AMD Delivers the World's First and Only APU for Embedded Systems

[god_43]

We are getting a lot of excitement and design wins, DX11 graphics is often a driver. Think of casino gaming devices, medical imaging and digital signage.



No, this is not your fathers' embedded world. Graphics are becoming very relevant.



That guy is awesome, we should hire him

One of the biggest issues in healthcare is having to make decisions about a condition with only 60-80% of the data. Higher resolution and more robust visuals help doctors narrow in on the real situation and not have to send people for multiple tests to help diagnose the situation. It also helps catch things ealier so they can catch the problem early, avoiding more costly treatments after things get worse.

yeah that guy sure does seem to know what he is taking about, too bad - i think he works for intel these days .

[Sparky]

Does every AMD or intel thread always have to have someone from the other camp drop in to do nothing but say "oh yeahhh?? Well x is better than y because.>!>!!!!" and then argue about it until they are blue or green in the face?

[jogshy]

It's nice to see cheap and small devices... but I'm waiting the Llano's desktop version to play Crysis or similar.

[DarthShader]

The only real diff of DX11 from DX10.1 is a tessellation.

DX11 support means OpenGL 4.1 support. And that means full OpenGL ES 2.0 compatibility. That ES stands for "Embedded Systems" btw.

Direct Compute is not tied to DX11 hardware but possible on DX10.1 as well. Not to mention that relevance of Direct Compute in embedded market is under big question. I don't say that it is completely useless, but this is not a feature which can make difference.

DirectCompute possibly not, but OpenCL certainly yes. New OpenGl further improves integration between GL and CL - almost 50 additional GFLOPs at this wattage and package? Big deal for some of those whom this platform is dedicated. The others can use the power for plain 3d graphics.

[flippin_waffles]

Here's a good example.

Quixant has announced the availability of its next generation QXi-200 gaming controller, the industry's first controller to utilise AMD's new Fusion technology. The AMD embedded G Series APUs integrate one or two new high performance 64bit x86 processor cores and cutting edge AMD Radeon hd 6310 graphics onto a single chip, providing high resolution and 3d graphics.

"The new advanced 'Bobcat' x86 CPU cores and the cutting edge AMD Radeon HD 6310 GPU present in the embedded G Series platform brings previously unheard of functionality and performance at this price point," stated Nick Jarmany, md of Quixant. "AMD has come up with a platform that provides the ideal solution for high volume, mainstream gaming applications. Quixant has taken that base and delivered it in an optimised product for gaming and released it just one week after the technology became available to the consumer market. That is a first for gaming."

http://www.newelectronics.co.uk/arti...echnology.aspx

[MrMojoZ]

Does every AMD or intel thread always have to have someone from the other camp drop in to do nothing but say "oh yeahhh?? Well x is better than y because.>!>!!!!" and then argue about it until they are blue or green in the face?

Yes, and you'll note it is the same people as well. You'd figure this would violate the spirit of the forum rules, but I guess it is okay to do.

[flippin_waffles]

And then there's this:

Kontron sees the Embedded G-Series processors being useful in vertical markets such as multimedia content delivery applications, kiosks, POS, professional gaming, radar, sonar and image recognition, as well as the military, industrial automation and medical markets.

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/71682.html


[edit]

I forgot better multithreading in the list of advantages to dx11.

[JF-AMD]

You also forgot to mention the fact that embedded systems tend to have 5 year lifecycles. If you are designing for the long haul, you really want things like DX11 that gives you more flexibility to add features in the future.

[zalbard]

You also forgot to mention the fact that embedded systems tend to have 5 year lifecycles. If you are designing for the long haul, you really want things like DX11 that gives you more flexibility to add features in the future.

That's a very good point.
In 2-3 years DirectX 11 will be used everywhere...

[flippin_waffles]

You also forgot to mention the fact that embedded systems tend to have 5 year lifecycles. If you are designing for the long haul, you really want things like DX11 that gives you more flexibility to add features in the future.

Well I didn't forget actually, I just didn't know or think of that. But I agree that's a good point.

[gumballguy]

Interesting about the medical stuff.

Too bad prices are sticky - they may not get increased for a while as a result of this, but they'll never go down (yes I understand the difference between real and nominal value, what I am saying is real value wont improve as much as it could, because nominal value wont go down. Since people are greedy).

From what I hear, the US medical system is one screwed pooch. $1000 deposit just to see a doctor?? You guys need to visit somewhere like NZ. Even AU is decent enough. That's how its done.

[JkS]

I just saw this over at S/A

http://www.semiaccurate.com/2011/01/...brazos-system/

pretty good for a tiny silent HTPC.

[jeremyshaw]

It's not expected to be a consumer product

[R101]

You guys need to realise that both Intel and AMD are taking this wrongly.. In the embedded market all the money is now in STB devices for iptv, internet tv,.. Just look at alibaba and other sites and see how many different products are offered.

And for the superior performance bashing, it is just more than is needed right now and in next year. In STB space both Intel and now AMD too are doing that "more for more money" thing.

Simple analogy: your family drinks one carton of milk per day which costs like 2$. Some comes over and says "Hey, we will sell you a carton with twice the ammount for only 1$ more". The problem is you only need one carton, and would paying up more money for something you wouldn't use.

Only place for this would be high-end STBs, and those sell 1 for hundred everyday products. Motorola is showing it has learned the stuff with VIP1003.

It just goes to show that Intel isnt the only one with 'x86 into everything no matter what' philosophy.

I would think a very low power quad core with graphics like this would be great for HTPCs. And without the premium price.

[generics_user]

You guys need to realise that both Intel and AMD are taking this wrongly.. In the embedded market all the money is now in STB devices for iptv, internet tv,.. Just look at alibaba and other sites and see how many different products are offered.

And for the superior performance bashing, it is just more than is needed right now and in next year. In STB space both Intel and now AMD too are doing that "more for more money" thing.

Simple analogy: your family drinks one carton of milk per day which costs like 2$. Some comes over and says "Hey, we will sell you a carton with twice the ammount for only 1$ more". The problem is you only need one carton, and would paying up more money for something you wouldn't use.

Only place for this would be high-end STBs, and those sell 1 for hundred everyday products. Motorola is showing it has learned the stuff with VIP1003.

It just goes to show that Intel isnt the only one with 'x86 into everything no matter what' philosophy.

I would think a very low power quad core with graphics like this would be great for HTPCs. And without the premium price.

it seems like amd is aiming for a very high end market, their product is completely overpowered for use in a normal set-top box

it's going to take at least one more shrink to make their APU remotely viable for a TV set-top box in terms of power

additionally amd has to license wireless and cable network designs to get into the set top market (= design custom SOCs like ARM does)

[MrMojoZ]

From what I hear, the US medical system is one screwed pooch. $1000 deposit just to see a doctor??

Is that a made up number? I guess it is possible, but no most Americans don't pay $1000 to see a doctor let alone a deposit to see a doctor for common issues. I paid $30 last night at the doctors office for instance.

[flippin_waffles]

it seems like amd is aiming for a very high end market, their product is completely overpowered for use in a normal set-top box

it's going to take at least one more shrink to make their APU remotely viable for a TV set-top box in terms of power

additionally amd has to license wireless and cable network designs to get into the set top market (= design custom SOCs like ARM does)

Does a set-top box need to be more power conscious than a netbook though? A set-top box should never have to run on a battery, and I don't know why it would even have a battery. A box that runs on a 1/4 power of a 60W lightbulb seems pretty good.

[red]

Interesting about the medical stuff.

Too bad prices are sticky - they may not get increased for a while as a result of this, but they'll never go down (yes I understand the difference between real and nominal value, what I am saying is real value wont improve as much as it could, because nominal value wont go down. Since people are greedy).

From what I hear, the US medical system is one screwed pooch. $1000 deposit just to see a doctor?? You guys need to visit somewhere like NZ. Even AU is decent enough. That's how its done.

All kinds of medicines are available now for $4 for a month. You used to have to wear headgear for braces, now they have invisible braces. There is no $1000 deposit just to see a doctor. Anyway, I'm amazed at how cool my dentist place is compared to just 5 years ago (high quality color display of my teeth), hopeful for what Fusion can bring. If not cheaper services, at least better technology at the same price.

[gumballguy]

Is that a made up number? I guess it is possible, but no most Americans don't pay $1000 to see a doctor let alone a deposit to see a doctor for common issues. I paid $30 last night at the doctors office for instance.

Maybe travellers are treated differently? This was some time ago too. Heard it from a (reliable) friend who went there and was seriously considering flying back home when he became fairly ill due to the difference in price of treatment. Also, could it vary across states?

Nevermind, too OT.

[jeremyshaw]

Does a set-top box need to be more power conscious than a netbook though? A set-top box should never have to run on a battery, and I don't know why it would even have a battery. A box that runs on a 1/4 power of a 60W lightbulb seems pretty good.

I dunno, *maybe* it has to do with power dissapation. I know the boxee ditched Tegra2 and switching over to the Intel SoC, it needed an active fan. I know there are "passive" Zacate boards, so maybe there is hope?

[JF-AMD]

I have seen a ton of passive designs.

[mattkosem]

it seems like amd is aiming for a very high end market, their product is completely overpowered for use in a normal set-top box

it's going to take at least one more shrink to make their APU remotely viable for a TV set-top box in terms of power

Eeh, how do you figure? I had a DVR from the cable co (TW) that used 75W whether idle or recording two channels. My Tivo is a bit better at 60w. With an 18W APU, laptop hdd(s), and a modern high-efficiency PSU it's reasonable to think that that number could be nearly cut in half.

--Matt

[R101]

You had a high end STB for that high consumption. And those home recording devices are not practical for providers. Providers want to give you hard disk space on their server and a small STB at your end, so they wouldn't have to subsidize expensive device, and so that you will depend on your connection for your content.

Here is a regular SoC-based STB power supply, and you can see that when it comes down to power consumption, SoCs are in their own league:

[mattkosem]

You had a high end STB for that high consumption. And those home recording devices are not practical for providers. Providers want to give you hard disk space on their server and a small STB at your end, so they wouldn't have to subsidize expensive device, and so that you will depend on your connection for your content.

Here is a regular SoC-based STB power supply, and you can see that when it comes down to power consumption, SoCs are in their own league:

I'm not sure where you're from, but that is not the case where I live. We're locked to one cable provider, and our only options for boxes are standard tuner cable boxes that don't use much less power (still > 50W IME) or DVRs like the two that I mentioned. "On Demand" functionality like you describe is not so common here, and is only available on select channels. Heck, even the SDV tuning adapter that I have attached to the TiVO to get all of the switched channels uses more than 6w.

--Matt