AMD looks to boost Fusion processor with investments

From InfoWorld: Advanced Micro Devices is looking to invest in technology companies as it tries to build a hardware and software ecosystem around its upcoming Fusion processor, the company said on Tuesday.

The chip designer will invest in software companies to develop applications that harness the parallel-processing capabilities of CPUs and graphics processing units to boost system performance, said John Taylor, director of Fusion marketing at AMD. It will also invest in hardware companies such as original design manufacturers and component companies that could help expand the market for Fusion chips.

AMD is developing new chips based on the Fusion architecture, which combines the x86 central processing unit and graphics processing unit (GPU) in a single chip. The first chips will appear starting next year in laptops and desktops, which are the "sweet spot" for the investments the company is looking to make, Taylor said.

"The goal ... is to help speed time to market for the kind of unique computing solutions and applications that Fusion products are designed to enable, such as breakthroughs in visual computing, performance per watt and device form factor," Taylor said.

GPUs are faster than CPUs at processing certain multimedia and scientific applications in high-end laptops, desktops and servers. But with Fusion, smaller devices like netbooks and laptops will be able to handle GPU acceleration, Taylor said.

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