Puma 7 chip is fabricated on the same 14-nm process as Intel's latest 'Skylake' Core chips that mean that it can run cool in fanless designs. OK a router normally does not need a fan, but it does mean that the beast will be a lot more energy efficient.

Intel said that inside it is a dual-core Atom chip, Intel said, which can run Linux or another OS through a virtualisation feature.

Other features include support a packet accelerator, support for third-party 4x4 MIMO Wi-Fi and even voice recognition modules, the company said. Puma 7 supports HyperScan, which is a way for the chip to do some on-the-fly scanning for malware or potential hackers.

DOCSIS 3.1 is the next evolutionary step in cable modems because it allows 10 Gbps down and 1 Gbps upstream. Even if four Mbps downstream speeds are more realistic, that is enough for simultaneous 4K streams.

Chipzilla is facing some competition. Comcast and Liberty Global have supported a DOCSIS 3.1 chip manufactured by Broadcom. ST Micro has also shown off its own system.