AMD launches Fusion chips for embedded devices

AMD has launched an embedded version of its Fusion processor, named the AMD Embedded G-Series.

The chips, based on AMD's Fusion architecture, are called the AMD Embedded G-Series Accelerated Processing Unit (APU), the company announced on Wednesday.

"AMD has assessed many of the trends shaping today’s embedded market, including the ever-pressing need for power efficiency and a small footprint, along with high CPU performance, full feature sets, and a strong graphics solution," it said in a statement. "The AMD Embedded G-Series APU provides a small, open and flexible platform where system designers can be creative yet still meet strict requirements around development cost."

Possible applications include digital signage, internet-ready set top boxes, casino gaming machines, point-of-sale kiosks and small form factor PCs. A range of companies, including Fujitsu, Haier, iEi and Wyse, are set to use the chips in products set to launch "in the coming weeks", AMD said.

The G-Series chips can display graphics in Microsoft's DirectX 11 format and use one or two Bobcat cores of up to 1.6GHz with a 1MB L2 cache.

The G-Series will compete with Intel's own efforts in the embedded market with its Atom processor.