AMD announces very low power APUs for embedded market

Tags: Hardware, Kiosk Hardware, Kiosk Design, Kiosk Manufacture, Kiosk PC, Industrial PC, Industrial Mainboard, ITX-board
5/24/11
AMD today announced the immediate availability of two new AMD Embedded G-Series APUs (Accelerated Processing Units) with thermal design power ratings of 5.5 and 6.4 watts, up to a 39 percent power savings compared to earlier versions.
The very low power consumption and small 361-square-millimeter package is suited for compact, fanless embedded systems like digital signage, kiosks, mobile industrial devices and many of the new emerging industry-standard small form factors such as Qseven, according to AMD. The new low-power offering for the embedded market features one or two low-power x86 "Bobcat" CPU cores and a discreet class DirectX 11-capable GPU on a single die.
A fanless solution is crucial for many small embedded systems where the added cost for an active cooling system can be prohibitive or for environments where silent operation is a key requirement. Additionally, many embedded products are deployed in harsh environmental conditions where the presence of a fan represents a potential failure point for the system.
According to AMD, systems based on the new low-power AMD Embedded G-Series platform include an industrial mobile device from Amtek, a Pico-ITX single board computer from Axiomtek, a Qseven form factor computer-on-module from datakamp, and a fanless digital signage platform from iBASE. Additional customers are expected to bring new products to market in the coming quarters.