Way back in the day, Transmeta was the first processor company to push performance per watt indicators at the technology leaders.  Of course, no one really listend to them, so look what we have now…  The Crusoe processor was released in 2000 and found mild success with some vendors, but it quickly evaporated.  Now they plan on cashing in on patents, like some other nit-wits we have seen. 

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Transmeta alleges that Intel violated 10 of its patents and that the intellectual property behind these patents is embodied in $100 billion worth of chips sold by Intel. The claim extends back to the P6 generation of chips, which includes the Pentium Pro and Pentium II, and forward to the latest Core 2 Duo processors.

The case was filed Wednesday in a U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.

The patents relate to power efficiency. Transmeta alleges that Intel infringed on one of its patents when it inserted a technology called “enhanced SpeedStep” into its models, said John Horsely, Transmeta’s general counsel. Enhanced SpeedStep essentially slows down a chip when not in use to cut power consumption.

Other patents relate to things like instruction scheduling and other microarchitecture issues. Transmeta’s patents were filed over a 10-year period, starting in 1991 (which predates the Pentium Pro) and going through 2000. Horsely said the suit is not barred by the statute of limitations.