AMD Fusion

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AMD Fusion is the codename for a future next-generation microprocessor design and the product of the merger between AMD and ATI, combining general processor execution as well as 3D geometry processing and other functions of today's GPUs into a single package. AMD's merger with ATI closed on October 25, 2006. This technology is expected to debut in the timeframe of late 2008 or early 2009; as a successor of the latest microarchitecture, referred as "K8L".

Regarding future AMD microarchitectures beyond the introduction of the microarchitecture commonly dubbed as "K8L" at mid-2007 and a refresh of the microarchitecture in late 2007 and early 2008; AMD executive VP Henri Richard's June 2006 interview with DigiTimes hints at the future processor development beyond that of the well documented one:

“	Q: What is your broad perspective on the development of AMD processor technology over the next three to four years? A: Well, as Dirk Meyer commented at our analysts meeting, we're not standing still. We've talked about the refresh of the current K8 architecture that will come in '07, with significant improvements in many different areas of the processor, including integer performance, floating point performance, memory bandwidth, interconnections and so on. You know that platform still has a lot of legs under it, but of course we're not standing still, and there's a next-generation core that's being worked on. I can't give you more details right now, but I think that what's important is that we're establishing clearly that this is a two-horse race. And as you would expect in a race, sometimes, when one horse is a little bit in front of the other, it reverses the situation. But what's important is that it is a race.	”
	— AMD Executive VP, Henri Richard, Source: DigiTimes Interview with Henri Richard [1]

Contents 1 Motivation 2 Preliminary Information 2.1 Speed increase 3 Media Discussions 4 April Fools' 5 References 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] Motivation

In an interview with Exec VP of AMD, Mario Rivas, CRN.com claims that: "With its Fusion program, AMD hopes to deliver multicore products using different kinds of processing blocks. A GPU, for example, will excel in multiple parallel computational tasks, while the CPU will take on heavy number-crunching duties. The Fusion-based processors, with the CPU and GPU integrated in a single architecture, should make the life of software programmers and application developers much easier, Rivas added." ^[1] This could signal that the design of Fusion has been going on for sometime. According to the article, further details will surface in December of 2006.

[edit] Preliminary Information

• Fusion is a heterogeneous multicore microprocessor^[2] combining a general purpose processing core and a basic graphics core into one processor package
• Expected to come in 2008 to replace the AMD Turion 64 mobile processor for laptops^[3]
• Four platforms focus on the four different aspects of usage^[4]
  • General Purpose
  • Data Centric
  • Graphics Centric
  • Media Centric

[edit] Speed increase

There is to be an expected speed increase with the Fusion.^{[citation needed]} Because the GPU and CPU will be on the same die, information transfer between the CPU and GPU/GPU memory will significantly increase since there will be no need for the information to travel on a bus as there is with current motherboards (resulting in the GPU able to shunt far more data than on the PCI Express bus, due to significantly larger amounts of bandwidth available).

[edit] Media Discussions

• digitimes.com AMD's vision for next few years - an interview with Henri Richard
• AMD's "Fusion" Process to merge CPU and GPU
• AMD's Purchase of ATI Closes, and Fusion Begins

[edit] April Fools'

• Why ATI delayed the R600 - information on Excellon & RenderX

[edit] References

1. ^ "AMD sees Vista driving demand for graphics horsepower", crn.com, December 14, 2006.
2. ^ "AMD Processor Roadmaps for 2007", Tracking AMD, 31 Dec 2006.
3. ^ "AMD Processor Roadmaps for 2007", Tracking AMD, 31 Dec 2006.
4. ^ "Official Investor Presentation", AMD.

[edit] See also

• VIA CoreFusion

[edit] External links

• ATI official Website
• AMD official Website
• DailyTech - AMD Announces "Fusion" CPU/GPU Program
• AMD processor roadmaps for 2007

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