AMD took an important step forward in the embedded market today with the newest member of its Fusion APU family: the Embedded G-Series. Like other Fusion APUs unveiled prior to CES 2011, the new chip incorporates an x86 CPU with a DirectX 11-capable GPU along with an integrated DDR3 memory controller on the same die.

Versions of the chip will be based on one or two 40nm "Bobcat" low-power cores, with 1MB L2 cache per core, and feature 9 or 18-watt TDP ratings as well as clock speeds of up to 1.6GHz. Other features include 2D and 3D acceleration, OpenCL 1.1 support, OpenGL 3.2 and 2.1 support, and dedicated hardware for H.263 and MPEG2 decode.


AMD is targeting the new platform at a variety of markets, including thin-client computers for enterprises, kiosks and cash register systems, rugged military systems, medical imaging, game machines, networking gear, among others. With this, it also expects to replace the longstanding Geode line that they stopped developing a while back.

AMD says its embedded G-Series platform uses chips that are smaller than Intel's equivalent Atom processors, thus they use less power and cost less. Several partners have already signed up to use the chips, and AMD also touted the fact that the Microsoft Surface 2.0 shown at this year's CES was powered by their Embedded G-Series.