AMD 3DNow! technology: architecture and implementations

Author

Oberman, Stuart ; Favor, Greg ; Weber, Fred

Author_Institution

Adv. Micro Devices Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, USA

Volume

19

Issue

2

fYear

1999

Firstpage

37

Lastpage

48

Abstract

The AMD-K6-2 microprocessor is the first implementation of AMD 3DNow!, a technology innovation for the x86 architecture that drives today´s personal computers. 3DNow! technology is a set of 21 new instructions designed to open the traditional processing bottlenecks for floating-point-intensive and multimedia applications. Using these instructions, applications can implement more powerful solutions to create a more entertaining and productive PC platform. Examples of the type of improvements that 3DNow! technology enables are faster frame rates on high-resolution scenes, better physical modeling of real-world environments, sharper and more detailed 3D imaging, smoother video playback, and near theater-quality audio. Future AMD processors such as the AMD-K7, designed to operate at frequencies greater than 500 MHz, should provide even higher performance implementations of 3DNow! technology

Keywords

microprocessor chips; 3D imaging; AMD 3DNow! technology; AMD-K6-2 microprocessor; architecture; implementations; physical modeling; real-world environments; x86 architecture; Arithmetic; H infinity control; Hardware; Prefetching; Registers; Space exploration; Space technology;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Micro, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0272-1732

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/40.755466

Filename

755466