Transmeta Blends Hard and Software on New Crusoe Chip

Transmeta Inside

Aiming for rapid acceptance in the market, the Crusoe chips promise 100 percent compatibility with Intel's x86 instruction set. This compatibility with x86 code is achieved through what one engineer called "a virtual machine on steroids" running atop the VLIW hardware. To emphasize the degree of x86 compatibility, Ditzel quipped, "If you can get a blue screen on another chip we will reproduce that faithfully." While Crusoe is not just a Pentium pretender -- in theory it can run any chip instruction set -- Transmeta's engineers have tuned Crusoe for the best x86 performance. More importantly, the separation of machine code, such as floating-point registers, from the hardware will allow Transmeta to introduce more-efficient algorithms without having to burn new silicon. Historically emulating machine code in software has taken a toll on performance. Transmeta claims it has offset that performance hit with improvements on the hardware side, such as an integrated northbridge that reduces the size of the chip.

Crusoe's 128-bit VLIW engine uses software called "Code Morphing" to translate x86 instructions to VLIW instructions in the hardware. Code Morphing provides a dynamic translation that optimizes x86 instructions and caches the VLIW result in RAM to run the next time the x86 code is called.

Power consumption also benefits from Crusoe's unique approach to hardware and software. A smaller form factor and fewer pins make for a relatively cool chip. Crusoe's software includes automatic power management called "LongRun" that shuts down the machine almost to zero power consumption (from a peak of 1.6 volts) when your machine is at idle. When called on again to run, Crusoe can step its voltage down dynamically, along with the megahertz speed, to meet the current software demands.

Help From Big Blue

While not stating forecasts for number on units to be shipped this year, Transmeta states that it is prepared to take on the industry, the industry essentially being Intel. This shot across Intel's bow is fired using cannon borrowed from IBM, which provided not only development assistance, but will make its .22 and .18 micron chip fabs available to turn out as many Crusoe chips as Transmeta needs.

Reconfigurable Computing Underplayed

Curiously, Transmeta seemed to underplay its technical achievements in the realm of reconfigurable computing in favor of the dot-com splash of "Internet" and "mobile computing." Still, the company hinted at that there's more to come, coyly stating that "Transmeta's Code Morphing technology is obviously not limited to x86 implementations. As such, it has the potential to revolutionize the way microprocessors are designed in the future." Clearly, the real news regarding Transmeta may be around the corner, when it licenses its technology to or begins manufacturing for traditional silicon vendors who see the opportunity to build off a single die and do everything else in software.

Laptops and Web Pads

Also curiously, Transmeta had no third-party vendors on hand to announce products, reportedly to keep the focus on Crusoe alone. However, Ditzel did have several prototype devices on display, showcasing portable connectivity in both new and old form factors. Ditzel displayed traditional laptops that could run either Linux or Windows using the higher-powered Crusoe TM5400. He also showed thin clients and Web pads running the slower Crusoe TM3120.

Despite the OEM no-show, Transmeta is positioning itself as working with vendors as a complete platform architecture company. For example, Transmeta will help OEMS build a Web pad device by supplying not just the Crusoe chip, but also the Transmeta BIOS, Mobile Linux, and specialized hardware designed by Transmeta.

Laptop Linux

Linus Torvalds, father of Linux and closet Quake player, briefly demonstrated a Linux/Crusoe PC running Quake. Pitted against a fellow engineer on a Windows/Crusoe PC, Linus was quickly dispatched. Torvalds reassured the attendees, "If I lose, it's not the operating system." Indeed the two OSes running side by side seemed indistinguishable. Later, he returned to give some details about Mobile Linux, stating that it's fairly standard Linux with tweaks from Transmeta such as Flash ROM compression and file-systems management. This should help OEMs get Linux to run on unique hardware configurations.