Filed in July 2017 and published this week, the patent describes an AMD 7nm + architecture that is reportedly being developed under the codename Arcturus. It shows that the company is developing architecture to replace its aging Graphics Core Next (GCN). AMD described the patent as a new “Stream processor with high bandwidth and low power vector register file.” Among the details is an updated design that should improve AMD’s graphics cards. The company is aiming to enhance both power performance and efficiency. To achieve this, the patent describes an architecture that provides more capable independent operation from individual compute units.
Better Performance
The current GCN architecture has been with us since 2012 and has compute units that share many of their resources. This can sometimes cause limitations in terms of performance as only one instruction at a time can be handled. AMD’s high bandwidth solution would allow each unit to compute on its own, allowing separate taks to be handled. AMD would expect its technology to provide a significant improvement in gaming performance. However, it will also be a potent task management GPU, enhancing the operations cryptocurrency mining and full enterprise output. Of course, as we mentioned with all patents, there are no guarantees we will ever see this technology. That said, it is just the sort of innovation we know is coming and it seems reasonable that AMD is preparing single compute capabilities.
