The embedded device market is one of Intel's weak points at this moment, so I am not all that surprised to see this processing giant leap into what seems to be one of the most competitive area is the computing world with the introduction of the new Atom E600 and CE4200 processors.

Since the CE4200 is actually an improved version of the previously released CE4100 not many things have changed, compared to the older model.

This means that we still get the ability to decode up to two 1080p HD streams with various high-end audio codes and the 3D decoding features present in the older model, but this time Intel has added H.264 encoding support, presumably the same 720p M.264 encoding engine available in the Moorestown SoC.

Although this aren't huge improvements by any means, the CE4200 is still a very capable chip, its background being really strong, although not so many manufacturers have taken an interest in the CE4100 until very recently.

If the CE4200 isn't all that impressive, the E600 packs a lot of surprises this processor being designed to take a hold of the embedded market where ARM based chips reign supreme.

Although this is based on the same in-order architecture as the rest of the Atom family and it still retains some of its features as Hyper-Threading Technology and the Intel VT-x instructions this thing takes an entirely new approach (for Intel that is) when it comes down to connectivity with third party chips, Intel dropping proprietary interfaces such as FSB or DMI in favor of the open PCI-Express standard.

This makes a lot of sense since the E600 is destined to be used in SoC solutions where a proprietary interface limits the number of third-party co-processors that can be included in such a chip since it requires companies to license interfaces such as FSB or DMI from Intel.

However, using an open interface like PCI-Express won't pose such limitations, chip manufacturers having the opportunity to pair the E600 with the Intel PCH EG20T I/O Hub or any other offerings available form third-party vendors, OKI, Realtek and STMicroelectronics being among the first to release such interconnect solutions.

This new chip also comes with integrated graphics, based on an optimized PowerVR SGX core, much in the same way the GMA 500 did, that offers HD video decoding and encoding capabilities together with an DDR2 single channel memory controller.

The new Atom E600 processors will be available in eight different versions, ranging in speed from 600MHz to 1.6GHz, four of these being destined to industrial use since they can withstand temperatures between -40 and 85 degrees Celsius.

The TDP ranges from 2.7W to 3.3W, while the graphics core comes at 320MHz or 400MHz depending on the chip.

I have to say the E600 leaved an really strong impression on me since this chip seems to address some of Intel's weak point in the embedded market, while the VT-x support and x86 architecture could prove to be important assets in the fight against ARM.  

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