SAN FRANCISCO--Advanced Micro Devices Inc. on Monday disclosed
new dimensions to a high-profile strategy shift, including plans to
make its first original chip designs based on technology licensed
from ARM Holdings PLC.
The Sunnyvale, Calif., company announced that it signed an
architectural license agreement with ARM, which allows AMD to
implement the underlying computing instructions defined by ARM in
original ways. AMD said it expects to introduce the first chips
based on the license, a design dubbed K12, in 2016.
Companies adopting ARM technology also can license complete
processor designs from the company. AMD is taking that approach for
its first ARM-based chip, code-named Seattle, which is targeted at
server systems.
AMD's previously announced adoption of ARM technology is a major
diversification for the company, which since the 1980s has used the
same processor technology that rival Intel Corp. popularized in
personal computers and later in servers. ARM's technology,
meanwhile, is best known for powering smartphones and tablets but
is being adapted by AMD and others for the server market.
Besides disclosing the plans for original ARM chips, AMD used an
event here to disclose an effort called Project SkyBridge, which is
designed to make "pin-compatible" versions of ARM and x86 chips.
That means that customers can use the same circuit board for both
kinds of chip, which saves money and gives users more flexibility
about technology choices.
Products based on Project SkyBridge are expected to arrive in
2015, and will come with built-in graphics. Lisa Su, an AMD senior
vice president, said the initial targets of the efforts would be
"client" devices for end users--a term that includes PCs and
tablets--and "embedded" applications, such as industrial and
networking equipment.
Nathan Brookwood, an analyst at the research firm Insight 64,
said Project SkyBridge will help makers of tablets and others that
would like to save on hardware development costs and make chip
decisions late in the development process.
Rory Read, AMD's chief executive, and other AMD executives
stressed the company will continue to make x86 chips.
"It's really about the merging of those two ecosystems, and
using the best silicon for the right software environment," Ms. Su
said.
AMD joins a widening list of companies that have architecture
licenses with ARM. They include Apple Inc., which has developed
original processor chips for its mobile devices, and Qualcomm Inc.,
the biggest maker of chips for smartphones, and Broadcom Inc.,
another big maker of communication chips.
One of AMD's key strengths in the field is its expertise in the
64-bit technology that has become a key requirement for servers,
allowing hardware to tap into larger pools of memory. AMD scooped
Intel to market with 64-bit x86 chips, for example.
ARM, meanwhile, is eager to finally get its chips into servers
and high-performance computing after years of industry discussion
about the topic.
"We are going to work with anyone who wants to go very fast,"
said Simon Segars, ARM's chief executive.
Write to Don Clark at don.clark@wsj.com
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