AMD today announced new AMD Embedded R-Series SOC processors which support DDR4 memory and pack graphics, designed for embedded application market requirements. The processors incorporate the newest AMD 64-bit x86 CPU core ("Excavator"), plus third-generation Graphics Core Next GPU architecture, and power management for reduced energy consumption.

The single-chip system-on-chip (SOC) architecture enables simplified, small form factor board and system designs, while providing high graphics and multimedia performance, including capability for hardware-accelerated decode of 4K video playback and support for DirectX 12. The new SoC offers a wide range of peripheral support and interface options, support for the latest DDR4 memory, high-end AMD Radeon graphics and are designed for the first Heterogeneous Systems Architecture (HSA) 1.0 certification.

HSA is a standardized platform design that unlocks the performance and power efficiency of the GPU as a parallel compute engine. It allows developers to more easily apply the hardware resources in today's SoCs, enabling applications to run faster and at lower power across a range of computing platforms. The AMD Embedded R-Series platform incorporates a full HSA implementation which balances the performance between the CPU and GPU. Leveraging the heterogeneous Unified Memory Architecture (hUMA) allows for reduced latencies and maximizes memory access to both the CPU and GPU to increase performance.

AMD says that the new AMD Embedded R-Series SOCs offer 22 percent improved GPU performance when compared to the 2nd Generation AMD Embedded R-Series APU2 and a 58 percent advantage against the Intel Broadwell Core i7 when running graphics-intensive benchmarks. Specifications for the integrated AMD Radeon graphics include:

• Up to eight compute units and two rendering blocks
• GPU clock speeds up to 800MHz resulting in 819 GFLOPS
• DirectX 12 support

The AMD Embedded R-Series SOC includes features such as industrial temperature support, dual-channel DDR3 or DDR4 support with ECC (Error Correction Code), Secure Boot, and a broad range of processor options to meet an array of embedded needs. Additionally, configurable thermal design power (cTDP) allows designers to adjust the TDPs from 12W to 35W in 1W increments for greater flexibility. The AMD Embedded R-Series SOC also has a 35 percent reduced footprint when compared to the 2nd Generation AMD Embedded R-Series APU.

Key features and specifications include:

• First embedded processor with dual-channel 64-bit DDR4 or DDR3 with Error-Correction Code (ECC), with speeds up to DDR4-2400 and DDR3-2133, and support for 1.2V DDR4 and 1.5V/1.35V DDR3
• Dedicated AMD Secure Processor supports secure boot with AMD Hardware Validated Boot (HVB); initiates trusted boot environment before starting x86 cores
• Integrated FCH featuring PCIe Gen3 USB3.0, SATA3, SD, GPIO, SPI, I2S, I2C, UART

The processors support Microsoft Windows 7, Windows Embedded 7 and 8 Standard, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, and AMD's all-open Linux driver including Mentor Embedded Linux from Mentor Graphics and their Sourcery CodeBench IDE development tools.