There have been rumblings over the last year or so about ARM architecture invading the data center or stripped down x86 CPUs pushing far down into traditional ARM territory.  As we launch our two new embedded platforms today (the compact ASB2 and the high-performance AM3), I think it’s an interesting time to comment on the direction we see the embedded market going.

If you closely examine the markets where industry-standard x86 AMD Embedded Solutions are winning major designs, you’ll see these are high-performance systems.   Our friends at Quixant are looking for a combination of factors in selecting their gaming platform, including multi-core CPUs for demanding apps, the ability to drive multiple displays, the graphics to ensure those displays look fantastic and of course, they need a strongly competitive price.

We have other customers, iBASE for example, who rely on our ability to provide consistency in our top-to-bottom platforms.  They can depend on performance improvements with additional cores, new features and consistent power envelopes to help extend the life of their embedded designs.

Throw in the fact that these companies and many more are increasingly building their products around high definition graphics and multiple displays and it is pretty clear that the complete AMD embedded platform – with enterprise-class CPUs, chipsets and graphics – fits the bill.

So while we see various competitors in this huge marketplace trying to push into new markets, we have been working closely with our customers to deliver on their needs.   We’re doing that today with our two new complete platforms and as we look to the expected advent of AMD Fusion™ technology products in 2011, our position for helping drive down power, area and costs while improving the design and user experience will just get stronger.

Buddy Broeker is the director of AMD Embedded Solutions. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.