AMD's first ARM part is for networks

As expected, AMD’s first ARM based product won’t go after phones and tablets.

Arun Iyengar, General Manager of Embedded Solutions Group, AMD, has just announced the company’s first ARM product codenamed Hierofalcon.

It is based on up to eight ARM 64-bit A57 cores and it is a 28nm chip. It is mainly targeting the network and communications market rather than anything else.

The product comes with 10Gb network support, ECC support, PCI gen 3 and ARM trusted zone. It comes in second half of 2014 and since there is still plenty of growth potential in the communications market, AMD hopes to get a nice slice of the pie.

There are still no any announcements of any ARM-based consumer products, but AMD has mentioned Steppe Eagle APU that is a dual to quad core SoC set to replace Jaguar. This is a 5W to 25W TPD product based on an enhanced Jaguar core and Radeon 8000 graphics.

With 5W parts, AMD can go after tablets as Jaguar with 6W was close, but not low enough for many tablet manufacturers.

It’s an interesting strategy. Network hardware, like servers, run 24/7, eat power, require extensive battery backups, and produce a massive amount of heat. Getting them to run cooler, with less energy footprint, is a welcome move forward and could lower the cost of running a datacenter.

Sometimes going green means more green in the pocket. I hope they are successful in this venture.

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