Smaller Feature Size; Hyper-Threading (Jackson) Technology - HP ML530 - ProLiant - 128 MB RAM Brief Manual

ProLiant ML530 High-Performance Technologies

smaller feature size

Hyper-Threading
(Jackson) technology
figure 3. ProLiant ML530 G2 processor subsystem architecture
The Intel Xeon Processor is built with a 130-nanometer (0.13-micron) process to allow
higher frequencies and better performance. The manufacturing term 0.13 micron refers
to the circuit (feature) size. Feature size is a major limiting factor in processing speed.
The smaller the feature size, the more transistors are packed into the circuit. As the
feature size decreases, the processing speed increases and the power requirements
decrease. The 0.13-micron Xeon processor has a smaller feature size and faster circuitry
than the 0.18-micron Intel Foster processor.
Hyper-Threading technology lets a single processor execute two applications or
processes at one time by handling instructions in parallel.
A processor without Hyper-Threading technology has one architectural state and one set
of execution resources on the processor core (see Figure 4 left). The architectural state is
a set of registers that track program execution, and it is viewed by the operating system
(OS) as one logical processor. The execution resources process instructions from the OS
and applications one at a time in a logical order. During each clock cycle, a typical
operation uses only a fraction of the execution resources while the rest are idle. Hyper-
Threading technology addresses this low processor utilization by using as many
execution resources as possible during each clock cycle.
The OS views a processor with Hyper-Threading technology as if it were two logical
processors—two architecture states sharing one set of execution resources. This allows
the processor to simultaneously execute incoming instructions from different software
applications by using out-of-order instruction scheduling to keep execution resources as
busy as possible. As a result, a processor with Hyper-Threading technology can execute
as many instructions as 1.5 processors. The result is a performance boost during multi-
threading and multi-tasking operations. The actual performance increase depends on the
independent operations being executed and the execution resources required to
complete the operation.
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