AMD Launches Contest for Developers to Create Heterogeneous Compute Applications

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AMD OpenCL(TM) Coding Competition to Reward Software Developers Creating Accelerated Applications That Make the Most of AMD Technologies

SUNNYVALE, CA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 06/15/11 -- AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the AMD OpenCL™ Coding Competition, being run by software development leader TopCoder. This contest is intended to encourage the creation of applications that take advantage of OpenCL™ as well as the award-winning AMD Fusion Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) architecture. The OpenCL™ Coding Competition is open to software developers with great ideas, and up to $50,000 in prizes will be awarded to winning submissions.

"We're at an inflection point in the computing industry with evolving chip architectures and the shift to common programming interfaces and industry standards, which enable developers to enable amazing new experiences," said Manju Hegde, corporate vice president, AMD Fusion Experience Program. "The OpenCL Coding Competition is just the beginning of a new wave of application development by the software community as they embrace heterogeneous computing across multiple platforms."

AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing (APP) technology (formerly ATI Stream) is a set of advanced hardware and software technologies that support OpenCL and enable highly parallel compute-capable GPUs to work in concert with a system's CPU to accelerate applications beyond traditional x86 graphics and video processing. AMD Fusion APUs combine multi-core x86 technology with a discrete-level DirectX® 11-capable GPU in a single processor design, connected by a high speed link, to deliver up to 500 gigaflops of compute performance.(1)

Developers and students who choose to participate will be asked to submit an abstract that outlines how they plan to use the latest generation AMD APP Software Development Kit (SDK) with OpenCL support to create an accelerated application for the AMD Fusion APU platforms.

Contestants can choose to create an application in any category including, but not limited to, the following:

  • Video Processing
  • Image Processing
  • Security
  • Human Computer Interface
  • Data Mining
  • Gaming
  • Physics processing
  • Social Networking / Communication
  • Other

"We see APU architecture continuing to be widely adopted for new computing designs, and believe that developers will want to build and optimize their applications around the high performance achieved with these new hardware platforms," said Matt Murphy, TopCoder platform manager. "This technology shift signifies a sizeable opportunity for developers around the world who want to be early to embrace a new era of heterogeneous computing."

In addition to the SDK, contestants will need the latest AMD Catalyst™ drivers that include the OpenCL runtime compiler. Released in May 2011, the latest AMD Catalyst drivers for Windows and Linux also bring new features, including expanded support for multi-display environments through AMD Eyefinity technology, which developers can leverage to create even more immersive experiences for end users.

For full details and a complete set of Official Rules for the AMD OpenCL™ Coding Competition, please visit http://community.topcoder.com/amdapp/

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About AMD
AMD (NYSE: AMD) is a semiconductor design innovator leading the next era of vivid digital experiences with its groundbreaking AMD Fusion Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) that power a wide range of computing devices. AMD's server computing products are focused on driving industry-leading cloud computing and virtualization environments. AMD's superior graphics technologies are found in a variety of solutions ranging from game consoles, PCs to supercomputers. For more information, visit http://www.amd.com.

AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, Radeon, Catalyst and combinations thereof, are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. OpenCL is a trademark of Apple, Inc. used by permission by Khronos. DirectX is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

(1) Theoretical peak performance of the AMD A-Series APU.

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Source: Advanced Micro Devices

Released June 15, 2011