AMD signs on as CORNERSTONE sponsor of openfpga, establishes
university of mannheim center of excellence to advance hypertransport™ research
— Latest Collaborations Expand
Industry Support for Torrenza —
CONTACT:
Steve Oakes
AMD Public Relations
(512) 602-6228
steve.oakes@amd.com
TAMPA, Fla. — NOVEMBER 14,
2006 – To expand industry adoption of the AMD Torrenza initiative and
an open-standards approach to innovation, AMD (NYSE:AMD) announced today at
Supercomputing 2006 it will be the inaugural sponsor for OpenFPGA. OpenFPGA is
a non-profit consortium focused on accelerating the adoption and incorporation
of reconfigurable computing solutions in high-performance and enterprise
computing. OpenFPGA steering group members include many of today’s leaders in
high-performance computing including Cray, GE Research, Oak Ridge National Labs
and Sandia National Labs.
AMD also announced, in conjunction with the Computer Architecture Group at
the University of Mannheim in Germany, the creation of the Mannheim Center of
Excellence (COE), for research for HyperTransport™ technology. As the only
current academic licensee of coherent HyperTransport (cHT), the research at the
Mannheim COE is expected to directly benefit the academic community and the
development of next-generation technology that leverages HyperTransport.
Early results from the Mannheim COE research include the release of an HTX
board for universities and companies that research compute-intensive testing
and design applications.
“These activities in support of Torrenza represent fresh thinking in
the application of open standards in creating collaborative research
environments that can directly benefit customers,” said Michael Goddard,
director, Performance Computing, AMD. “Academic customers are already seeing
the results of the HyperTransport expertise the Mannheim COE can deliver, while
OpenFPGA is leveraging best practices to provide a programming model for FPGAs,
one of the co-processing technologies embraced by Torrenza. Ultimately, these
efforts will further the adoption of HyperTransport technology and computing
based on Direct Connect Architecture, offering new levels of stability and
upgradeability in open environments such as AMD64.”
“The Mannheim Center of Excellence has developed a strong expertise in
computer architecture and hardware design, especially with the intellectual
properties of HyperTransport.” said Dr. Ulrich Bruning, sponsor of the Center
of Excellence. “The standardized, open access to HyperTransport gives us the
ability to provide commercially available HTX boards that meet the needs of
high-value data research for universities and companies all over the
world. With AMD as a research partner, we see the Center of Excellence as
a unique opportunity to broaden the application areas of high performance
processors.”
“Selecting AMD as our cornerstone sponsor was the logical and smart
choice for the founding organizations of OpenFPGA. AMD has a long history of
working to bring together like-minded innovators to share best practices and
ideas in order to continue the adoption of open-standards in the industry and
will bring that expertise to the consortium,” said Eric Stahlberg, president,
OpenFPGA. “OpenFPGA is extremely pleased to have the support of AMD as the
organization aims to realize the full potential of reconfigurable computing for
high-performance and enterprise applications.”
AMD first announced its Torrenza Initiative in June 2006 as the industry’s
first open, customer-centric x86 innovation platform, capitalizing on the
Direct Connect Architecture. In September 2006, AMD announced the Torrenza
Innovation Socket, enabling other processor and hardware providers to innovate
within a common ecosystem. AMD64, the Open Innovation Platform, continues to
allow our customers to address the specialized needs of high-volume IT concerns
in open environments.
About AMD
Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) is a leading global provider of
innovative processing solutions in the computing, graphics and consumer
electronics markets. AMD is dedicated to driving open innovation, choice and
industry growth by delivering superior customer-centric solutions that empower
consumers and businesses worldwide. For more information, visit www.amd.com.
Cautionary Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements which are made pursuant
to the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are generally preceded by words
such as “plans”, “expects”, “believes”, “anticipates” or “intends”. We
cannot provide any assurance that such forward-looking statements will
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AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, and combinations thereof, are trademarks of
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. HyperTransport is a licensed trademark of the
Hypertransport Advanced Technology Consortium. Other names are for
informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.