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Intel is preparing to strengthen its XScale processor lineup for cellular and smart phones later this year with the launch of a next-generation processor, code-named Manitoba, according to company executives interviewed at the Computex Taipei 2002 show.

"Manitoba is the next version of the XScale processor," said Michael Splinter, executive vice president of Intel. "I don't think we have announced an introduction date other than sometime at the end of the year."

"It will really be geared at cell phones and smart phones. While some people are already adopting our SA1110 StrongArm product and some will adopt our PXA250 (XScale), Manitoba is really the product that has great power levels and application base for cell phones," he said.

The processor is based on an XScale core running at 312MHz and, unlike Intel's present offerings for cell phones, includes a digital signal processor, said Lance Liu, technical marketing manager for Intel's Asia-Pacific wireless communications and computing group.

Integrating a DSP with the processor helps save space and power, as cell-phone makers will no longer have to use a separate DSP chip. Some competing processors, such as Texas Instruments' Omap, already include a DSP.

Other features of Manitoba include 32MB of flash memory and 512K bytes of synchronous DRAM. The company will build support for GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) and GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) into Manitoba but does not, at present, have plans to support other systems such as CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access).

Intel expects the new chip will provide enough power for advanced cellular handsets running applications such as wireless Internet access, small Java applets and more basic telephone functions. More advanced smart phones, such as those running Microsoft 's Windows Powered Smartphone 2002 operating system, might require an additional applications processor such as one of the current lineup of XScale processors, said Liu.

Previous Versions for PDAs

Earlier versions of the XScale processor came in two main types: the PXA250, aimed at high-end PDAs, and the PXA210, aimed at mobile phones and entry-level PDAs. The chips are based on processor cores from design house ARM, just like the company's current offering for PDAs, the StrongARM microprocessor. Intel intends to continue supplying StrongArm chips in addition to XScale.

One of the first companies expected to show an XScale-based processor is Fujitsu Siemens Computer, a German-based unit of Fujitsu. While that PDA has been developed in Europe and will be targeted at the European market, Fujitsu in Japan also has plans to produce an XScale PDA, according to a spokesperson in Tokyo.

Toshiba says it plans to launch a similar product. Expected to be available in the U.S. in the second quarter of this year, the company's machine will be based on a 400-MHz version of the new chip and pack built-in wireless functions and dual expansion slots, the company says in a statement.

Casio Computer has plans to use the chip too, according to company spokesperson Kouichi Nishizawa. While it has plans to begin using Intel's new chip in place of the StrongARM processors it currently uses, Nishizawa says the company has no detailed schedule yet.

Intel has backing from three of Japan's seven main PDA makers. Among the others, Sony says it has yet to make up its mind.

XScale Inside Monitors, Too

XScale processor technology has been chosen to power a handful of new wireless monitors being cooked up by hardware makers to take advantage of Microsoft's Mira technologies.

Koninklijke Philips Electronics and ViewSonic will use the Intel chips to power wireless "smart display devices" based on Mira, a technology that allows users to access their Windows XP desktop from a portable monitor.

Both hardware makers will use Intel's PXA250 applications processor to power their Mira-enabled devices due out in the fourth quarter of this year, Intel said.

Scarlet Pruitt of IDG News Service contributed to this report.

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