Intel Ocean Cove Architecture Copy AMD Zen Architecture?

Intel Ocean Cove

From the patent documents filed by Intel, the framework diagrams quoted in it are almost identical in layout to the Zen architecture, from the bottom-most execution to the top-level hierarchy and chiplet design, just like a replica. Unlike the Zen architecture that uses the 14nm process, the Ocean Cove architecture uses the Intel 4 process, which is the original 7nm process. However, some industry professionals pointed out that this is only a description of the working principle of modern CPU, mainly related to security and monitoring, and has little relevance to the design of the CPU architecture.

When filing a patent application, citation to existing and relevant technologies in the industry is a common practice. U.S. Pat. No. 11,294,809 discloses Intel innovations in the context of alternative implementations and does not attempt to copy or patent inventions of any other company. Intel respects the intellectual property rights of all parties.

In the end, this is just a small storm. In fact, there is nothing wrong with Intel’s approach, it is just a misunderstanding by non-professionals. However, it can be seen from this incident that the Intel Ocean Cove architecture may have been inspired by the AMD Zen architecture, drawing design inspiration from it. Learning the strengths of your competitors is not a bad thing, learning from each other can lead to better progress.