25 Jun 2012

AMD introduces low power, embedded G-series APU

AMD has unveiled a new APU, said to be ideal for industrial control, point-of-sale, medical appliance and transportation markets.

The device promises three times the performance, reduces power consumption by up to seven percent and chip footprint by 58 percenti compared to AMD Geode LX processor

The AMD Embedded G-T16R Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) is targeted at very low power, small form factor and cost-sensitive embedded designs that require a combination of x86 compatibility and graphics.

The optimised design of the AMD Embedded G-T16R sips power, with power consumption of just 2.3 watts on average or 4.5 watts thermal design power (TDP).

Embedded product designers are taking to the industry’s green challenge to design a broad range of next-generation applications for the industrial control, point-of-sale, medical appliance and transportation markets.

For example, industrial customers can use the APU to help create greener factories based on more power-efficient factory hardware. Additionally, embedded designers can develop applications like point-of-sale order entry stations and tablets, medical bedside terminals and even solar-powered traffic control devices using the AMD G-T16R.

The APU also promises embedded product designers a seamless upgrade path for legacy applications with the following features:

• Fits into small form factor boards by implementing a two-chip platform, the APU and its companion controller hub; Legacy I/O card support based on a full 32-bit PCI interface and an ISA bus solution with DMA support

• Support for a full range of display technologies, with analog VGA and LVDS support for legacy applications and DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort interfaces for the latest display technology

“It’s critical that the latest AMD Embedded G-Series APUs provide compatibility with existing x86 processors while supporting the latest interface technologies,” said Jim McGregor, principal analyst of TIRIAS Research. “Having a simple migration path allows engineers to develop robust designs using the latest DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort display technologies.”

There are already more than 50 standard form factor motherboards available supporting the AMD Embedded G-Series platform, ranging from the small Qseven computer-on-modules to the versatile and widely available MiniITX form factor. This enhanced compatibility provides original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with a variety of board options to design into their system solutions. The platform consists of both the APU and its companion controller hub, which have a total combined footprint of just 890 mm2 – approximately the size of a square inch.

The G-T16R is designed to help reduce product development and life cycle costs through a common scalable platform design that spans the entire AMD Embedded G-Series.

AMD’s approach enables one design to serve multiple product configurations, simplifying the supply chain, helping reduce operational complexity and enabling better platform economics. AMD says the APU is also available at extremely accessible price points, allowing designers to easily incorporate it into cost-sensitive embedded applications.

“With the AMD G-T16R APU, we were striving for that critical balance of performance, power efficiency and cost for power, and cost-sensitive embedded applications, and we’ve achieved it,” said Arun Iyengar, corporate vice president and general manager, AMD Embedded Solutions. “This new APU helps to enable small form factor and fan-less designs with power consumption of just 2.3 watts on average.”

For users of the AMD Geode LX processor family, the AMD G-T16R APU offers a cost-effective upgrade path, consuming about seven percent less power and three times the performance of the 2.45 watt AMD Geode LX processor, while reducing the overall chip footprint by 58 percent.

Support for the latest DDR3 memory helps reduce memory costs for legacy applications while enabling higher memory speed and capacity.

The APU supports Windows Embedded Compact 7, Green Hills INTEGRITY and Express Logic ThreadX operating systems, allowing applications that leverage these popular embedded and real-time operating systems to easily migrate to the new platform.

Along with this latest announcement, AMD is also extending the planned availability for the entire AMD Embedded G-Series processor family through 2017, resetting the five-year clock for both existing and new designs.

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