Intel has announced its next-generation mobile processor, code-named Silvermont. The Silvermont processor will take advantage of Intel's 22nm TriGate system-on-a-chip manufacturing process to deliver calculating speeds that are up to three times the rate of its current-generation Atom processor. In addition to the boosted speed, Silvermont processors are energy efficient and draw as little as one-fifth the power of today's Atom chips while still maintaining a consistent output. Intel suggested that the Silvermont chips would be ideal for smartphones and tablets, and that Silvermont will serve as the base for a number of mobile SoC's that Intel plans to introduce this year. Intel's mobile lineup for 2013 includes quad-core Bay Trail SoCs, which are scheduled to arrive in tablets by the 2013 holiday season; and Merrifield SoCs, which will reach Intel's smartphone and tablet hardware partners by the end of the year. The company did not say when the Silvermont chips might reach production or appear in consumer-grade devices.