Pre-Fusion
Chip-maker AMD has launched a couple of new platforms for embedded systems today - ASB2 and AM3 - which target the market for industrial applications that need relatively low-power processors, but still have a bit of grunt too.
The TDP range these embedded platforms operate in is 8W-65W, so the lower half of the regular computing range, rather than mobile devices. Even Intel's Atom only needs 5.5W. AMD has stressed the benefits of going with an x86 embedded system (as opposed to an ARM-based one), and it looks like the proposed advantage over embedded Atom systems is graphics, being compatible with the new ATI Radeon HD 4200.
"The barriers to widespread adoption of x86 in the broad embedded market have traditionally been a combination of power, price and the physical footprint of the silicon," said Buddy Broeker, director of the embedded solutions division at AMD.
"AMD's embedded solutions have been steadily driving down those barriers while adding enterprise-class performance and features that may not have been readily available to designers in the past. Our commitment to the embedded market grows stronger as we look to a future introduction of AMD Fusion technology products into the embedded space."
Here are a couple of slides summarising the new offering.
