Intel Announces 'Quark' Ultra-Compact Chip

Quarks are the smallest fundamental particles that make up matter, as far as we know, and Intel's adoption of this name is quite fitting: "Quark" is positioned below the current and future Atom series. It has much lower area and power consumption requirements, making it an ultra-miniature chip designed specifically for ultra-small devices. Moreover, it employs a System-on-a-Chip (SoC) design.

Intel hasn't provided any precise figures, only stating that "Quark" is roughly one-tenth to one-fifth the size of today's low-end Atom processors. A rough calculation suggests that the core area of "Quark" should be less than 10 square millimeters, with power consumption not exceeding 100 milliwatts. While Atom targets smartphones, tablets, and similar mobile devices, "Quark" aims to compete in the traditional embedded microprocessor market and other types of low-performance, low-power controllers, especially in the Internet of Things (IoT).

Indeed, as you might have guessed, wearable computing devices such as smartwatches, fitness bands, and smart glasses fall squarely within its scope. Of course, it also includes many products in the industrial sector.