Intel has begun to add support for its codenamed Lunar Lake platform to Linux drivers. So far, the company has added support for network controllers that will be used for its CPUs in the coming years, but the addition clearly indicates that the company is working on something called Lunar Lake.
Intel recently added support for its Lunar Lake platform to the existing e1000e network driver that already supports such products as Tiger Lake and Alder Lake, reports Phoronix. This hardware enablement will be mainlined with Linux 5.15, when released this autumn. As a result, when Lunar Lake launches several years down the road, its network capabilities will be supported in Linux.
A quick check of what has been enabled indicates that Intel's Lunar Lake platform will continue to use a version of the company's I219 GbE controller. Obviously, nothing can stop PC makers from installing a more advanced 2.5GbE, 5GbE or 10GbE controller into their systems.
At present, we do not know a lot about Lunar Lake, but it looks like we are dealing with a product that will succeed Meteor Lake, which is due in 2023. Therefore, Lunar Lake is something that is set to arrive in 2024. Keeping in mind the fact that Meteor Lake is set to use chiplet architecture (which was confirmed by Intel's CEO Pat Gelsinger several months ago), we can speculate that Lunar Lake will also use a chiplet design.
One of the most interesting parts about Lunar Lake is which CPU microarchitecture will it use. Intel introduced its first 'Cove' (Sunny Cove in Ice Lake CPUs) microarchitecture back in 2019. Typically, CPU developers tend to radically alter their microarchitectures once in five years or so. That said, there are some chances that Lunar Lake will be actually use an all-new microarchitecture, but this is of course a speculation at this point.
