AMD has combined ARM and x86 processors in its latest mobile accelerated processing units (APUs).
This is AMD’s first implementation of ARM-based technology into processors designed for consumer and commercial client devices.
The mobile APUs, formerly codenamed “Beema” and “Mullins,”incorporate up to four newly-designed x86 CPU cores and a hardware-level data security solution based on the ARM Cortex-A5 processor core.
Products based on these new APUs are already announced by Lenovo and Samsung.
According to Bernd Lienhard, AMD corporate vice-president and general manager, Client Products, this is the “first-ever ARM-based security solution on an x86 processor”.
The aim is to run full Android OS on Windows-based PCs using BlueStacks software optimised for AMD.
Intended for tablets and ultrathin laptops, the processing units feature up to four x86 “Puma+” CPU cores and AMD Radeon R Series graphics based on Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture.
An AMD-developed platform security processor (PSP) is based on the ARM Cortex-A5 featuring ARM TrustZone technology for enhanced data security.
The integrated PSP taps into the open standards-based ARM TrustZone ecosystem and partitions the new processors into two “virtual CPUs” – a “secure world” and a “normal world” based on the type of data being processed.
For more detail: AMD claims ARM and x86 mobile chip first
