AMD Fusion architecture gets dissected

Llano is AMD’s performance oriented Fusion microprocessor – intended for the mainstream notebook and desktop market. The chip (shown in Figure 1) is 228mm² and fabricated in Global Foundries 32nm SOI high-k/metal gate process, which uses a gate first technique. It is the first time that AMD has implemented a PC graphics processor in SOI, which is a fairly substantial change from the traditional ASIC-oriented TSMC bulk process. AMD’s architects chose to rely on older and proven components that could be smoothly migrated to the 32nm process with minimal risk. The real emphasis was on the integration of these components - the programming model, overall system architecture and power consumption.