AMD pushes embedded chips with faster Geode
681565
(InfoWorld) - Advanced Micro DevicesÂ launched a new model of its Geode processor and added eight more chips to its longevity program, pledging to keep them in production for at least five years to support long-lived products like 3G telephony base stations. AMD on Monday announced the 1.5-watt Geode LX900 embedded processor, a more powerful version of its 0.9-watt predecessor, the LX800. By holding its power below 5 watts, the Geode chip needs no fan or heat sink, allowing designers to create small-sized designs for kiosks and cash registers, as well as larger platforms like set-top boxes, numeric keypads and entertainment platforms. The Geode is also expected toÂ power the $100 laptopÂ for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, and is already specified inÂ thin-client PCs from ClearCube Technology,Â Hewlett-Packard, and Wyse Technology. AMD has two thrusts in its embedded computing business, said Jeff Chu, division manager of AMD's embedded solution team. The company will target very low-wattage platforms like single board computers with sub-five watt chips like the Geode, and will extend its work on commercial Athlon, Opteron, Sempron and Turion chips for new applications such as telecommunications and commercial storage. Already, AMD's embedded chips are used in platforms like single board computers from LiPPERT Embedded Computers, NAS (network attached storage) platforms from Adaptec, enterprise storage products from Network Appliance, and ATCA (advanced telecom computing architecture) platforms from Sun Microsystems. Still, many embedded product designers pass up x86-style processors from AMD and IntelÂ in favor of Arm, MIPS, or PowerPC chips. Now AMD hopes to change their minds by expanding its longevity program to include nearly 30 chips. AMD Monday added six models of Rev-F Opteron, a dual-core and single-core Athlon chip and the new Geode to the program. AMD guarantees a supply of these chips for five years, far longer than the typical nine months it takes vendors to create new models of commercial products for the consumer market, Chu said. By adding a range of 45- to 68-watt Opteron server chip to this class, AMD is reaching for the high end of the embedded market, pitching the processors for tasks like storage and telecommunications, security, medical imaging and military systems. The company plans to position its 35-watt Athlon chips for the same markets, as well as thin-client computers and gaming systems. AMD is now shipping samples of the new Geode chip, with plans to reach full production during the first quarter. The company does not release prices for its embedded processors. Â
423198
AMD plans to combine the functions of three chips -- the GPU (graphics processing unit ), core-logic chipset, and CPU --&#160;into one, code-named &quot;Swift,&quot; an executive said Thursday.The company, which runs second to Intel in the global microprocessor business, plans to launch Swift in the second half of 2009. It&#39;s using parts of several of its top chips to create this new device, which it calls an APU (Accelerated Processing Unit).&quot;I keep telling you that it&#39;s not all about the CPU. The CPU is important, but now there are other blocks that contribute to the experience a consumer gets in a machine,&quot; said Mario Rivas, an executive vice president at AMD, during an analyst meeting broadcast on the Internet Thursday.Several chips make a difference in PC performance, he said. Swift will carry AMD&#39;s &quot;Stars&quot; processor cores, the company&#39;s latest graphics cores, and the northbridge from Griffin, the central processor used in its newest laptop PC platform.The new chip will be AMD&#39;s second attempt at such combinations.&#160;The company has pledged to launch a chip code-named &quot;Fusion&quot; late next year or in early 2009 that integrates the CPU and the graphics processor on one chip. AMD says combining the chips in Fusion will increase performance and energy efficiency.Such work is important to the computing industry as people demand smaller, battery-dependent devices. It also saves space. The fewer chips required inside a laptop, for example, the more space a designer has to make it smaller or add other features.Swift will be made using AMD&#39;s 45-nanometer production technology, Rivas said.The company was unable to immediately provide further details of the new chip.
519171
IBM and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) are jointly developing a new method for implementing strained silicon technology. to improve performance on processors from both companies as early as next year.
497846
It said it has demonstrated a working version of the technology based on its Opteron chip. By Darrell Dunn. The shift to dual-core microprocessors continues to accelerate.
587192
Chip maker says it will use methods other than clock speed to improve processor performance.
398731
A new chip designed for mobile phones combines two satellite navigation services to offer a tracking time of less than one second.
53861
Advanced Micro Devices and IBM have collaborated on new strained silicon technology, which stands to boost transistor speed. In a statement ahead of the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting in San Francisco
327794
A look at some of the technologies that could allow the silicon industry to deliver faster, cheaper chips.
159612
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) has begun shipping commercial versions of its Athlon 64 processors made using a 90-nanometer process, marking another step forward in the company's transition to the more advanced manufacturing technology.
700500
With Christmas just 11 days away, you have to wonder what Hector Ruiz is going to find under his tree. It&#8217;s been a terrible year for Advanced Micro Devices, and the chipmaker&#8217;s analysts conference on Thursday did nothing to spread holiday cheer.Confirming what many in the chip world had suspected for some time, CEO Ruiz and other AMD execs fessed up that bugs in its new quad-core Barcelona server and Phenom desktop chips will&#160;delay these key next-generation technologies.The technical problems will delay general availability of the fastest version of the chips for three or four months. Customers willing to settle for slower clock speeds will be able to get the processors sooner; for example, AMD will ship a 2 gigahertz version of the Barcelona first, instead of the expected 2.5 gigahertz speed. In either case, the chips will be close to a year late; the original target date was the first quarter of 2007.AMD STUMBLES AS INTEL SPEEDS AHEADThe problem couldn&#8217;t come at a worse time. AMD has struggled all year to close the performance gap between its high-end chips and Intel&#8217;s. Barcelona, the company had promised, would restore its technical supremacy. Indeed some analysts said they had expected the quad-core server chip to do just that. &#8220;At 2.5 gigahertz it would have beaten any Intel products,&#8221; said analyst Nathan Brookwood of Insight64. &#8220;But at 2 gigahertz, it&#8217;s bringing up the rear,&#8221; he said.Intel, meanwhile, has corrected many of the problems that dogged it earlier in the decade. &#8220;AMD isn&#8217;t competing against the Intel of two years ago,&#8221; said Dean McCarron of Mercury Research. Intel has had quad-core chips in the market for about a year. To be fair, its chips are based on a somewhat simpler design; Intel gets to four cores by packaging two dual-core chips together. By contrast, AMD&#8217;s design integrates four cores on one chip, a more efficient solution, said McCarron. Except that AMD&#8217;s approach reduces yields and thus raises manufacturing costs, he added.There was earlier speculation that Barcelona&#8217;s problems were related to the ATI graphics chipset, but the problem turns out to be deeper, at the chip level. AMD has said it is related to the translation lookaside buffer (TLB) in the processor&#39;s L3 cache.DOUBTS ABOUT A QUICK FIXIn the Thursday conference, analysts had expected discussion of the company&#8217;s &#8220;asset light strategy,&#8221; which will apparently entail outsourcing more manufacturing to foundries such as Chartered Semiconductor or TSMC. But they didn&#8217;t get it, and the lack of details made CEO Ruiz&#8217;s promise to return to profitability in 2008 less credible to Wall Street. AMD&#8217;s financial performance has been terrible, losing money for four straight quarters. Part of the reason: Intel and AMD have engaged in a bloody price war, a struggle that has been very tough on the smaller company&#8217;s profit margins. But the Barcelona and Phenom delays are serious self-inflicted wounds.AMD&#8217;s stock lost another few points yesterday and has now shed about 40% in the last two months and a bone-jarring 56% since the beginning of the year. At $8.84 a share, Thursday&#8217;s closing price, the stock is at its lowest ebb since the summer of 2003. Ironically, AMD has so far&#160;rewarded Ruiz with pay raises.
308181
Powerful processor will target high-end desktop PCs in an effort to stay ahead of AMD.
241815
CHIP FIRM AMD said it has introduced its Geode based Personal Internet Communicator (PIC) in a cooperative deal with Indian giant Tata Indicom Broadband.
284575
Computex: As Via finds traction in the ultraportable market, it pushes the limits of small form factors.
152180
A chip the size of a fingernail and capable of more than a trillion calculations per second is unveiled by Intel.
512501
AMD Opteron servers prove more power-efficient than Xeon-powered servers in tests.
61293
The chip is expected to be unveiled Tuesday, in time to bump up the performance of game desktops before the holidays.
267110
SAN FRANCISCO - Advanced Micro Devices Inc. is set to launch its new server chip today, delivering the biggest jolt to its product lineup in four years.