What Is Intel Innovation Engine and Why Does It Matter?

Innovation Engine is an embedded core in the Peripheral Controller Hub (PCH). It is a dedicated subsystem that system vendors (OEMs) can use to customize their firmware (not Intel firmware).

In other words, Intel Innovation Engine eliminates some limits on how OEMs can customize and differentiate their offerings by letting them run firmware of their own creation or choosing. End-user developers can tailor data center infrastructure to more fully meet organizational needs.

For example, OEMs could build in their own manageability features, as American Megatrends has done with its MegaRAC PMX Platform Management Solution. The solution takes advantage of the Innovation Engine to allow administrators of Intel architecture–based platforms “to perform full console redirection, remote power cycle and virtual media redirection.”

Other potential use cases include BIOS-assist solutions and Intel Manageability Engine augmentation for things such as telemetry and trusted boot. Stephen Gentile, Sr. Vice President, Strategy at Insyde Software stated, “The Innovation Engine gives us tremendous opportunity to extend our BIOS and BMC product offerings. More importantly, this powerful and open resource gives us a new framework for products targeted at next-generation data center servers.”

These are just a few possibilities for the use of Intel Innovation Engine. In reality, its uses are limited only by the feature’s capability framework and by developers’ imaginations. For example, OEMs could use it to improve input/output (I/O), compression, and encryption of data, or to improve error containment, which can help ensure system survival for mission-critical data.

Ultimately, Intel Innovation Engine is all about fostering creativity, innovation, and differentiation, while creating a simplified path for system-builders to implement new features. It does this while enabling full customer visibility into code and engine behavior.

Click here to learn more about Intel Innovation Engine.

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