AMD releases latest G-Series SoC APU, reducing energy by one-third
NewsJuly 30, 2013
Alice Moss
Military Embedded Systems
In lockstep with the company’s shift toward embedded as a focal point rather than a component of other business areas, AMD has announced the availability of the latest member of its Embedded G-Series Accelerated Processing Unit (APU: GPU + CPU) SoC (APU + I/O controller on a single chip) family: the low-power GX-210JA.
The GX-210JA – suited to military heads-up/heads-down displays, vehicle infotainment systems, industrial control and automation, machine vision, and medical imaging applications, among others – cuts energy consumption by one-third versus previous G-Series iterations: The G-Series GX-210HA SoC with Radeon HD 8210E graphics has 9 W TDP with 1.0 GHz CPU and 300 MHz GPU frequency, while the new GX-210JA – loaded with Radeon HD 8180 graphics – boasts 6 W TDP and CPU/GPU frequency of 1.0 GHz and 225 MHz respectively with expected average power of 3 W.
“The advance of APU processor design, the Surround Computing era, and The Internet of Things has created the demand for embedded devices that are low power but also offer excellent compute and graphics performance,” said Arun Iyengar, Vice President and General Manager, AMD Embedded Systems, in a media statement. “AMD Embedded G-Series SoC products offer unparalleled compute, graphics, and I/O integration, resulting in fewer board components, low-power use, and reduced complexity and overhead cost.”
The latest SoC, providing ECC and seven years guaranteed support, can fit into small form factor applications such as COM Express, for example, and can work in iPhone-sized thin client boxes (except about 2-3x as thick), according to AMD representatives. Additionally, depending on the application, heat sinks and fans could be eliminated when designing with the G-Series.
The industrial temperature range (-40 C to +85 C), x86-compatible, dual- or quad-core Embedded G-Series – including the ultra-low-power GX-210JA – is now shipping for $49-$79.
