Centrino was a brand name of Intel Corporation which represented its Wi-Fi and WiMAX wireless computer networking adapters. The brand name was first used by the company as a platform-marketing initiative. The change of the meaning of the brand name occurred on January 7, 2010. The Centrino name for laptops was replaced by the Ultrabook.
The old platform-marketing brand name covered a particular combination of mainboard chipset, mobile CPU and wireless network interface in the design of a laptop. Intel claimed that systems equipped with these technologies delivered better performance, longer battery life and broader wireless network interoperability than non-Centrino systems.
The product line name for Intel wireless products became Intel Centrino Wireless in 2010.Connect with Intel® Centrino® Processor Technology The Centrino brand was ultimately discontinued in 2013.
Intel Centrino Wireless LANChipsetCentrinoProcessorCodenameRelease DateManufacturing TechnologyMicroarchitecture IntelWirelessProducts 800 SeriesCarmel Intel Pentium M Banias 2003 130 nm Intel P6 Dothan 200490 nm 900 Series Sonoma 2005 Napa Intel Core Solo/Duo Yonah 2006 65 nm Intel Core 2 Solo/Duo Merom Intel Core Santa Rosa Intel Core 2 Solo/Duo 2007 Penryn 2008 45 nm 4 Series Montevina 5 Series Calpella Intel Core i7/i7 Extreme Edition Clarksfield 2009 Intel Nehalem Intel Core i3/i5/i7 Arrandale 2010 32 nm 6 Series Huron River Intel Core i3/i5/i7/i7 Extreme Edition Sandy Bridge 2011 Intel Sandy Bridge 7 Series Chief River Intel Core i3/i5/i7/i7 Extreme Edition Ivy Bridge 2012 22 nm 8 Series Shark Bay Intel Core i3/i5/i7/i7 Extreme Edition Haswell 2013 Intel Haswell 9 Series Crescent Bay Intel Core M/i3/i5/i7 Broadwell 2014 14 nm 100 Series Sunrise Point Intel Core m3/m5/m7/i3/i5/i7 Skylake 2015 Intel Skylake 200 Series Union Point Intel Core m3/i3/i5/i7 Kaby Lake 2016
Notebook implementations
Carmel platform (2003) Intel used "Carmel" as the codename for the first-generation Centrino platform, introduced in March 2003.
CentrinoCarmel platformMobile chipsetan Intel Mobile 855 Express series chipset (codenamed Odem or Montara with Intel Extreme Graphics 2), including ICH4M southbridge. RAM supported for PC-2100 (DDR-266) or PC-2700 (DDR-333) SO-DIMM.Mobile processorProcessors - Socket 479 an Intel Pentium M (codenamed Banias) processor with a 400 MT/s FSB, or an Intel Pentium M (codenamed Dothan) processor with a 400 MT/s FSB (after May 2004).Wireless networkan Intel PRO/Wireless 2100B (codenamed Calexico) or later 2200BG mini-PCI Wi-Fi adapter (codenamed Calexico2).
Industry-watchers initially criticized the Carmel platform for its lack of support for IEEE 802.11g, because many independent Wi-Fi chip-makers like Broadcom and Atheros had already started shipping 802.11g products. Intel responded that the IEEE had not finalized the 802.11g standard at the time of Carmel's announcement. In early 2004, after the finalization of the 802.11g standard, Intel permitted an Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG to substitute for the 2100. At the same time, they permitted the new Dothan Pentium M to substitute for the Banias Pentium M. Initially, Intel permitted only the 855GM chipset, which did not support external graphics. Later, Intel allowed the 855GME and 855PM chips, which did support external graphics, in Centrino laptops.
Despite criticisms, the Carmel platform won quick acceptance among OEMs and consumers. Carmel could attain or exceed the performance of older Pentium 4-M platforms, while allowing for laptops to operate for 4 to 5 hours on a 48 W-h battery. Carmel also allowed laptop manufacturers to create thinner and lighter laptops because its components did not dissipate much heat, and thus did not require large cooling systems.
Sonoma platform (2005) Intel used Sonoma as the codename for the second-generation Centrino platform, introduced in January 2005. CentrinoSonoma platformMobile chipsetan Intel Mobile 915 Express series chipset (codenamed Alviso with Intel GMA 900), including ICH6M southbridge. RAM supported for PC2-4200 (DDR2-533) SO-DIMM.Mobile processorProcessors - Socket 479 an Intel Pentium M (codenamed Dothan) processor .Wireless networkan Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG or 2915ABG mini-PCI Wi-Fi adapter (both codenamed Calexico2). The Mobile 915 Express chipset, like its desktop version, supports many new features such as DDR2, PCI Express, Intel High Definition Audio, and SATA. Unfortunately, the introduction of PCI Express and faster Pentium M processors causes laptops built around the Sonoma platform to have a shorter battery-life than their Carmel counterparts; Sonoma laptops typically achieve between 3.5–4.6 hours of battery-life on a 53 W-h battery.
Napa platform (2006) The codename Napa designates the third-generation Centrino platform, introduced in January 2006 at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show. The platform initially supported Intel Core Duo processors but the newer Core 2 Duo processors were launched and supported in this platform from July 27, 2006 onwards.
CentrinoNapa platformMobile chipsetan Intel Mobile 945 Express series chipset (codenamed Calistoga with Intel GMA 950), including ICH7M southbridge. RAM supported for PC2-4200 (DDR2-533) and PC2-5300 (DDR2-667) SO-DIMM.Mobile processorProcessors - Socket M / Micro-FCBGA an Intel Core Solo, Core Duo (codenamed Yonah) processor, or an Intel Core 2 Duo (codenamed Merom) processor with a 667 MT/s FSB for Napa Refresh platform, or an Intel Core 2 Solo (codenamed Merom) processor with 533 MT/s FSB for Napa Refresh platform (Sept 2007).Wireless networkan Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG mini-PCIe Wi-Fi adapter (codenamed Golan). Some newer models (as of 1st quarter 2007) of the Napa Refresh platform contain the newer 4965AGN (a/b/g/draft-n) wireless cards. Intel uses Centrino Duo branding for laptops with dual-core Core Duo processors and retains the Centrino name for laptops with single core (Core Solo) processors. Some of the initial Core Duo laptops are still labeled as Intel Centrino rather than Centrino Duo.
Santa Rosa platform (2007)
The codename Santa Rosa refers to the fourth-generation Centrino platform, which was released on May 10, 2007.
CentrinoSanta Rosa platformMobile chipsetan Intel Mobile 965 Express series chipset (codenamed Crestline): GM965 with Intel GMA X3100 graphics technology or PM965 with discrete graphics, and ICH8M southbridge, 800 MT/s front side bus with Dynamic Front Side Bus Switching to save power during low utilization. Intel Dynamic Acceleration (IDA), better Windows Vista Aero support. RAM supported for PC2-4200 (DDR2-533) and PC2-5300 (DDR2-667) SO-DIMM. Runs DDR2-800 SO-DIMMs at 667 MHz even though an 800 MT/s front side bus is supported. EFI-compliant firmware, a successor to BIOS. optional NAND flash-memory caching branded as Intel Turbo Memory (codenamed Robson). Ethernet LAN controller 82562V (codenamed Ekron-N) or Gigabit Ethernet LAN controllers 82566MM and 82566MC (codenamed Nineveh).Mobile processorProcessors - Socket P / Socket M / Micro-FCBGA an Intel Core 2 Duo (codenamed Merom) second generation processor with 800 MT/s FSB, or an Intel Core 2 Duo (codenamed Penryn) 45 nm processor with 800 MT/s FSB and SSE4.1, which will add 47 new instructions to SSSE3. It was scheduled for release in January 2008 for Santa Rosa Refresh platform.Wireless networkan Intel WiFi Link 4965AGN (a/b/g/draft-n) mini-PCIe Wi-Fi adapter (codenamed Kedron). Wireless-N technology boasts a 5X speed increase, along with a 2X greater coverage area, and supports 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz signal bands, with enough bandwidth for high definition audio and video streams. The Santa Rosa platform comes with dynamic acceleration technology, allowing single threaded applications to execute faster. When a single threaded application is running, the CPU can turn off one of its cores and overclock the active core. In this way the CPU maintains the same Thermal Profile as it would when both cores are active. Santa Rosa performs well as a mobile gaming platform due to its ability to switch between single threaded and multithreaded tasks. Other power savings come from an Enhanced Sleep state where both the CPU cores and the chipset will power down.
The wireless chipset update was originally intended to include WWAN Internet access via HSDPA (3.5G), (codenamed Windigo) co-developed with Nokia. After announcing a working partnership, both later retracted the deal citing the lack of a clear business case for the technology. Support for WiMAX (802.16) was originally scheduled for inclusion in Santa Rosa but was later delayed until Montevina in 2008.
It is branded as "Centrino Pro" when combined with the enhanced security technologies Intel introduced with vPro and "Centrino Duo" when they are not used.
Montevina platform (2008) The codename Montevina refers to the fifth-generation Centrino platform, now formally named Centrino 2 to avoid confusion with previous Centrino platforms. It was scheduled for release at Computex Taipei 2008, which took place on June 3–7, 2008, but was delayed until July 15, due to problems with integrated graphics and wireless certification.
CentrinoMontevina platformMobile chipsetan Intel Mobile Express series 4 chipset (codenamed Cantiga; GL40, GS45, GM45, PM45) with Intel GMA X4500 graphics technology and ICH9M southbridge, 1066 MT/s (667 MT/s for GL40) FSB. The GM45/GS45 graphics core is clocked at 533 MHz and 400 MHz for GL40, which contains ten unified shaders, up from the eight provided by GMA X3100. RAM support for PC2-5300 (DDR2-667), PC2-6400 (DDR2-800), PC3-6400 (DDR3-800), PC3-8500 (DDR3-1066) SO-DIMM. (GL40 does not support DDR3-1066) NAND flash-memory caching branded as Intel Turbo Memory (codenamed Robson 2). Gigabit Ethernet LAN controllers 82567LM and 82567LF (codenamed Boazman). Main support for DisplayPort with an external connector attached to the motherboard along with full supplemental support of HDMI, DVI, and VGA standards.Mobile processorProcessors - Socket P / Socket M / Micro-FCBGA a second-generation Intel Core 2 Duo (codenamed Penryn) 45nm processor with 800-1066 MT/s FSB with clock speeds ranging from 2 GHz to 3.06 GHz, also featuring SSE4.1 support, which adds 47 new instructions to SSSE3. It was planned to consume no more than 29W, compared to Merom's and first-generation Penryn's 34W TDP. But after release only a few models (P series) have 25W TDP and the rest (T series) still have 35W TDP, besides the Q series (Quad core) TDP is 45W.Wireless networkWireless Modules Intel WiMAX/WiFi Link 5350 mini-PCIe (codenamed Echo Peak-P) supporting both WiMAX and up to 450 Mbit/s Wi-Fi, or Intel Ultimate N WiFi Link 5300 mini-PCIe adapter (codenamed Shirley Peak 3x3) supporting up to 450 Mbit/s, or Intel WiMAX/WiFi Link 5150 mini-PCIe adapter (codenamed Echo Peak-V) supporting both WiMAX and up to 300 Mbit/s Rx / 150 Mbit/s Tx Wi-Fi, or Intel WiFi Link 5100 mini-PCIe adapter (codenamed Shirley Peak 1x2) supporting up to 300 Mbit/s Rx / 150 Mbit/s Tx It is branded as "Centrino 2 vPro" when combined with built-in security and manageability features technologies.
Calpella platform (2009) The codename Calpella refers to the sixth-generation Centrino platform. Though originally scheduled to premiere in Q3 2009 with the second iteration of Nehalem processors, Intel had stated that due to pressure from computer manufacturers, they would delay the release of the platform until at least October 2009 (Q4 2009) to allow OEM partners to clear excess inventory of existing chips. This was believed to be spurred by the lowered demand due to unfavorable economic conditions throughout 2009.