X-bit labs

AMD Opens Doors to Networking Accelerators.

Category: Other

by Anton Shilov

[ 06/14/2006 | 11:45 AM ]

Advanced Micro Devices on Tuesday said it would transfer rights to produce its Alchemy product lineup to Raza Microelectronics Inc. (RMI) and will be able to cooperate with the latter on the development of networking accelerators for servers running microprocessors from AMD.

A key part of cooperation between AMD and RMI will be acquisition of the MIPS-based AMD Alchemy processor product line and operations from AMD by RMI for a stake in the company. The companies indicated that product line acquisition forms the basis for a broad strategic relationship between AMD and RMI to cooperate in a number of different areas, including the recently announced Torrenza platform.

“We are extremely pleased to enter into a strategic relationship with AMD and to bring them on as an investor. RMI is continuing to expand its product offerings and customer base, and the acquisition of the Alchemy product family bolsters our portfolio significantly,” said Atiq Raza, chairman and chief executive officer, RMI.

AMD itself also acquired lineup of Alchemy processors from Alchemy Semiconductor back in 2002 in a bid to enter the non-computer markets like personal digital assistants, embedded networking systems and portable media players. The company did not succeed with it: its Alchemy family does not generate a lot of revenue nowadays. At the same time, fables semiconductor firm Raza specializes on these kinds of applications.

Additionally, RMI specializes on processors for specific applications. For instance, its XLR chips can offload from central processing units such operations as packet data transfers, cryptography functions, authentication operations, TCP/IP CRC calculations and network interface data management.

“Having a high-performance offering optimized for low-power applications enables us to leverage our existing successes in the networking and security markets and significantly extends our customer penetration into the Consumer Electronics markets. RMI endorses AMD64 as the innovation platform for the industry, and fully embraces the ‘Torrenza’ ecosystem development initiative,” Mr. Raza added.

Both AMD and RMI have committed to a seamless customer transition and RMI is committed to a significant investment in designing and extending the Alchemy product family and roadmap, according to the companies’ statement.