Via is currently shipping x86-based, 32-bit processors, built around the company's C5 core. But the company plans to develop a new and advanced architecture for its entry into the 64-bit market, said G. Glenn Henry, president of Centaur Technology Inc., the microprocessor arm for Via (Taipei, Taiwan).

During the presentation, Henry was quick to point out that Via's 64-bit chip is not geared for the high-performance computer market, but rather for low-cost applications.

Targeted for "media" applications, the 64-bit chip will consist of an out-of-order superscalar execution core and security features. The company will move away from being compatible with Intel Corp.'s Pentium 3 bus, and instead, will support the so-called Via bus.

The device will consist of a new floating point design, equipped with a 128-bit-wide datapath and faster adders and mutipliers.

Henry declined to comment on the timetable for the chip. Right now, the company is shipping the C5P processor, based on 130-nm technology. The chip is being made on a foundry basis by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC).

Via is seeing first silicon on the C5J, a 90-nm processor based on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology. That chip is being made on a foundry basis by IBM Corp. Via also plans to devise a new version of the 90-nm processor, dubbed C5W, which will be made by IBM.

The Taiwan company is also developing the C5Q and C5R, based on 130- and 110-nm technology, respectively. Those chips will be made by TSMC.