Ivy Bridge

Ivy Bridge is a codename line of Intel processors based on the 22nm manufacturing process. The name is also applied more broadly to the 22 nm die shrink of the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture based on tri-gate ("3D") transistors, which is also used in the future Xeon and Core i7 Ivy Bridge-EX, Ivy Bridge-EP and Ivy Bridge-E microprocessors due for release in 2013. Ivy Bridge processors are backwards-compatible with the Sandy Bridge platform, but might require a firmware update (vendor specific). Intel has released new 7-series Panther Point chipsets with integrated USB 3.0 to complement Ivy Bridge.