Solar-powered processor and the memory cube

INTEL has unveiled a Near Threshold Voltage Processor which is said to be able to run off a solar cell the size of a postage stamp.

The technology was just one of many others Intel introduced at the Intel Developer Foru,

The Near-Threshold Voltage Processor uses ultra-low voltage circuits which reduce energy consumption by operating close to the turn-on voltage of the transistors. While still a concept CPU, the unit can run fast when needed, but will drop power to below 10 milliwatts when the workload is light.

Intel says the research chip will not become a product itself, although it could lead to the integration of scalable scalable near-threshold voltage circuits across a wide range of future products, reducing power consumption by 5-fold or more and extending always-on capability to a wider range of computing devices.

Another technology seen at the event was the Hybrid Memory Cube, a concept DRAM developed by Micron in collaboration with Intel. According to the company, the Memory Cube demonstrates a new approach to memory design delivering a 7-fold improvement in energy-efficiency over today's DDR3.

Hybrid Memory Cube uses a stacked memory chip configuration, forming a compact "cube," and uses a new, highly efficient memory interface which sets the bar for energy consumed per bit transferred while supporting data rates of one trillion bits per second. This research could lead to dramatic improvements in servers optimized for cloud computing as well as ultrabooks, televisions, tablets and smartphones.