Intel pioneered the development of the Linux kernel for a new family of Atom SoC processors codenamed Lightning Mountain. It is said to be a network processor based on the 14 nm Airmont architecture.
Intel’s SoC Lightning Mountain would be based on the Airmont chips
Phoronix today reported on the latest patch notes on the Linux kernel. They say, “A future product will use a new variant of the Atom Airmont CPU model.”
Another note of August 21 explicitly mentions the name Lightning Mountain SoC. Intel does not currently have any product families based on the Mountain suffix, so it would be a new chip series.
The code references call it a “network processor”, but Phoronix reported that it is also used for other applications. At this point, no further details are known, such as why Intel resides in the relatively old architecture of Airmont, which has now been replaced by Goldmont and Goldmont Plus at 14nm and Tremont at 10nm. The initial support for Lightning Mountain is expected to reach the next Linux 5.4 kernel, and it is a complete mystery what this SoC would do and what Intel’s strategy is.
Remember that earlier this year Intel announced another network SoC, Snow Ridge, for 5G base stations. So this new SoC would have a different goal. We’ll keep you up to date with all the Intel news and chips.