AMD is trying to cope with greater computing capabilities that Intel is planning to bring in future with its Clarkdale, Arrandale and Sandy Bridge. The company has reported new details on its platform roadmap during its financial analysts' day. In the roadmap, AMD also speak about the company’s future strategy for persistent growth in 2010 and beyond. Further, it has announced the future solutions for servers, desktops and notebooks.

2009’s Milestones

In the current year, AMD has transformed into a design innovation leader, which brings consistent financial results. The company has also achieved various milestones in 2009 to counter the monopoly of Intel.
The various milestones are:

1.      Creation of one of the world's largest independent semiconductor foundries, GLOBALFOUNDRIES.

2.      Introduction of next generation DirectX 11 capable ATI Radeon HD 5800 and HD 5700 series of graphics cards.

3.      It has launched its VISION Technology to simplify the PC selection process.

4.      Achieve major technology transitions such as 40nm and DirectX 11.

5.      AMD also launched its 1st and 2nd generation Ultrathin Notebook Platforms, Dragon gaming platform based on its Phenom II processors and the 6-core Opteron processor.

In the coming years, it will expand its momentum with new server and client platforms, which will put AMD on a clear path to industry leadership.

Recently, both companies have obtained patent rights from a new 5-year cross license agreement, after which Intel and AMD will leave any claims of breach from the previous license agreements. However, Intel will pay $1.25 billion to AMD.

Roadmap for 2010

In 2010, AMD will introduce various new platforms for balanced performance and superior multimedia and visual computing capabilities.

It will launch its Danube platform for notebook that is based on quad-core processors and is predicted to offer more than 7 hours of battery life.  For ultrathin notebooks, AMD will introduce its 3rd generation Nile platform, which also provide seven or more hours of battery life. Both the new platforms will challenge Intel’s Arrandale platform.

On the Opteron server chip side, AMD is developing its Maranello platform, with the Magny-Cours chips bearing from eight to 12 cores. Its Opteron 4000 Series platform that is code-named San Marino and Adelaide is expected to offer four to six cores and two memory channels and will participate in the rapidly growing Web and Cloud Computing segment.

AMD will also introduce the industry’s first six-core desktop CPU called Leo for gaming enthusiasts as the platform supports DirectX 11 graphics and ATI Eyefinity Technology. It will challenge Intel’s Clarkdale processor.

Roadmap for 2011

AMD Fusion: One of the key future plans of AMD is its Fusion strategy, which combines CPU and GPU into an all-new PU, called APU (Accelerated Processing Unit), a concept that was first introduced in December 2006. APUs will be available in the second half of 2011 with the codenames Bulldozer and Bobcat, which will be based on new x86 cores platform.

Intel’s Sandy Bridge, the planned successor to Nehalem, will be launched in 2011 and is a processor micro-architecture based on the 32 nm manufacturing methods from Westmere platform. AMD Fusion technology will counter the Sandy Bridge platform.

While Bulldozer will target desktop and server market, Bobcat will look after the low power, ultrathin PC markets. AMD added that the two cores are being designed to be extremely scalable and able to be united with GPU circuitry and other IP assets into application-specific APUs. The company is also developing Zambezi desktop processor with up to eight cores based on Bulldozer platform.

The roadmap for AMD cites 32nm Llano processor on the Sabine platform for mainstream notebooks and desktop PCs by 2011. For ultrathin notebooks, AMD will offer the Brazos platform, with the Ontario processor supporting the DirectX 11 graphics technology.

Renu Singh/ITvoir Network