Intel Reveals Name of Next Generation Xeon D: Hewitt Lake

The Xeon D processor line for Intel has been a combination networking/microserver processor that increased significantly in core count, power, and capability in the previous generation. We now have two splits – the 500 family for networking, and 100 family for higher performance. Today Intel is revealing the name of the successor to the D-1500 family: Hewitt Lake.

The D-1500 processors were built upon Skylake-SP silicon designs with on-package chipsets to help accelerate networking functionality as well as implementations of Intel’s Quick Assist Technology (QAT) to process encrypted data streams much faster with appropriate offloading hardware.

Intel doesn’t disclose much about the new processor line. At this point we suspect that they will use the newest Cascade Lake silicon design, which affords additional hardware security against specific Spectre and Meltdown attacks, VNNI instruction extensions, and Optane DC memory support. The big part of these chips will be in the chipset, and there is no obvious indication that Intel is doing something new there at this point.

Intel does state that the new Hewitt Lake processors will have an increase in frequency over the current generation D-1500 NS processors, and are ‘optimized for performance to advance customers down the path of 5G’, but fails to explain exactly what that means.

If previous reports are anything to go by, then Intel will be launching Cascade Lake in the next few months. Cascade Lake derived processors, should Hewitt Lake be related in anyway, are likely to come one or two quarters later.

Related Reading

• Intel Announces Xeon D-1500 Network Series SoCs with QuickAssist, Four 10 GbE Ports
• Living On The Edge: Intel Launches Xeon D-2100 Series SoCs
• Intel to Update Xeon D in Early 2018, with Skylake-SP Cores