AMD’s new SoC’s for tablets and laptops have security features baked inside. The Beema and Mullins chips integrate an ARM Cortex A5 processor core for security. The platform security processor has a cryptographic engine and runs ARM TrustZone for secure boot and enforces access controls for the running of trusted applications.
Virtualized Android on Windows support is provided by Bluestacks allowing applications from both platforms to run concurrently without dual-booting. Files and data will also be shared between both systems. Juice on both SoC’s is supplied by quad-core Puma engines. Clock speeds are improved compared to previous SoC, Beema offers 2.2GHz while Mullins offers 2.4GHz. Power efficiency has also increased by 20% due to the integration of the 128-core Radeon graphics card which doubles the performance of the new chips.
Low-power connections are facilitated by a DDR3-1333 memory, applications requiring more energy are frontloaded and run in a low power state through AMD’s “intelligent boost control”. To minimize the heat produced by the chips, heat generation data collected and utilized to keep the temperatures below 60 degrees Celsius.
Reference tablet designs for the SoCs are available from AMD with Lenovo and Samsung expected to build devices around the new chips.
