AMD has announced the next generation of its R-Series of embedded APUs/CPUs, formerly codenamed “Bald Eagle.” The new processors will be aimed at several industries, such as digital signage, medical imaging, thin client, and communications and networking, focusing on graphics performance as well as parallel computing applications.
While there are numerous commercial applications of AMD’s new processors, IT stands to benefit from the heterogeneous system architecture (HSA) aspects, the 10-year manufacturing life cycle and the processors’ role in the Yocto Project.
AMD’s latest R-Series APUs take advantage of the company’s HSA platform.AMD’s latest R-Series APUs take advantage of the company’s HSA platform.“When it comes to compute performance, graphics performance and performance-per-watt, the 2nd generation AMD Embedded R-series family is unique in the embedded market,” says Scott Aylor, corporate vice president and general manager of AMD Embedded Solutions. “The addition of HSA, GCN [Graphics Core Next] and power management features enables our customers to create a new world of intelligent, interactive and immersive embedded devices.”
Versatility will be the largest benefit of AMD’s Embedded R-Series. With their HSA features, R-Series processors will enable IT departments to more efficiently use the potential compute power of their hardware.
AMD is also a gold-level member in the Yocto Project, an open source embedded Linux distribution project. The R-Series could become a powerful hardware asset in the project by providing a single processor solution for multiple embedded devices. Having a unified hardware base among interacting devices could significantly streamline software deployment and upkeep.
Additional points about the latest R-Series are its availability in dual- or quad-core “Steamroller” configs, improvements in sound thanks to an updated audio coprocessor and it offers dual-channel DDR3 and ECC support.
Finally, a more pragmatic benefit of AMD’s R-Series is the promised 10-year manufacturing life cycle. Embedded devices using the processors could be upgraded and repaired without the worry of having to introduce new hardware, and you could potentially maintain a unified processor base when expanding your device fleet.
However, this depends on two things from AMD; the company’s follow through on its plan to manufacture the chips for 10 years, and the processors performing with the computing overhead room needed to have an extended life cycle.
For more information on AMD’s Embedded R-Series of processors you can head to the R-Series product page.
