在英特爾(Intel)擔(dān)任處理器工程師已是第17個年頭的Ronak Singhal說，一切都是“靠關(guān)系”──過去幾年，他花了很多時間與Amazon、eBay、Facebook、Google、Microsoft等數(shù) 家網(wǎng)絡(luò)大公司的頂尖計算機專家們打交道，收集他們的需求并將那些回饋意見納入英特爾最新的服務(wù)器芯片開發(fā)計劃中。 Singhal在英特爾最新 Xeon 與 Atom 系列服務(wù)器芯片發(fā)表會結(jié)束后接受EETimes美國版編輯訪問時表示：“當(dāng)他們之中有三個人想要的東西是一樣的，你就知道找對方向了?！辈贿^那些大公司不見得總是意見一致，因此英特爾最近開始針對包括eBay、Facebook在內(nèi)的某些大客戶，提供客制化版本的微處理器芯片。 到 目前為止，英特爾在這方面還在起步階段；針對大客戶，該公司可支持一些以軟件或制程的修改為基礎(chǔ)的特殊芯片頻率、功率等級或是可靠度等規(guī)格。舉例來說，如果芯片預(yù)計在一年之后就替換，可以調(diào)整至較高的頻率；或是設(shè)定禁用超頻模式(ultra-fast turbo modes)，因此能保證多年使用期限。

Ronak Singhal展示他協(xié)助參與設(shè)計的Nehalem等級Xeon芯片
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接下來將是很大的一步；英特爾的目標是開始為某些全球最大的資料中心打造客制化邏輯，可能采取的形式是加速如 Hadoop 等大型資料算法的功能區(qū)塊；該功能區(qū)塊可能嵌入一款英特爾的處理器，或成為搭配處理器的獨立芯片。這并非英特爾習(xí)慣做的事，該公司過去比較擅長在世界各 地的任何一個晶圓廠生產(chǎn)相同的芯片。 但是時代正在改變，Singhal 正在追蹤15家采用ARM核心設(shè)計服務(wù)器處理器的公司，包括Broadcom、Cavium、Marvell、Nvidia、Qualcomm、TI與 AMD等；這些對手都想藉由提供低功耗處理器來搶他的生意。Singhal相信，有幾家他的大型網(wǎng)絡(luò)公司客戶確實肯為了降低資料中心功耗──這也是他們最 頭痛的問題──而投資：“他們有錢?！? 要與那些競爭對手拚高下對Singhal來說并非易事；到目前為止，英特爾在該應(yīng)用領(lǐng) 域只有兩款可用芯片，一款來自Marvell，另一款來自新創(chuàng)公司Calxeda；而那15家公司中有大多數(shù)將在明年推出首款芯片。一位市場分析師表示： “這是英特爾與整個產(chǎn)業(yè)界的競爭?！? 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 本文下一頁：英特爾內(nèi)部的人際關(guān)系經(jīng)營也不易

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{pagination} Singhal認為他已經(jīng)準備好迎戰(zhàn)──最近幾年，他由尺寸較大、較耗電、采用Core 處理器核心的Xeon系列，擴充至運用新一代Atom核心系列處理器。去年英特爾推出了首款采用Atom核心的Centerton系列服務(wù)器處理器芯片， 該公司今年將推出第二代Atom核心低功耗服務(wù)器芯片Avoton，采用最多8個新型Atom Silvermont核心。 Avoton 也是第一款采用英特爾22納米制程的服務(wù)器芯片，并支持Gbit以太網(wǎng)絡(luò)、SATA等周邊；到目前為止，Avoton設(shè)計在紙上看起來還不錯，而 Singhal與他的團隊正在開發(fā)下一代的Xeon系列產(chǎn)品Broadwell，以英特爾目前轉(zhuǎn)向采用14納米制程的Hasell架構(gòu)為基 礎(chǔ)；Singhal的團隊甚至將推出與Avoton一樣整合各種周邊的版本，作為節(jié)省功耗的方案之一。 沒有什么事情是容易 的，甚至是英特爾內(nèi)部的人際關(guān)系經(jīng)營；身為首席架構(gòu)工程師，Singhal通常都在其團隊中扮演魔鬼代言人，煽動關(guān)于關(guān)鍵設(shè)計決策的辯論。這其實是英特爾 內(nèi)部的一個老文化，被稱為是“具建設(shè)性的對抗(constructive confrontation)” Singhal表示：“你不能讓人們對自己的假設(shè)感到滿意?！贝送馑ǔ荒昵巴陨邪菰L當(dāng)?shù)氐脑O(shè)計團隊兩次，該團隊已經(jīng)在進行將接續(xù)Broadwell芯片的14納米新架構(gòu)設(shè)計。英特爾工程師也與約10所頂尖大學(xué)保持緊密的合作，以吸納人才。 通常史丹佛大學(xué)與柏克萊大學(xué)畢業(yè)的電子工程學(xué)生喜歡待在舊金山灣區(qū)工作，但那些來自美國東岸或中西部學(xué)校的畢業(yè)生，則會移往奧勒岡州等地工作；那是Singhal的駐點，英特爾驗當(dāng)?shù)負碛卸鄠€設(shè)計團隊。 Singhal 是在1997年由卡內(nèi)基美隆大學(xué)(Carnegie Mellon)畢業(yè)后加入英特爾，他在學(xué)校時就接觸過英特爾的工程師；而這份工作也是他畢業(yè)之后待過的第一家公司，有鑒于他與各家芯片廠商、大客戶們建立 起的緊密合作關(guān)系，他應(yīng)該還會為英特爾工作好一陣子！ 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 編譯：Judith Cheng 參考英文原文：Intel Engineer Builds Social Networks，by Rick Merritt

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{pagination} Intel Engineer Builds Social Networks Rick Merritt SAN FRANCISCO — It's all about the relationships, says Ronak Singhal, now in his 17th year as a microprocessor engineer at Intel. For the last several years Singhal has spent much of his time developing relationships with top computer experts in the big Web companies -- Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Google, Microsoft. He collects their requirements and gets their feedback on Intel's latest server chip plans. "When three of them all tell you they want the same thing, you know you are on to something," Singhal told EE Times during a break in a press briefing about Intel's latest Xeon and Atom server chips. They don't always agree. So recently Intel has started providing a few of the biggest customers -- including eBay and Facebook -- with custom versions of its microprocessors. So far, Intel has taken baby steps in this area. For a big customer, it can support something unique in the chip's frequency, power levels, or reliability based on tweaks in firmware or the manufacturing process. For example, chips can be pushed to a higher frequency if they will be replaced after a year, or they can have their ultra-fast turbo modes disabled so they can be guaranteed to last many years. Ronak Singhal shows the Nehalem-class Xeon chip he helped design. The next step will be a big one. Intel aims to open the door to creating custom logic for some of the world's biggest datacenters. It is likely to take the form of a block that accelerates some big-data algorithm such as Hadoop. The block could get embedded in an Intel processor or become a standalone chip slipped inside a package next to the CPU. It's not something Intel is used to doing. The company wrote the book on "copy exact," making chips the same way in any fab anywhere in the world. But times are changing. Singhal now tracks 15 companies designing ARM-based server microprocessors, all trying to get a piece of his business by offering lower power processors. Singhal believes some of his customers in the big web companies are actually funding some of the competition in an effort to lower power in their datacenters, their top concern. "They have the money," he says. Many of these new competitors have their own cash. They include top chipmakers such as Broadcom, Cavium, Marvell, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, and Intel archrivals AMD and Samsung. Keeping track of the new competitors is tricky for Singhal. So far Intel only has two working chips from the group, a part from Marvell and one from startup Calxeda. Most of the gang of 15 expect to ship their first parts next year. "It's Intel versus the rest of the industry," said one analyst at the Intel press briefing. Singhal thinks he is ready for the onslaught. In recent years he has expanded from working on the big but power-hungry Xeon line, using core processors, to a new Atom-based family. Last year Intel shipped Centerton, its first server chip using the lower-power Atom core. This year it will ship Avoton, a second-generation Atom server part, using up to eight new Atom Silvermont cores. It's the first Atom server chip to use Intel's 22 nm process and pack peripherals such as Gbit Ethernet and serial ATA. So far, the Avoton design looks good on paper. Right behind it, Singhal and his team are developing a next-generation Xeon line called Broadwell, essentially Intel's current Haswell design moved to its 14 nm process. Singhal's group will even deliver a version packing all the Ethernet, SATA, and other goodies it is putting into the Atom-based Avoton as another way to save power. Nothing comes easy, even the relationships inside Intel. As a top architect, Singhal often acts as a devil's advocate in his engineering team, inciting debates about key design decisions. It's an old part of the Intel culture known as constructive confrontation. "You can't let people get comfortable with their assumptions," Singhal says. There's some collegiality along the way. Singhal typically visits Intel design teams in Israel twice a year. They are already working on a new 14 nm architecture that will be the follow-up to the Broadwell chips. Intel engineers also maintain close ties with the big 10 universities from which they typically recruit talent. The EEs coming out of Stanford and Berkeley like to stay in the San Francisco Bay Area, but those from the East Coast and Midwest schools will make the move to places such as Oregon where Singhal works and Intel maintains many of its design teams. Singhal should know. He joined Intel in 1997 from Carnegie Mellon where he was able to make his first contacts with Intel engineers. It was his first job out of college and his only gig so far. Given his tight relationship with the chipmaker and some of its top customers, he's likely to stay quite a while longer.