AMD Bets On Embedded Market To Diversify

AMD is in the process of rebuilding its business by diversifying beyond consumer PCs. Part of its strategy is to re-engage in the embedded processor market; processors used in many unheralded applications. The company already ships embedded processors (AMD R- and G-Series processors) and on October 21 it added a higher performing 2nd generation R-Series processor, code named “Merlin Falcon.” This part has improved CPU and graphics performance, by up to 22% compared with its predecessor and AMD claims up to 58% higher graphics performance than a comparable clock speed 15W Intel Core i7. One nice thing about this part is that it’s available today and AMD already has 15 alpha customers evaluating it using evaluation boards.

AMD is focused on the higher-end of the embedded market, and segments where its expertise in graphics processor units (GPU) and GPU compute can be a differentiation. The company is not attempting to play in the low-end microcontroller market, which is very price sensitive. The company has a product that fits well in market verticals with high quality visualization is important, such as high-end digital signage and casino gaming machines.

AMD is also focused on the x86 (Intel-compatible) instruction set processors in the short term, because it offers a viable alternative to Intel, with some significant advantages in graphics and video processing, and the company can leverage the parts it makes for PCs. In fact, the R-Series chips are a variation on the “Carrizo” PC processor – which means AMD can leverage the PC market shipments to keep the price down. While AMD has in the past articulated a parallel x86 and ARM strategy, the company is primarily focused on x86 in the short term as that is its greatest differentiator and faster time to market.

One key feature of the AMD processor is support for 4K displays – actually up to three of them. The graphic unit has the processing power to support this many displays. The chip also has dedicated hardware support for the latest video compression standards like HEVC/H.265. The video processor allows the chip to play 4K content without breaking a sweat. One of the prospects for this chip is casino gaming machines, where wrap-around 4K displays in an attempt to engage gamblers with high-end visuals.

AMD’s Carrizo (and its derivative Merlin Falcon) is the first fully Heterogeneous System Architecture (HSA) 1.0 compliant PC processor offering heterogeneous uniform memory access (hUMA) between the CPU and GPU cores on die. . Using hUMA can simplify the programming model and eliminate data copies for compute applications and other data processing applications that leverage the GPU as an accelerator. HSA can also be used for advanced medical imaging processing as the GPU compute functions for ultrasonic beam forming. GPUs have also found use in networking packet processing, making the R-Series a candidate for a network processor.

While the Merlon Falcon processor is related to AMD’s PC processor line, the R-Series has a 10 year lifespan to support embedded systems that can be stay in production for many years. Some embedded systems, such as medical imaging machine, have very long life spans. In early 2016, AMD will add an extended temperature range part as well for industrial applications.

The R-Series also differences from its PC cousin in that it adds support for the newer DDR4 DRAM memory and has memory error (ECC) protection. AMD choose DDR4 over DDR3 for long-term support projections. While DDR3 might be a little cheaper today, it is heading toward its eventual end of life, while DDR4 memory is now mainstream and will be easier to support over the next 5-10 years lifespan of the embedded market.

A feature the R-Series shares with the PC version is the on-die AMD security processor. The AMD security processor is based on ARM’s TrustZone and can be used for secure content and trusted transactions.

While AMD supports Windows Embedded (7 and 8.1) and Windows 10 IoT Enterprise, it also has Linux support from Ubuntu and Mentor’s industrial grade Yacto, MEL lite, and MEL Commercial Linux distributions. For Linux, AMD will be providing open source Linux graphics drivers, as well as its regular AMD Catalyst graphics drivers. The open sourced driver will allow for greater customization and transparency, but will not be as optimized as the Catalyst drivers.

AMD expects there will be OEM product announcements in 2016 as the company has already laid the groundwork with development boards and a software base that draws heavily from the PC market. As the company develops its own internally designed ARM core (code named K12) available in 2017, AMD could expand its embedded market TAM by adding ARM parts.

With a nod to the baseball World Series – AMD’s turnaround will not be made with grand-slam home runs. The turnaround will require some solid game play, with a series of singles and doubles. The AMD R-Series is a solid hit in a well-defined market where AMD can build some momentum.

Kevin Krewell, Principal Analyst

Tirias Research

Disclaimer Note: Tirias Research has consulting engagements with many high tech businesses, including AMD, cited in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any companies cited in this column.