Advanced Micro Devices' (AMD) next major processor might come with a Boston accent.
The chipmaker this summer established a new chip design team at its Boston Design Center here, a continent away from its Silicon Valley base, as part of a worldwide effort to strengthen its ability to deliver new processors and boost its sales.
The bulk of the new team, about 60 design engineers out of a total of 90, was already in the neighborhood--they were stationed at a nearby outpost of Sun Microsystems. The engineers, who came on board en masse in July, had been working on new processors for Sun, before the computer maker shifted its processor design strategy and canceled two projects, including its UltraSparc V. Many of the designers also had worked on Digital Equipment's Alpha processor at one time or another, considered a good pedigree in the chip world.
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