of the same Merom-2M core with half the L2 cache disabled are available under the Pentium Dual-Core brand.

"Merom-2M" (ultra-low-voltage, 65 nm)

* All models support: MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST), Intel 64 (Intel’s x86-64 implementation), XD bit (an NX bit implementation), iAMT2 (Intel Active Management), Virtualization Technology, Trusted Execution Technology
* Die size: 111 mm²
* Steppings: L2, M0

Model Number sSpec Number Frequency L2-Cache Front Side Bus Mult Voltage TDP Socket Release Date Part Number(s) Release Price (USD)
Core 2 Duo ULV U7500 SLA2V (L2) 1066 MHz 2048 KiB 533 MT/s 8x 0.750 - 0.925 V 10 W FCBGA6 April 5, 2007 LE80537UE0042M $262
SLV3W (M0) Q3 2007
Core 2 Duo ULV U7600 SLA2U (L2) 1200 MHz 2048 KiB 533 MT/s 9x 0.750 - 0.925 V 10 W FCBGA6 April 5, 2007 LE80537UE0092M $289
SLV3X (M0) Q3 2007

Core 2 Extreme

"Merom XE" (standard-voltage, 65 nm)

These models feature an unlocked clock multiplier

* All models support: MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology (EIST), Intel 64 (Intel’s x86-64 implementation), XD bit (an NX bit implementation), iAMT2 (Intel Active Management), Virtualization Technology, Trusted Execution Technology, Intel Dynamic Front Side Bus Frequency Switching
* Socket P processors are capable of throttling the FSB anywhere between 400-800 MHz as necessary.
* Die size: 143 mm²
* Steppings: E1, G0

Model Number sSpec Number Frequency L2-Cache Front Side Bus Mult Voltage TDP Socket Release Date Part Number(s) Release Price (USD)
Core 2 Extreme X7800 SLA6Z (E1) 2600 MHz 4096 KiB 800 MT/s 13x 1.0375 - 1.3 V 44 W Socket P July 16, 2007 LF80537GG0644M $851
Core 2 Extreme X7900 SLA33 (E1) 2800 MHz 4096 KiB 800 MT/s 14x 1.0375 - 1.3 V 44 W Socket P August 22, 2007 LF80537GG0724M $851
SLAF4 (G0)

Since my SunRocket service went bankrupt, I’ve been living with just a cell phone. It’s actually been fine so far, but I’m just not ready to give up on traditional phones just yet. I like having multiple headsets around the house and not having to worry about minutes (all those hold times for customer reps add up). My initial idea was to get a real phone number with Skype (~$60+/year) and getting a $50 D-Link USB Phone adapter that replicates a phone jack, but the reviews were hit and miss. Then I ran across something similar by a start-up called MagicJack. It only cost $40 and includes one year of unlimited incoming/outgoing calls with free long distance. You can also call to the US from international locations, but you can’t call to international countries at all. At first, I was skeptical, but then a reader e-mailed me last week and said it works great. I figured, for $40, why not try it out? There’s even a 30-day return policy. Here are my experiences:

Ordering and Shipping
I found a coupon code ‘SUNROCKET’ that knocked off the $3.95 shipping, so I spent $39.95 total. I received prompt order and shipping confirmations via e-mail, and it arrived just 4 days later. It was shipped in a small padded envelope via First Class mail for $1.81 - very economical! See below for a picture of the unopened product.

First Impressions and Installation
This thing really is tiny! It’s the size of a Zippo lighter. One end is USB (and thoughtfully comes with a 1 ft. USB extension cord), and the other end is a phone jack. It only supports Windows XP and Vista, so Mac folks are out of luck for now.

When I first plugged it in, nothing happened. The 1-page manual said “Take it out, and try another USB port.” I did that, and a small blue light on the MajicJack turned on, and it started to self-install on my computer. No CDs required. It proceed to make sure my firewall was configured correctly, and then asked me some personal address info for 911 service and also to pick my phone number.

A catch is revealed! Here, I was disappointed to discover that you can only get phone number in selected area codes of selected states. Currently they are CO, DC, MD, MI, MN, NV, TN, VA, and WA (see screenshot below). Supposedly they are still adding more states and as they come along you can do a one-time switch to a new number. This should be more clearly listed on the website. (e911 still works based on the address you supply.)

One partial workaround is to combine a GrandCentral number with this service. Grandcentral has a lot more area codes, but also doesn’t cover the entire country.

Still, in about 5 minutes I had a phone number assigned to me and was all set up. I plugged in my phone and amazingly enough, there was a dial tone. I called out… worked fine. I called in… and my phone rang. Nice! The voice quality was okay, not awesome and not awful, but that may be because I was doing this all via a wireless broadband connection. You can even switch it to work via computer headset, a la Skype.

Of course, there are negatives. You will need the computer to be on whenever you want your phone to work, so that may be annoying to some people. I also found that when I do reboot my computer, sometimes it takes a few tries to get it to start working again. You get voicemails sent to your e-mail address as .wav files, but there aren’t all of the different forwarding options and different rings that you might have gotten with SunRocket or other VoIP providers. I was also really hoping that my fax machine would work with MagicJack, but I haven’t had any successful transmissions yet.

Tired of fretting about which flavor of Windows will work best for you? Toshiba’s apparently feeling your pain, and is looking to remedy said quandary by tossing in both operating systems with its new 15.4-inch Dynabook Satellite T31.

Specifications

Tired of fretting about which flavor of Windows will work best for you? Toshiba’s apparently feeling your pain, and is looking to remedy said quandary by tossing in both operating systems with its new 15.4-inch Dynabook Satellite T31. Apparently, the unit includes Vista Business and XP Professional recovery discs, giving the buyer the option when they finally get it home. Specs wise, you’ll be looking at a 2GHz Core 2 Duo T7250 on the high side (with a 1.86GHz Celeron 540 on the low-end), as well as optional WiFi, a WXGA (1,280 x 800) resolution panel, 512MB of RAM, an 80GB hard drive, DVD burner and a rechargeable Li-ion good for around 1.3 hours. Additionally, the unit touts four USB 2.0 sockets, Ethernet, PCMCIA, a multicard reader, VGA / S-Video outputs and a FireWire port to boot. Check it out right now for between ¥175,350 ($1,573) and ¥206,850 ($1,856).

Introduction

LCD Monitors have come a long way in the last three years, with the technology behind both the vibrancy of the picture and the response time to less than 10ms enticing consumers to purchase these products. With a ton of companies entering and saturating the market, finding the right LCD can be very difficult.

Samsung, one of the leaders in LCD technology by reputation, has released a new LCD monitor that boasts what is reported to be a 8ms response time, along with the regular vibrance and clarity that their 19" LCD monitors are well known for. The monitor is offered in a stylish black color, and features a super-narrow bezel that is just 0.5 inches thick, with a removable base. This makes the display perfect for tiling or wall mounting.

Specs & Info

Here’s a nice long list of specs to check out ...

• Viewable Image Size: 19"
  
• Brightness (Typical): 300 cd/m²
  
• Contrast Ratio: 700:1
  
• Viewing Angle (H/V): 160 °/ 160°
  
• Interface: Analog
  
• Horiz. Frequency: 30-81
  
• Max/Native Resolution: 1280 x 1024
  
• Emissions Standard: TCO ’99
  
• Available Color(s): Black
  
• Special Features: Built-in power supply, MagicTune, MagicBright, MagicSpeed.

Tremendous emphasis must be placed on the very high contrast ration of 700:1, so much so that NextGen Electronics refuses to endorse any LCD Monitor below 500:1 because the quality does not meet our standards of product performance. With a 700:1 ratio, Samsung’s SyncMaster 915N brings a nice level of clarity and brightness (300 cd/m2) that makes looking at the monitor very easy on the eyes.

Installation

Installing this monitor is as easy a thing as anyone could possibly do in their PC lives. Simply plug the monitor power cord into a quality power strip, and plug the monitor cable into your video card. Bam - you’re done!

One small note, in our review unit the CD that shipped failed to have the proper Samsung 915N driver on it! This oversight isn’t a huge obstacle, as the correct XP driver for the monitor can be found right here. Overall, the installation process was very painless.

Performance

Although I was pretty curious to see how an analog monitor was going to be able to pull off a 8ms response time, I have to say the first impression of the monitor was definitely "WOW!". The vibrance, clarity, and sharpness of the LCD were easily better than most LCDs we’ve seen in our days here reviewing products and seeing them at trade shows. The 19" screen is a quality design and the mere sharpness and brightness of the monitor shows the tech dollar is spent in the right place.

For everyday programs like Adobe Photoshop, Web Browsing, and other such things, the monitor is extremely useful and performs well. Getting the color schema to work correctly in photoshop definitely takes some time and never *exactly* came up correctly. I think that was more of an issue of Adobe color gamma settings coming up correctly in conjunction with the monitor rather than a reflection of the monitor itself. For everyday programs, the monitor was sharp, clear, and bright - and personally speaking, my eyes were MUCH less strained at the end of a long working day after using this monitor over the old Sony Trinitron CRT monitor I’ve been using for years.

Now - the big deal with an 8ms seek time monitor is that gamers will be delighted with the fantastic motion and lack of ghosting. While playing the following titles : World of WarCraft, EverQuest II, Battle for Middle Earth, and NHL 2005, little (if any) ghosting was noticed. We were all duly impressed with the performance of the monitor with gaming. Keeping in mind the maximum resolution of the monitor is 1280x1024, the monitor performed extremely well for gaming.

Overall Impressions

Getting the right monitor for your PC can be a harrowing experience. Although DVI (digital) input is highly recommended by NextGen Electronics, it’s not a life or death matter for most PC users. In the case of the SyncMaster 915N, the response time and quality were so high that barely any, and in most cases no ghosting was ever present in the intensive gaming environment. For everyday use, like web development, graphic design, or basic web surfing, the quality of the monitor is absolutely astounding with a tremendous ratings for both the contrast ratio and the brightness levels.

The performance of the Samsung SyncMaster 915N was top notch, and does come highly recommended for purchase. For the current price point it comes highly recommended, and the coolness factor of having such a nice monitor is pretty high and will most likely cause all of your friends to comment on how nice it performs. The best things about the SyncMaster 915N are easily the amazing clarity and brightness levels, the very nice price point, and the design. If there are any negatives about it, it’s that it is indeed the analog version (not DVI).

The usefulness of the monitor is very high, since it’s a great performing unit that works well in an all purpose environment - work or gaming more specifically. The longevity factor gets a strong score based on the reputation of Samsung products, and the fact that we really tested this unit non-stop for a month without any problems. All in all, a very nice monitor.

Routers connect two or more logical subnets, which do not necessarily map one-to-one to the physical interfaces of the router.[1] The term layer 3 switch often is used interchangeably with router, but switch is really a general term without a rigorous technical definition. In marketing usage, it is generally optimized for Ethernet LAN interfaces and may not have other physical interface types.

Routers operate in two different planes [2]:
Control Plane, in which the router learns the outgoing interface that is most appropriate for forwarding specific packets to specific destinations,
Forwarding Plane, which is responsible for the actual process of sending a packet received on a logical interface to an outbound logical interface

Converge IP and DWDM Layers in the Core Network

Downloads
Converge IP and DWDM Layers in the Core Network

The Cisco® IP over DWDM (IPoDWDM) solution for IP Next-Generation Networks (NGNs) enables the convergence of service providers’ IP and DWDM core networks, increasing service flexibility and reliability while lowering operating expenses (OpEx) and capital expenditures (CapEx). The Cisco IPoDWDM solution efficiently manages traffic growth through the Cisco CRS-1 Carrier Routing System and the Cisco ONS 15454 Multiservice Transport Platform (MSTP).

Introduction
To meet the demands for converged packet infrastructures, service providers are increasingly moving their networks toward an IP NGN-based architecture. This shift is driven by the need to reduce OpEx and CapEx while offering new revenue-generating services over a single, converged infrastructure. IP NGNs can enable convergence at the application, service, and network layers. This paper focuses on the network layer and specifically on the convergence of two important technologies within service providers’ core networks: IP and DWDM.

Core Network Infrastructure Evolution
One recent core network trend is the consolidation of multiple Layer 2/3 networks into a single IP/Multiprotocol Label Switching (IP/MPLS) infrastructure. In spite of this Layer 2/3 convergence, however, the underlying transport layer (Layer 1) of many service provider core networks has continued to use SONET/SDH, an infrastructure that was introduced in the early 1990s to support traditional time-division multiplexing (TDM)-based data and voice services. This SONET/SDH infrastructure was implemented to support three critical functions: grooming; protection and restoration; and thorough operational support (such as alarming and performance monitoring).
When introduced, SONET/SDH allowed the efficient multiplexing of lower-speed TDM circuits such as T1/E1 and T3/E3 to higher-speed OC-3 and OC-12 trunks for transport across service providers’ core networks. Because of their synchronous nature, the trunk connections could be switched independently when needed without the need for complex demultiplexing as demanded by TDM-based data and voice services. The infrastructure also allowed the growth to faster aggregate links such as OC-48 and higher while also supporting the emerging IP networks of the day. This "grooming" function allowed the bandwidth efficiency and automation that service providers needed to support multiple switched TDM services in the core of their networks by using SONET/SDH add/drop multiplexers (ADMs) and cross-connect equipment. The SONET/SDH infrastructure, which typically uses a ring-based topology within the core, also allowed for protection and fast restoration (50 ms) during a failure on one part of the ring to maximize the availability of the overall network. With the advent of SONET/SDH standardization, a separate, standardized, message-based channel1 was used for alarms, control, monitoring, and administration of the links from a centralized location.
In the latter part of the 1990s, DWDM emerged as a way to significantly increase the efficiency of the installed fiber plant by allowing transmission of multiple wavelengths over a single physical fiber. This function introduced another level of multiplexing and demultiplexing at the optical level to support greatly increased bandwidth at the core of the network, which followed the dramatic rise of IP-based networks fueled by the explosion of the Web. The SONET/SDH layer, which now handled increasing amounts of IP traffic, was mapped into wavelengths at the DWDM transport layer to be carried across the core long-haul2 networks spanning regions and countries in many cases. This has remained largely the case in many service provider networks globally today.

The IP Explosion
The volumes of IP traffic on these core networks have, however, continued to increase steadily to the point where the primary use of these core long-haul networks today is to carry massive amounts of transient IP traffic, significantly outpacing the traffic volumes of traditional voice and data services. Over the next 5 years alone, global monthly IP traffic is expected to rise to 26 exabytes,3 accelerated by the application convergence of all video, voice, and data traffic to IP, resulting in a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in excess of 56 percent globally. The convergence of traditional applications such as broadcast television, video on demand, and voice to new distribution models over IP as well as the explosion of new applications such as music and video podcasting and peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing will only continue to fuel this tremendous growth of core IP traffic.

Core Network Infrastructure Challenges
Despite the trend toward IP convergence, multiple equipment layers to support core long-haul networks continue to exist, creating OpEx and CapEx concerns for service providers as well as the challenges of profitability and return on investment. Furthermore, as customers demand increasingly stringent service-level agreements (SLAs), service providers must maintain higher levels of reliability while still having the flexibility or "speed to service" to accommodate change based on service demands or traffic growth characteristics within the network core. To meet these requirements, service providers must consolidate their core networks and move toward more efficient ways to handle the increased IP traffic loads - yet at the same time they are confronted with problems at multiple levels to achieve this objective.

Multiple Transport Layer Elements
Some network inefficiencies result from the way core transport networks are built out today to support the IP layer over the SONET/SDH layer, supported by an underlying DWDM infrastructure. Consider the paths of two types of traffic entering and exiting a typical service provider point of presence (POP). The first scenario is IP traffic that needs a Layer 3 lookup at the POP and therefore is riding a wavelength that will terminate on a router. The second is called "pass-through" (or transient) traffic, which stays in the transport domain and bypasses the router to travel on to an adjacent POP in the service provider’s core network.

Router-Terminated Traffic
The IP traffic comes into the POP today typically through 10-Gbps SONET/SDH OC-192/STM-64 circuits, which are composed of colored wavelengths multiplexed through DWDM on to a physical fiber. This fiber is fed into a DWDM demultiplexer, which splits out the individual colored wavelengths. These individual wavelengths that are to be terminated on the router are then fed into transponders, which convert them from optical (colored) to electrical and then to a standard short-reach wavelength ("grey light"). This optical-to-electrical-to-optical (OEO) conversion is used because historically short-reach optics have been used for connectivity inside the POP environment. The grey light is then typically fed into a short-reach interface on a SONET/SDH cross-connect,4 which recovers the SONET/SDH clocking, performs any grooming necessary, checks for errors, and monitors for loss of signal (LOS) so that it can perform SONET/SDH-level restoration if needed. However, in most cases today, no grooming is actually needed because the full 10 Gbps is being connected to the router (rather than 2.5 Gbps or lower speed links in the past). Therefore, from a connectivity perspective, the cross-connect is serving essentially as a patch panel. The SONET/SDH cross-connect then feeds the 10 Gbps to the router, which performs performance monitoring at Layer 1 through Layer 3, monitors for LOS so it can perform MPLS Fast Reroute (FRR) restoration, and performs a Layer 3 and above lookup to route the packet to its destination. On the aggregation side the core router is typically aggregating multiple lower-speed links and grooming the IP traffic into well-used 10-Gbps links to present back into the core transport network.

Pass-Through Traffic
As traffic patterns in the core have become more distributed, the amount of traffic passing through a given POP purely at the transport layer (as opposed to terminating on a IP router) has tended to increase, and can sometimes be as high as 70 to 80 percent of the overall traffic that the POP handles. In this case the incoming DWDM link goes through a similar method of interconnections through the DWDM demultiplexer and transponders to the SONET/SDH cross-connect through short-reach optics. It checks for errors and monitors for LOS so that it can perform SONET/SDH restoration. Again the grooming function that would have occurred here previously is no longer required because typically full 10-Gbps links are being passed through the POP. Hence the cross-connect is again serving as a patch panel from a connectivity perspective. A similar process of interconnections occurs for outgoing traffic from the POP.
These OEO conversions and the associated electrical processing result in an additional cost in terms of space, because many racks of shelves may be required in a service provider POP, as well as additional power and cooling that is necessary because of the active electronics components that they contain. Furthermore, in this core network scenario the SONET/SDH functions are redundant because of the capabilities that have been integrated into the router.

• Grooming: Because most traffic has moved to IP, the router now performs the grooming function by aggregating IP traffic and presenting it to the core transport layer within well-used 10-Gbps links.

• Operational support: The router and its associated interfaces can measure errors at Layers 1 through 3, collect performance statistics, generate appropriate alarms, etc.

• Protection and restoration: Using MPLS FRR, the router can provide 50-ms protection or better and do so much more efficiently than the traditional SONET/SDH protection schemes (such as BLSR5), which waste up to 50 percent of the bandwidth for protection purposes.
For these reasons, service providers have already started using manual patching in place of the cross-connect to save costs.

Can Azulstar Make WiMax Work without Buying Spectrum?

By Glenn Fleishman

Azulstar once pinned its fortunes on city-wide Wi-Fi, but now looks to a special licensed spectrum band to make WiMax work where Wi-Fi failed: Azulstar has been the also-ran in Wi-Fi for some years, I’ll just state bluntly and upfront. They built a network in Grand Haven, Mich., in 2003 that’s one of—if not the—longest running metro-scale Wi-Fi networks in the world designed for public access. The mayor of Grand Haven since 2003, Roger Bergman, told me, “I got on board personally right away, and I am still on.”

Azulstar soon answered several RFPs and partnered up with major firms to bring Wi-Fi to Rio Rancho, N.M., Winston-Salem, N.C., Sacramento, Calif., and most notably Silicon Valley—a set of dozens of cities along with county government and private enterprise all wanting some kind of tiered Wi-Fi across 1,500 sq mi.

While EarthLink, MetroFi, and even Kite Networks (with their extensive Arizona buildout in Tempe launched a bit before any other large competiting network) seized the headlines, and later made news about their stalls, failures, and exits, Azulstar seemed quietly to sink into the sand. The Wireless Silicon Valley deal fell apart, as did Sacramento after efforts to get stakeholder and outside investment seemed to fail to materialize, and the marquee partners—Cisco, IBM, and Intel—just wouldn’t step up to the plate to make the project move forward. Azulstar was the lead techology firm, but the money just didn’t come. (Both California projects are moving forward with a different set of partners and expectations now.)

Rio Rancho was perhaps one of the biggest letdowns. City manager Jim Payne explained in an interview a few weeks ago, “They had a number of things that were going against them from the start, and they did make an attempt to meet the requirements of the contract.” But Rio Rancho voted to not just terminate the contract after years of attempts to make the network work, but rejected a proposal from Azulstar a few weeks ago to switch over equipment on the poles. Azulstar now has to remove all its devices.

All of this might make the typical company head a bit depressed about his firm’s future, and less than sanguine about the potential for wireless broadband to work at all. Not so for Tyler van Houwelingen, Azulstar’s chief, and I have to admit that he convinced me that the wireless provider has a fighting chance, due to a good combination of timing, spectrum policy, and a large dollop of can-do spirit.

AMD Processors

Desktop Processors

AMD Phenom™
Experience the phenomenal using the AMD Phenom™ processors. Get amazing speed with quad-core and triple-core performance.
AMD Athlon™
Award winning processors with exceptional performance to meet your digital demands.
AMD Sempron™
Redefine everyday computing with built-in security and solid performance.
ATI Home/Office Products
Enhance personal productivity and home entertainment with multi-purpose 2D and 3D solutions.
ATI Gamer Products
Immerse yourself in cinematic 3D action with Radeon™ products optimized for game play.
ATI Multimedia Products
Edit videos, watch and record live TV with All-in-Wonder™ entertainment products.

_{Notebook Processors}

AMD Turion™ 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology
The most advanced family of dual-core processors made for mobility.
AMD Athlon 64 X2
Affordable dual-core performance for notebook PCs.
Mobile AMD Sempron
The performance and security you need for today’s mobile lifestyle.
ATI Notebook Products
Enjoy stunning visual quality and long-lasting battery life.

Server Processors

AMD Opteron™ for Servers
Power your business with the world’s highest-performing processors for 1-8P x86 servers.
ATI Server Products
Get outstanding stability in display environments and maximum flexibility across multiple applications.

WordStation Processors

AMD Opteron for Workstations
Power your business with the world’s highest-performing processors for 1-8P x86 workstations.
ATI Workstation Products
Boost application performance with high-performance graphics accelerators.

Centrino VPro

Best mobile for business: Security and manageability on a chip.

Business demands frequently go beyond office walls. When they do, you want the ultimate high-performance laptop with proactive security features and remote manageability built in. And with a laptop based on Intel® Centrino® with vPro™ technology, you’ll experience all that plus longer-lasting battery life, and wireless connectivity that’ll go wherever business may take you.+
Download the product brief (PDF 246KB)
Compare Intel Centrino with vPro technology
Learn more about PCs with Intel vPro technology
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Performance-packed road warrior

With next-generation dual-core processors built into laptops with Intel Centrino with vPro technology, you’ll enjoy 2x the multitasking performance¹ and up to 2x the performance on compute-intensive applications¹—like running financial software or reviewing a multimedia presentation, all while anti-virus scans in the background.
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The power of remote management and security features

Increase uptime, reduce costly desk-side visits, and free yourself to focus on more strategic IT initiatives. With Intel Centrino with vPro technology, you can remotely monitor, diagnose, and repair PCs over the network, even if a system’s OS is inoperable or it is powered off. Enabled by the built-in manageability features of Intel vPro technology, these laptops are equipped to protect your PC while in the office or on the go.

You can also:
Reduce the need for hardware-related desk-side visits by up to 50 percent²
Reduce laptop asset inventory failures by up to 62 percent³
Conduct hardware and software inventory up to 95 percent faster than manual inventorying³
Improve your ability to inventory previously-undetected software by up to 47 percent³

NoteBook Processors

Centrino

Empower your mobile computing experience with leading-edge mobile technologies that provide revolutionary levels of performance, extended battery life, and expansive connectivity, while enabling sleek, thin, and light notebooks.

Features and benefits

Performance hungry? With new hafnium-based circuitry and up to 6MB L2 cache, you can multitask compute-intensive applications up to 2x as fast, while the new Intel® HD Boost gives you up to 50 percent more speed for hi-def multimedia applications.¹ Plus, you’ll enjoy a 3x performance improvement for a super-enhanced hi-def video experience and smoother playback with VC-1 hardware acceleration and optional Intel® Graphics Technology.²

Demanding applications? With mobile-optimized 800 MHz Front Side Bus (FSB) providing increased bandwidth and up to 20 percent faster data transfer rates, you’ll have the performance you need for everything from high-end gaming to hi-def multimedia applications and everything in between.¹

Remain unwired longer. Intel® Intelligent Power Capability gives you breakthrough enabled battery life so you can stay unplugged longer. The low-leakage, hafnium-based 45nm processor delivers unrivaled energy efficiency while Deep Power Down Technology lets you save power by using it only when you need it. No matter where you’re at, you’ll have the battery power you need to enjoy DVDs, hours of music, the coolest games, and much more. Plus, with built-in wireless connectivity, you can connect to public Wi-Fi networks around the globe, no wires attached.+

Enjoy the hi-def mobile multimedia monster inside. With new 3D graphics features like Vertex Shader Model 3.0* and Hardware Transform and Lightening*, and the performance-packed next-gen Intel® dual-core technology, you’ll experience hi-def multimedia like you’re in it.

Get the most out of your available bandwidth. Intel® Smart Memory Access improves system performance by optimizing available bandwidth in the system bus and memory subsystems to provide data to the processor when and where it is needed.

Explore Microsoft Windows Vista*. Optional Intel® Turbo Memory was designed with Intel® Flash Memory technology and software drivers that enable new benefits when running Windows Vista, including 2x faster performance when loading memory-intensive applications, and faster system booting.³

Get proven technology and exceptional value, with the Intel® Celeron® processor family.

Intel® Celeron® D processor 365
The Intel Celeron D processor is now available at speeds up to 3.60 GHz.

Intel® Celeron® processor
The Intel® Celeron® processor-based desktop platforms offer a robust computing experience together with the outstanding quality and reliability you expect from Intel.

Intel® Celeron® D processor
The Intel® Celeron® D processor delivers a balanced level of proven technology and exceptional value for desktop PCs.

Intel® Celeron® Dual-Core processor
With the Intel® Celeron® Dual-Core processor, you can now take basic computing to new levels.

The Intel® Core™2 processor family delivers unrivaled performance and breakthrough energy efficiency and Intel’s newest processors, built using 45nm technology with hafnium-infused circuitry, improve performance even further. Just imagine the possibilities!

Featured product

Intel® Core™2 Extreme processor QX9770
Get untouchable desktop performance from Intel’s latest Extreme processor. Play games, edit high definition video and easily tackle the most demanding multitasking environments like never before.

Intel® Core™2 Extreme processor
For extreme computing. Enjoy revolutionary levels of performance enabling vivid, high-definition experiences and multi-tasking responsiveness from state-of-the-art Intel dual-core and quad-core technologies.

Intel® Core™2 Quad processor
Multimedia enthusiasts, prepare to enthuse. Bring quad-core performance to your desktop with the Intel® Core™2 Quad processor. It’s the ideal engine for highly threaded entertainment applications and highly productive multitasking.

Intel® Core™2 Duo processor
The power to perform. With power-optimized enabled dual-core technology and exceptional energy efficiency, the Intel® Core™2 Duo processor excels running the most intense applications.

Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core processor E2200
Dual-core technology at speeds up to 2.20 GHz.


Intel® Pentium® processor Extreme Edition
Extend your digital content experience. The Intel® Pentium® processor Extreme Edition supporting Hyper-Threading Technology† has two full processing cores, giving the PC enthusiast extreme performance capabilities, powering new options for creating and sharing multimedia content.

Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core processor
The Intel® Pentium® dual-core processor delivers great desktop performance, low power enhancements, and multitasking for everyday computing.

Intel® Pentium® D processor
Extend your multitasking capabilities. An Intel® Pentium® D processor-based PC delivers an extra powerful gear when you need it. Accomplish more while running multiple applications, such as editing video while downloading music, or using robust business applications while managing security tasks.

Intel® Pentium® 4 processor Extreme Edition supporting Hyper-Threading Technology

Developed for the power user, the Intel® Pentium® 4 processor Extreme Edition supporting Hyper-

Threading Technology delivers an advanced gaming experience.

Intel : Intel® desktop processors deliver superb computing power, performance, and reliability at home and at work. Our notebook processors let you work and play in places you never thought possible. Our server and workstation processors provide enhanced scalability, power, and performance for robust multi-processing environments. And our embedded and communications processors combine outstanding performance with scalable, power-efficient processing for a wide range of embedded applications.

Types of Intel Processors
1) Desktop processors
-Intel® Core™ processor family
-Intel® Pentium® processor family
-Intel® Celeron® processor family

2) Notebook processors
-Intel® Core™ processor family
-Intel® Pentium® processor family
-Intel® Celeron® processor family

3) Server and workstation processors
-Intel® Server processors
-Intel® Workstation processors

4)Embedded and communications processors
-Intel® Control plane processors
-Intel® Architecture processors
-Intel® Network processors
-Intel® I/O processors