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Energy Efficiency
Electricity is the only resource consumed by a semiconductor during the use phase. Products that are more energy efficient require smaller and less expensive cooling solutions. Energy efficient mobile products also extend battery life. As a result, customer demand drives the development of increasingly energy efficient products, and AMD designers systematically consider energy efficiency in the design of the circuit. In addition, the design of new manufacturing technologies also considers the energy-efficiency of the manufactured semiconductor products.
Microprocessors
AMD designs energy efficiency and power management capabilities into its microprocessor products. AMD microprocessor products manage power consumption in mobile PCs, desktop PCs, workstations, and servers.
Historically, clock speed and the total number of transistors have been the most widely publicized attributes of microprocessors. However, thermal control and energy efficiency have become design challenges for these devices, particularly as die sizes shrink and speed increases. AMD is addressing these challenges with new transistor designs and materials that are aimed at boosting performance and energy efficiency while controlling thermal output. The use of silicon on insulator (SOI) manufacturing technology, and the use of strained silicon capping films on transistors known as “dual stress liner” technology have contributed to reduced power consumption.
AMD's multi-core microprocessor technology is designed for increased workloads with equivalent or lower power requirements and thermal output when compared to single-core processors. For more information go to: http://multicore.amd.com. AMD's dual core technology allows for two processors to perform parallel operations at lower frequencies on different bus 'channels' rather than competing for access to one shared bus. AMD Opteron™ dual core processors provide new power savings opportunities at a critical time in the growth of data centers. The standard power, dual-core AMD Opteron processor draws only 95 watts maximum. For situations where power consumption is more important than having the fastest CPU’s, the AMD Opteron™ HE dual-core processor offers the benefits of standard-power products, but at only 55 watts maximum consumption. AMD PowerNow!™ Technology and Optimized Power Management (OPM) enhances the energy-consumption performance of these devices with multiple levels of lower clock speed and voltage, reducing power consumption by as much as 43 percent while under an approximate 60 percent load, and as much as 75 percent during idle times.
The AMD64 platform, HyperTransport interconnect technology, AMD PowerNow! technology for mobile microprocessors and the integration of large, high-performance on-chip memory cache are other improvements AMD has made to help increase data capacity, speed application loading, and increase the efficient use of energy in microprocessors.
More recently, AMD introduced AMD AthlonTM 64 microprocessors with Cool'n'Quiet™ technology for desktop computer power management. Cool'n'Quiet technology improves a computer's energy efficiency by 'matching' the processors utilization to the level actually required by varying the frequency and voltage of the microprocessors. This technology has been incorporated into the AMD Athlon 64 desktop microprocessor and it can decrease power consumption as much as 35 watts when compared to systems that do not support this technology.
On March 16, 2005 AMD was honored with an ENERGY STAR® Certificate of Recognition for our innovative Cool'n'Quiet technology by the U.S. EPA. The EPA recognized AMD for significantly advancing energy efficiency in desktop PCs: “Innovative processor advancements such as AMD's Cool'n'Quiet technology significantly improve power management features, making them more reliable, dependable and user-friendly than even just a few years ago,” said Craig Hershberg, product manager for Office Equipment and Consumer Electronics, U.S. EPA in 2005.
Assuming an average PC usage pattern, annual power savings of 26-32 kWh per desktop computer can result from the use of Cool'n'Quiet and other AMD Athlon 64 energy efficient technology, when compared to comparable Energy Star compliant PCs not supporting this technology.
Connectivity Solutions products
Our x86 and MIPS-based embedded microprocessor products offer low-power, high-performance solutions for a variety of applications.
AMD Geode™ Solutions leverage proven mobile technology to give designers a broad range of low-power, high-performance x86 capabilities for designing a variety of applications, including thin-client and peripheral devices.
The LX processor, our newest offering in the AMD Geode processor family, offers the industry's highest performance per watt. It enables consumers to experience full-featured, desktop-style computing on a new generation of x86 architecture-based embedded and mobile devices. Requiring less than one watt of power, the AMD Geode LX 800@0.9W processor supports the Microsoft Windows® XP and XP Embedded operating systems, allowing users to leverage familiar business and consumer applications on low-power, fan-less portable products.
Examples of products that would benefit from the AMD Geode LX processor's capabilities include HDTVs, IP set-top boxes, thin clients, point-of-sale kiosks and Windows-powered tablet PCs.
MIPS-based solutions, such as the AMD Alchemy™ processors, are ideally suited for low-power, high-performance applications such as PDAs, Web tablets, portable and wired Internet access devices and gateways. AMD Alchemy processor cores are very efficient, combining low operating voltages and “automatic clock gating” with the right set of features, such as an integrated Liquid crystal display controller, on a System-on-Chip (SoC) solution. These features greatly reduce overall system power requirements while allowing for more flexible form factors for designers. The AMD Alchemy Au1200™ processor, introduced in January 2005, is a low-power, high-performance processor solution for Personal Media Player (PMP), automotive, and Digital Media Adapter (DMA) applications.
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