Centrino

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Centrino logo
old Centrino logo

Centrino (or Centrino Mobile Technology ) is a brand that includes all notebook and mobile internet device platforms based on hardware from Intel . She describes combinations of processor , motherboard - chipset and WLAN .

Centrino is a made-up word that is made up of the English terms "center" and "neutrino".

In addition to the actual Centrino platform, there are the variants Centrino Duo for systems with dual core processors and Centrino Atom with an Intel Atom processor . There is also Centrino Pro for business systems.

Like the Intel Pentium M on which the Centrino platform is originally based, this development comes from Intel's research and development center in Haifa, Israel.

Intel Centrino

Wireless LAN Chipset Centrino Processor Code name Release date Process Technology Microarchitecture
Intel PRO / Wireless 2100 800 Series Carmel Intel Pentium M Banias 2003 130 nm Intel P6
Intel PRO / Wireless 2200 Dothan 2004 90 nm
Intel PRO / Wireless 2200 900 series Sonoma 2005
Intel PRO / Wireless 2915
Intel PRO / Wireless 3945 Napa Intel Core Duo / Solo Yonah 2006 65 nm
Intel PRO / Wireless 4965 Napa refresh Intel Core 2 Duo / Solo Merom Intel Core
Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965 Santa Rosa Intel Core 2 Duo 2007
Santa Rosa Refresh Penryn 2008 45 nm
Intel WiFi Link 5100 4 Series Montevina
Intel WiMAX / WiFi Link 5150
Intel Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300
Intel WiMAX / WiFi Link 5350
Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1000 5 Series Calpella Intel Core i7 / i7 Extreme Edition Clarksfield 2009 Intel Nehalem
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6200 Intel Core i3 / i5 / i7 Arrandale 2010 32 nm
Intel Centrino Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250
Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300
Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1000 6 Series Huron River Intel Core i3 / i5 / i7 / i7 Extreme Edition Sandy Bridge 2011 Intel Sandy Bridge
Intel Centrino Wireless-N 1030
Intel Centrino Advanced-N + WiMAX 6150
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230
Intel Centrino Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250
Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300
Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 7 Series Chief River Intel Core i3 / i5 / i7 / i7 Extreme Edition Ivy Bridge 2012 22 nm
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205
Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2230
Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2200
Intel Centrino Wireless-N 135
Intel Centrino Wireless-N 105
Intel Centrino 8 Series Shark Bay Intel Core i3 / i5 / i7 / i7 Extreme Edition Haswell 2013 Intel Haswell
Intel Centrino 9 Series ? Broadwell 2014 14 nm

concept

When the derived Centrino processor , the mainboard - chipset and the WLAN module of Intel itself and are identical or at least compatible with each other completely within a generation of the platform. This significantly reduces the number of performance-relevant technical variables on a notebook system.

processor

Initially, the Pentium M , which was specially developed for notebooks, served as the processor at Centrino . Newer versions are based on the Core Solo (in fact a renamed Pentium M) or the newer Intel Core 2 Solo. Systems marketed as Centrino Duo are based on the Core Duo or Core 2 Duo. The Atom processor is intended for Centrino Atom .

Otherwise structurally identical notebooks (mostly with other WLAN modules for cost reasons) with Celeron processors do not receive a license from Intel to use the Centrino brand .

Chipset

The main component of each generation is the chipset used. This does not change within the generation, but there are sometimes several variants for different energy consumption requirements as well as variants with and without an integrated graphics unit.

WIRELESS INTERNET ACCESS

Centrino WLAN module
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205

The WLAN modules used also come from Intel itself, but are not tied to a specific generation. So there are notebooks with WLAN modules that do not match according to the information provided here.

Graphics unit

All Centrino generations also have a graphics unit integrated into the chipset, but this is not necessarily part of a Centrino system.

Generations: Centrino / Centrino Duo

Carmel

The first Centrino generation was introduced in 2003 and is code-named Carmel . The chipset used is the Intel 855 . This allows a Front Side Bus (FSB) of 100 MHz (FSB 400), which is why a Pentium M based on Banias is usually used. Recently, however, special FSB400 versions of the Dothan core, which has a larger L2 cache, were also in use. As a WLAN module, Intel PRO / Wireless 2100B (IEEE 802.11b) or more rarely PRO / Wireless 2100AB (IEEE 802.11ab) with 11 MBit transfer rate are used, which Intel brought in some criticism in the end, as the competition already IEEE 802.11g- Chips (i.e. 54 Mbit) could offer.

Due to its high energy efficiency, especially with a dynamic processor clock, Carmel set new standards in terms of battery life.

Sonoma

The second Centrino generation introduced in 2005 is code-named Sonoma . It consists of the Intel 915 Express chipset with 133 MHz FSB (FSB 533), the Pentium-M mobile processor from the Dothan series and Intel PRO / Wireless 2200BG or 2915ABG wireless adapter. The Intel 915 chipset supports many new standards such as DDR2 , PCI Express and SATA . The optional integrated graphics unit GMA 900 can branch off up to 128 MB of the main memory as graphics memory. In addition to the 802.11b standard, the new WLAN adapter also supports the 802.11g standard.

Napa

Centrino Duo (Napa) logo

The third Centrino generation from 2006 is code-named Napa . Among other things, the Intel Mobile 945 Express chipset is now used, which controls the Intel Core Solo mobile processor based on Yonah or the Core 2 Solo based on Merom. The Napa platform also enables the use of the dual core processors Core Duo or Core 2 Duo, this combination is then marketed as Centrino Duo. On this platform, the FSB was increased to 166 MHz (FSB 667) and the Intel VT virtualization technology was introduced. The GMA-950 graphics can work with up to 256 megabytes of shared memory . Intel PRO / Wireless 3945abg or 3965abg are used as WLAN modules .

Santa Rosa

Logo of Centrino Duo (Santa Rosa)

The fourth generation, only called Centrino Duo, is known under the name Santa Rosa . It was presented on May 9, 2007. The first notebooks with the new platform went on sale at the end of May 2007. The chipset used here is the Intel Mobile 965 Express chipset , which has a front side bus of 200 MHz (FSB 800), but can reduce this to 100 MHz (FSB400) when the processor load is low. The Core 2 processors with code names Merom and Penryn serve as the processor . The GMA X3100 serves as the graphics unit, the Intel PRO / Wireless 4965AGN IEEE 802.11 a / b / g / n mini-PCIe WiFi adapter is used for WLAN .

A fundamental innovation is a flash memory developed under the name Robson , which is intended to serve as a large and fast hard disk cache.

The “Santa Rosa” platform is again marketed in two variants: The business line is called Centrino Pro and offers additional security and network management functions. The normal line, mainly intended for home users, continues to bear the well-known name Centrino Duo.

Montevina / Centrino 2

new logo from Centrino 2
old logo of Centrino 2

The fifth Centrino generation started on July 15, 2008 under the name Centrino 2 (formerly: Montevina ). It includes the acceleration of the FSB to 266 MHz (FSB 1066), the support of DDR3-SDRAM with up to 1,066 MHz, reduced power consumption (by manufacturing the chipset in 65 nm), a WiMAX module (code name "Echo Peak") and the GMA-X4500 graphics unit.

First came notebooks with the PM45 chipset and then on August 5th, 2008 the GM45 and GM47 chipsets were added, which then included X4500-HD graphics units.

Intel 4 Express 'Cantiga' properties
GL40

Slimmed down version of the GM45:

PM45
GM45

Extended version of the PM45:

  • 533 MHz X4500 graphics card
GS45

Extended version of the GM45:

  • Low-power & high-power configuration
GS47

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