The document discusses the history and technology of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). It details that AMD was founded in 1969 and produces microprocessors, chipsets, graphics cards and other semiconductor technologies. AMD is a major competitor to Intel, producing x86 compatible CPUs, and also competes with Nvidia as a leading producer of graphics cards. The summary discusses AMD's acquisition of ATI in 2006 to strengthen its graphics business and the spinoff of its manufacturing division into GlobalFoundries in 2009 to become a fabless company.

1. University of Turbat
Introduction to Computer
Submitted By: Abdullah Karim
Submitted To: Sir Malik Jasim
Class: B.com 1st
Department: Commerce
Assignment No: 3rd
Date: 14 April 2014

2. APPLE PROCESSOR
The Apple A5 is a 32-bit system-on-a-chip designed
By Apple Inc. and manufactured by Samsung and is the
successor to the Apple A4. The A5 commercially debuted with the
release of Apple's iPad 2 tablet, and also powers the iPhone 4S, iPod
Touch fifth generation, Apple TV third generation, and the iPad mini.
This is consistent with how Apple debuted the A4 chip: first in the
original iPad, followed by the iPhone 4, and then the iPod Touch (fourth
generation). Apple claims that compared to its predecessor, the A4, the
A5 CPU "can do twice the work" and the GPU has "up to nine times the
graphics performance".
The A5 consists of a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore CPU with
NEON SIMD accelerator and a dual core PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU.
Apple lists the A5 to be clocked at 1 GHz on the iPad 2's technical
specifications page, though it can dynamically adjust its frequency to
save battery life. The unit used in the iPhone 4S is clocked at
approximately 800 MHz. Apple has also included an image signal
processor unit (ISP) that will do advanced image post-processing such as
face detection, white balance and automatic image stabilizationand an
"earSmart" unit from Audience for noise canceling.
When the A5 was first released, it was estimated at that time to cost 75%
more than the previous generation, with the difference expected to
diminish as production increased. As of August 2012, the A5 is
manufactured at Samsung's Austin, Texas factory. Samsung invested
$3.6 billion in the Austin facility to produce chips such as processors,
and nearly all of that wing's output is dedicated to Apple components.
Samsung has invested a further $4.2 billion at the Austin facility in order
to transition to a 28 nm fabrication process by the second half of 2013.
The A5 part model numbers are: S5L8940 (45 nm version), S5L8942
(32 nm version) and S5L8947 (32 nm, single core version). A version of

3. the A5 with a wider memory subsystem and four graphic cores is called
Apple A5X and is found in the third generation iPad.
Apple A5 (S5L8940)
Apple uses the first version of the A5 chip in the iPhone 4S, and iPad 2.
The A5's manufacturing process is 45 nm and it has 122.2 mm2 of die
areaIt is manufactured in a package on package (PoP) together with
512 MB of dual-channel LP-DDR2 DRAM.
Apple A5r2 (S5L8942)
Apple uses a second version of the A5 chip in the third generation Apple
TV, announced on March 7, 2012, the iPod Touch fifth generation, the
iPad mini and the 32 nm revision of the iPad 2. This chip is
manufactured with a 32 nm fabrication process, with ID code S5L8942
and it has one core disabled in the Apple TV. The new A5 measures
nearly 41% smaller than first-generation A5, coming in at 69.6 mm2 and
manufactured in a package on package (PoP) together with 512 MB
LPDDR2 DRAM.
Apple A5r3 (S5L8947)
In March 2013, Apple released an updated version of the third
generation Apple TV (AppleTV3,2) containing a smaller, single core
version of the A5 processor. Unlike the other A5 variants, this version of
the A5 is not a package-on-package (PoP), having no stacked RAM. The
chip is very small, just 37.8 mm2, but as the decrease in size is not due to
a decrease in feature size (it is still on a 32 nm fabrication process), this
indicates that this A5 revision is of a new design. Markings tell that it's
named APL7498, and in software, the chip is called S5L8947.

4. Advanced Micro Devices
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. is an American multinational
semiconductor company based in Sunnyvale, California, United States,
that develops computer processors and related technologies for business
and consumer markets. While initially it manufactured its own
processors, the company became fabless after GlobalFoundries was spun
off in 2009. AMD's main products include microprocessors,
motherboard chipsets, embedded processors and graphics processors for
servers, workstations and personal computers, and embedded systems
applications.
AMD is the second-largest global supplier of microprocessors based on
the x86 architecture and also one of the largest suppliers of graphics
processing units. It also owns 8.6% of Spansion, a supplier of non-volatile
flash memory.
AMD is the only significant rival to Intel in the central processor (CPU)
market for (x86 based) personal computers. Since acquiring ATI in
2006, AMD and its competitor Nvidia have dominated the discrete
graphics processor unit (GPU) market.
Corporate history
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) was founded on May 1, 1969, by a
group of former executives from Fairchild Semiconductor, including
Jerry Sanders III, Ed Turney, John Carey, Sven Simonsen, Jack Gifford
and three members from Gifford's team, Frank Botte, Jim Giles, and
Larry Stenger. The company began as a producer of logic chips, then
entered the RAM chip business in 1975. That same year, it introduced a
reverse-engineered clone of the Intel 8080 microprocessor. During this
period, AMD also designed and produced a series of bit-slice processor

5. elements (Am2900, Am29116, Am293xx) which were used in various
minicomputer designs.
During this time, AMD attempted to embrace the perceived shift
towards RISC with their own AMD Am29000 (29k) processor, and also
attempted to diversify into graphics and audio devices as well as
EPROM memory. It had some success in the mid-1980s with the
AMD7910 and AMD7911 "World Chip" FSK modem, one of the first
multi-standard devices that covered both Bell and CCITT tones at up to
1200 baud half duplex or 300/300 full duplex. The 29k survived as an
embedded processor and AMD spinoff Spansion continues to make flash
memory. AMD decided to switch gears and concentrate solely on Intel-compatible
microprocessors and flash memory, placing them in direct
competition with Intel for x86-compatible processors and their flash
memory secondary markets.
AMD announced the acquisition of ATI Technologies on July 24, 2006.
AMD paid $4.3 billion in cash and 58 million shares of its stock, for a
total of US$5.4 billion. The transaction completed on October 25, 2006.
Since 2010, all of the company's graphics processing products have been
marketed under the AMD brand name.
It was reported in December 2006 that AMD, along with its main rival
in the graphics industry Nvidia, received subpoenas from the Justice
Department regarding possible antitrust violations in the graphics card
industry, including the act of fixing prices.
In October 2008, AMD announced plans to spin off manufacturing
operations in the form of a multibillion-dollar joint venture with
Advanced Technology Investment Co., an investment company formed
by the government of Abu Dhabi. The new venture is called
GlobalFoundries Inc.. This partnership will allow AMD to focus solely
on chip design. The spin off was accompanied by the loss of
approximately 1000 jobs, or about 10% of AMD's global workforce.

6. In August 2011, AMD announced that former Lenovo executive Rory
Read would be joining the company as CEO, following Dirk Meyer.
AMD announced in November 2011 plans to lay off more than 10%
(1400) of its employees from across all divisions worldwide. This action
was to have completed by Q1 2012 with most exits before Christmas
2011. AMD announced in October 2012 plans to release an additional
15% of its workforce with an unspecified effective date to reduce costs
in the face of declining sales revenue.
AMD acquired the low-power server manufacturer SeaMicro in early
2012 as part of a strategy to regain lost market share in the server chip
market.

7. In August 2011, AMD announced that former Lenovo executive Rory
Read would be joining the company as CEO, following Dirk Meyer.
AMD announced in November 2011 plans to lay off more than 10%
(1400) of its employees from across all divisions worldwide. This action
was to have completed by Q1 2012 with most exits before Christmas
2011. AMD announced in October 2012 plans to release an additional
15% of its workforce with an unspecified effective date to reduce costs
in the face of declining sales revenue.
AMD acquired the low-power server manufacturer SeaMicro in early
2012 as part of a strategy to regain lost market share in the server chip
market.