Innovative Alchemy Au1100 Processor From AMD Sets New Standard For Mobile Internet Appliance Market

AMD today announced the introduction of the Alchemy™ Au1100™ processor, targeting the non-PC mobile internet appliance market, such as web pads, telematics, and PDAs. Currently being sampled, the innovative Au1100 offers an industry-leading combination of high performance, low power and high integration.

“AMD is committed to meeting the needs of our customers,” said Billy Edwards, vice president and general manager, Personal Connectivity Solutions. “They asked us to bring AMD’s quality and passion for innovation to this market, and to provide products such as the Au1100 processor. At 400 MHz on 250 mWatts – half the power of our Au1000™ - they will not be disappointed.”

The convergence of several trends in technology, i.e. toward low power, high performance processors, broadband wireless communications and sophisticated Internet use, has both industry and consumers thinking beyond the PC. Mobile information appliances are expected to have increased functionality and to take many new innovative forms.

“This market is in its infancy, but we believe it is our highest growth segment. Industry analysts say this market has the potential to reach $26 billion and 1.3 billion units shipped by the year 2007. We’re excited to be here at the start to foster competition and offer outstanding solutions for our customers. In the next decade, we believe there will be a shift from voice centric to data centric mobile information appliances. We are positioning ourselves to be a major player as that shift happens,” Edwards said.

The performance and power consumption of the Au1100 ranges from 333 MHz at less than 200 mW, 400 MHz at 250 mW, to 500 MHz at 500 mW for the production version of the Au1100. For the full range of technical specifications, please visit: http://www.alchemysemi.com/product_info/au1100/index.html.

The Au1100 processor is designed to run a variety of operating systems, including Windows® CE.NET, Linux and VxWorks.

About the Alchemy™ Au1100™ processor from AMD
When Alchemy Semiconductor, Inc. was acquired by AMD in February of this year, its product portfolio consisted of the Au1000 and Au1500™ processors. The Au1000 processor is currently in production and the Au1500 processor is sampling, with production scheduled for the second quarter of 2002. The Au1100 processor builds upon the successful Alchemy Au1 core, which is based on a MIPS32™ instruction set. Like the Au1000 and Au1500 processors, the Au1100 is a System-on-a-Chip (SOC). SOC is a processor that has a core around which there are a custom set of integrated memory controllers and industry standard communication interfaces. SOCs can be tailored for use in different information appliances, such as PDAs and web tablets.

Specifically, the Au1100 integrates a LCD controller, and can reduce power consumption by up to 50% compared to the Au1000. An integrated LCD controller enables high quality video on mobile information appliances. Another new feature on the Au1100 is the addition of two Secure Digital (SD) controllers – enabling use of very small portable data storage devices.

Other features integrated into the Au1100 processor add functionality, and include a USB Host/Device, which enables the user to plug into the information appliance peripheral devices such as printers or digital cameras. The Au1100 also has an integrated 10/100 Ethernet interface, to allow for connection to a Local Area Network, and Infrared Digital Association (IrDA) Data and Control for wireless data transfer between devices. The Au1100 also has AC’97, for excellent audio capabilities. Altogether, these features and the added LCD and two SD controllers make the Au1100 ideally suited for high performance, versatile mobile information appliances that require very low power consumption.

Pricing
The Au1100 processor at 400 MHz is priced at $29.50 in 10,000 unit quantities.

Via amd.com

Fabrizio Pilato