AMD releases Epyc and Ryzen CPUs for embedded applications

AMD's Zen chip roll-out continues with the focus on high-power embedded applications

AMD has unveiled two new chip product lines based on its Zen microprocessor architecture, this time aimed at the market for high-performance embedded processors.

The Epyc Embedded 3000 and AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000 are part of the company's strategy to extend its x86 Zen architecture from PCs, laptops and the datacenter to networking, storage and industrial solutions.

While AMD's Epyc Embedded 3000 brings the power of its Zen architecture to a variety of new markets including networking, storage and edge computing devices, the Ryzen Embedded V1000 targets medical imaging, industrial systems, digital gaming and thin clients.

However, both of the fresh embedded chips are touted to deliver "breakthrough performance" as well as easy integration and advanced on-chip security.

"Today we extend the high-performance x86 ‘Zen' architecture from PCs [to bring] transformative performance from the core to the edge," said AMD's vice president and general manager of Datacenter and Embedded Solutions Business Group, Scott Aylor.

"The Epyc Embedded 3000 raises the bar in performance for next-generation network functions virtualisation, software-defined networking and networked storage applications [while the] Ryzen Embedded V1000 delivers brilliant graphics in a single chip, providing space and power savings for medical imaging, gaming and industrial systems."

The EPYC Embedded 3000 chip is said to be "highly scalable", with designs ranging from four cores to 16 cores, available in single-thread and multi-threaded configurations.

The Ryzen Embedded V1000 is an accelerated processing unit coupling high-performance ‘Zen' CPUs and ‘Vega' GPUs on a single die, offering up to four CPU cores or eight threads and up to 11 GPU compute units per chip to achieve a processing throughput as high as 3.6 TFLOPS7, AMD claimed.

In line with AMD's embedded chip announcements, several of its customers have revealed products based on the processors, including Esaote's ultra-performance MyLab9 eXP ultrasound system for general medical imaging, the Quixant QX-70 4K Ultra HD casino gaming platform, and finally four products from Advantech, including an integrated casino gaming platform.