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Some day in the future, the Intel Pentium 4 processor will have to retire, but behind the scenes its successor seems ready to take over.

Intel is currently developing a new processor code-named Nehalem, the company has disclosed. The information was revealed in an interview with Doug Carmean, a managing engineer with Intel, that appeared on the company's Web site. The material has since been removed.

In the last year Carmean, who was also one of the driving forces behind Pentium 4, has been acting as head of the team of developers working on Nehalem. The new processor is being designed from scratch and will not have anything in common with Pentium 4, according to the statement. Carmean strongly indicated that Nehalem will be marketed in 2004.

Eye on Security

Meanwhile, Intel is also developing a new security architecture code-named LeGrande. This technology aims to establish a hardware environment that will entirely prevent external attacks, such as those from a computer virus. The technology encompasses the chip set and the system memory, as well as the hard drive. It will also be incorporated into the new processor.

The approach of combining security technology across hardware components is similar to Microsoft's Palladium project. With that, Microsoft is attempting to ensure trusted communications among components by linking hardware and software security inside a Windows PC.

Ahead: Prescott

Until Nehalem emerges, an improved version of the NetBurst architecture, which is used in Pentium 4, will be implemented in a processor code-named Prescott, according to the now-unavailable report.

The NetBurst microarchitecture was implemented first on higher-end desktop and server chips, but is being put to use on the Celeron family of processors for low-cost PCs, as well. NetBurst will help Intel push the clock speeds of low-end chips further, and it will ship with 80 percent of Celeron processors by the end of 2002, the company has said.

Intel has revealed some information publicly about Prescott. This processor will be based on the 90-nanometer process, on 12-inch wafers. Intel has said the next-generation PC chip is still on schedule to use the new manufacturing process. It is scheduled for release in the second half of 2003.

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