News 

AMD CTO Phil Hester and Bob Drebin, CTO of ATI's PC Business Unit, were in London to confirm the rubber stamping of the takeover first announced in July, a deal valued at $5.4bn. Of more interest, however, was the announcement of 'Fusion', AMD's plan to combine GPU processing capabilities into X86-based AMD processors.

What this means is that computing power of the CPU and GPU will be optimised in tandem - rather than competing across processor buses - with the all-important goal of increasing performance-per-watt. This has relevance across the whole spectrum of computing - from extending battery life in devices to managing power requirements of server-packed data centres.

'With the anticipated launch of Windows Vista, robust 3D graphics, digital media and device convergence are driving the need for greater performance, graphics capabilities, and battery life,' said Hester.

Hester stressed that binary compatibility was a priority for the development of Fusion. In other words, just as the x86 64-bit extensions allows AMD64 machines to seamlessly run existing 32-bit apps, so Fusion will prove backwards compatible. AMD's plan is to extend the domain of x86 computing from handhelds to supercomputers - from Palmtops to PetraFLOPs, in Hester's words - and Fusion is intended to facilitate this spread, not block it.

Bob Drebin, speaking

ADVERTISEMENT

for ATI, emphasised the range of platforms the company dealt with - phones (the Razr, for example) and consoles (Xbox 360) as well as traditional desktops and laptops. Its expertise in integrating technology across a variety of platforms will, he suggested, greatly aid AMD. In return, of course, ATI will have access to AMD's CPU expertise.

AMD's recently announced strategy is support for flexible platforms that variously combine - via its Direct Connect technology - CPU cores, GPUs and video functionality - AMD and ATI chiefs outline acquisition benefits.

The company has insisted its view of building platforms differs to the exclusive approach of Intel. For example, whereas the proscribed Centrino trinity of processor, chipset and wireless networking was restricted to Intel-only components, the AMD platform would be based on 'open interfaces' with 'no lock-outs' from which users would be free to choose from equivalent elements.

'In this increasingly diverse x86 computing environment, simply adding more CPU cores to a baseline architecture will not be enough,' declared Hester. 'As x86 scales from Palmtops to petaFLOPS, modular processor designs leveraging both CPU and GPU compute capabilities will be essential in meeting the requirements of computing in 2008 and beyond.'

The new generation of processors are scheduled to appear before the end of 2008. AMD declined to say what market space would be addressed with the first release, but there is no mistaking the intended scope for Fusion processors. The company says it will address laptop, desktop, workstation and server segments, as well CE markets.

Hester described the development as AMD's biggest step since the development of the X86-based 64-bit computing of the 'Clawhammer' Athlon.

Note that both companies emphasise that there will still be a place for discrete graphics, via PCI-e, and that ATI will maintain its brand in such segments.