AMD finds ally in Transmeta

Manufacturers AMD and Transmeta have signed licensing agreements aimed at developing an industry standard for future microprocessors. The deal is significant as it may eventually build a more formidable opponent to processor king Intel.

Transmeta has licensed AMD's x86-64 technology, which assists application migration from 32bit to 64bit processors, and HyperTransport, a PC technology for connecting internal chips.

Richard Baker, regional marketing manager for PC products at AMD, said: "Our progression is seamless. IT managers balk at having to recompile all their programs for 64bit."

AMD x86-64 technology, which builds on the x86 instruction set, allows 32bit applications to run without performance degradation in 64bit, protecting the billions of pounds already invested in 32bit software. The company plans to release 64bit Clawhammer and Sledgehammer processors in the second half of next year.

Doug Laird, executive vice president of product development at Transmeta, said: "We believe that the HyperTransport interconnect technology is the right choice for the next-generation input/output bus standard."

Fred Weber, chief technology officer for AMD's computation products, said the deal demonstrated a growing support for x86-64.

Neither company would speculate on the possibility of a future merger to create a more robust challenger to market leader Intel. "All I can say is our enemy's enemy is our friend," said Baker.

Rana Mainee, an analyst at consultancy firm The Third Mind, said that AMD had a history of forming partnerships to help its technology gain wider appeal. "AMD is pretty much set on its platform technology; I don't think [Transmeta] would give it any more than it has," he said.

He added that AMD's 64bit technology gives it an advantage over Intel. "Intel would look at the x86-64 technology with envy," he said. "The 64bit market is up for grabs. Migration [of existing applications] to 64bit will take years; it will be 2005 before the start of a major cycle with Microsoft."

Gordon Graylish, Intel's director of enterprise marketing, said: "The growth of the Internet is moving people to 64bit because there's a need for very large data sets."

AMD's HyperTransport technology enables chips inside PCs to communicate with each other at 266Mbit/s over a 12.8Gbit/s bus. AMD claims this is a 48-fold speed increase compared with other technologies.