As processor performance continues to increase, Burns said, no technology available today will be able to meet the needs of next-generation systems. Specifically, Burns said, an I/O architecture with legs that will march confidently for the next ten years is needed.

Just as the PCI architecture replaced ISA by addressing the graphics and networking limitations of ISA, so too will a next, third-generation I/O replace PCI, Burns said. "We are pushing to the theoretical limits of copper, and we see a very clear path to a 10-GHz processor," he said.

"There are a number of point solutions on the market right now that don't have the legs for the next 10 years," Burns said, referring to solutions such as Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s proprietary HyperTransport I/O technology. "It's time to define the next comprehensive I/O architecture.

"We as an industry must get busy very quickly," he said. "Our commitment is that by the fall Intel Developer Forum, the preliminary spec will be made available."

Server spec

Meanwhile, Intel, Hewlett-Packard Co., NEC Corp. and Dell Computer Corp. on Thursday unveiled version 1.5 of the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) specification for servers. The spec defines common interfaces to the hardware used to monitor a server's physical health characteristics, such as temperature, voltage, fans, power supplies and chassis.

The new interfaces in IPMI 1.5 facilitate the management of rack-mounted Internet servers and systems in remote environments over serial, modem and LAN connections. IPMI 1.5 also includes new capabilities to automatically alert information technology managers of system errors and enable immediate system recovery.

IPMI 1.5 is backward compatible with version 1.0 of the spec and includes extensions to support existing and emerging standards such as the Desktop Management Task Force Alert Standard Forum, CompactPCI, SMBus 2.0 and the proposed PCI Management Bus. IPMI 1.5 systems will be deployed in the second half of 2001, the companies said.