Intel expands Israeli R&D role as it unveils next-generation server architecture
Diamond Rapids will support up to 256 cores and use modular computing units.
Intel unveiled the architecture of its next-generation server processors, Diamond Rapids, on Monday, highlighting technology developed under the leadership of its R&D center in Israel.
The announcement marks an expansion of the Israeli center’s responsibilities within Intel’s server processor development. According to the company, expertise built in Israel over years of developing processors for personal computers is now being applied to the design of a complete computing unit for its next-generation server architecture.
The announcement comes as Intel seeks to capitalize on renewed demand for central processing units (CPUs) in AI data centers. While graphics processing units (GPUs) have become central to training AI models, CPUs remain important for running models and handling other workloads in data centers. The growing use of autonomous AI agents in business environments is expected to increase demand for computing capacity.
Intel unveiled Diamond Rapids at the Hot Chips conference in Silicon Valley. The architecture will serve as the basis for the next generation of Xeon processors for data centers, with versions supporting up to 256 cores.
The processors will be built around four modular CBB, or Computer Building Block, units developed under the leadership of Intel's Israeli R&D center. Each CBB can contain up to 64 cores and is designed to allow them to operate as a single computing cluster, providing consistent access to memory while giving Intel a modular architecture that can be adapted to different server configurations.
The role represents a significant expansion for Intel's Israeli development operation. Its contribution to Xeon processors had previously focused primarily on the development of the processor's performance core.
The shift followed work by the Israeli team on Intel's Lunar Lake processors for laptops, where the company said the team achieved advances in performance and energy efficiency. Intel subsequently tasked the group with applying those principles to the server market and gave it responsibility for designing the computing unit at the heart of Diamond Rapids.
"For years, we have developed complete architectures for personal computer processors in Israel, while in the server world we have focused mainly on developing the processor's performance core," said Eran Shifer, Intel Fellow, SoC Architecture, in a company press release.
"At Diamond Rapids, we were given broader responsibilities. We took the capabilities we had developed in Israel in the areas of performance and energy efficiency, expanded them to work with a significantly larger number of cores, and built an entire computing unit around them for the next generation of Xeon."
The development required the Israeli team to address challenges beyond those involved in designing an individual processor core, including the physical structure of a much larger computing system and the interaction between its various components.
"For years, we have developed complete architectures for personal computer processors in Israel, while in the server world we have focused mainly on developing the processor's performance core," Shifer said. "This transition required us to deal with a new scale, a three-dimensional structure, and a much broader system complexity than was required in developing the processor core alone."
The Israeli teams also contributed to security features designed to protect data while it is being processed.
One challenge was allowing Diamond Rapids to work with larger amounts of memory without increasing the potential exposure of sensitive information.
"The challenge was to expand the memory without expanding the area of exposure of the information," said Boaz Tamir, Platform Security Technologies R&D - Senior Director.
According to Intel, engineers in Israel adapted protection mechanisms to the new Diamond Rapids architecture so that information can remain isolated and encrypted when stored in additional memory connected to the server. They also developed a way to verify that a server is operating in a protected environment before sensitive information is transferred to it.
