AMD Geode LX800@0.9W Processor Is First to Show EnergyBench Certified Scores for Digital Imaging Workloads
EL DORADO HILLS, Calif.—Aug. 7, 2006—The Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium (EEMBC) today announced publication of the first certified embedded processor benchmark scores using EnergyBench, a new standard that provides data on the amount of energy a processor consumes while running EEMBC's performance benchmarks.
The device benchmarked for these landmark scores is the 500-MHz AMD Geode LX800@0.9W* processor, which was tested in an out-of-the-box environment simultaneously with EnergyBench and ConsumerBench Version 1.1, an EEMBC benchmark suite that allows users to approximate the performance of processors in digital still cameras, printers, and other embedded systems that handle digital imaging tasks.
Across the ConsumerBench battery of tests, performance results for the AMD Geode LX800@0.9W processor ranged from 18 iterations per second for JPEG compression to 204 iterations per second for RGB-to-CMYK conversion, while the EnergyBench scores for each of the kernels indicated an average power consumption range of 2.34 W (for RGB-to-YIQ conversion) to 2.58 W (for JPEG decompression). Overall, the results show that the power consumed by the processor depended on what workload the processor was handling and that this could vary within the ConsumerBench tests by as much as 10 percent.
"As a metric, EnergyBench will be most useful when we are able to compare results from multiple processors side by side, but these results for the AMD Geode LX processor are sufficient to demonstrate the rationale behind EnergyBench -- namely that there is no such thing as 'typical' power consumption," said Markus Levy, EEMBC president. "This fact won’t come as news to veteran systems designers, but now they’ll have a tool that will help them avoid any surprises about the power consumption behavior of embedded processors in situ."
The AMD Geode LX800@0.9W processor is specifically designed to provide a high level of performance with low power consumption. Typical applications include small form-factor products such as thin clients, interactive set-top boxes, single-board computers (SBCs), personal access devices (PADs), and mobile Internet and entertainment devices.
"It is fitting that the AMD Geode LX800@0.9W processor should be the first embedded processor to be tested with EnergyBench, since this processor family was designed from the ground up to enable both high performance and low power consumption," said Erik Salo, director of AMD’s Embedded Computing Solutions division. "The EEMBC ConsumerBench and EnergyBench scores clearly demonstrate the excellent performance per watt offered by AMD Geode LX processors."
EEMBC has implemented EnergyBench using the LabVIEW platform and a data acquisition (DAQ) card, both from National Instruments. While the performance benchmarks are running on the target board, EnergyBench calculates the average energy per iteration using multiple unaliased sampling frequencies and an adaptive statistical process. The DAQ card samples the voltage levels as well as a trigger channel and writes the samples to a file. The result of the EnergyBench test is the average energy for one iteration of the workload represented by the performance benchmark kernel running on the target. Users can also use the EEMBC setup to examine minimum and maximum power while the benchmark is running.
A detailed ConsumerBench score report for the AMD Geode LX800@0.9W processor, which has been verified and certified by the EEMBC Technology Center, is available for free from the EEMBC Web site at www.eembc.org.
EnergyBench is available for license in conjunction with any EEMBC performance benchmark suite. For further information, visit www.eembc.org.
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About EEMBC
EEMBC, the Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium, develops and certifies real-world benchmarks and benchmark scores to help designers select the right embedded processors for their systems. Every processor submitted for EEMBC benchmarking is tested for parameters representing different workloads and capabilities in communications, networking, consumer, office automation, automotive/industrial, embedded Java, and network storage-related applications. With members including leading semiconductor, intellectual property, and compiler companies, EEMBC establishes benchmark standards and provides certified benchmarking results through the EEMBC Technical Center.
EEMBC’s members include Adaptec, Altera, AMCC, AMD, Analog Devices, ARC International, ARM, Artifex Software, Atmel, Broadcom, Code Sourcery, Esmertec, Faraday, Freescale Semiconductor, Fujitsu Microelectronics, Green Hills Software, IAR Systems, IBM, Imagination Technologies, Improv Systems, Infineon Technologies, Intel, IPFlex, LSI Logic, Marvell Semiconductor, Matsushita Electric Industrial, Mentor Graphics, Microchip Technology, MIPS Technologies, MQX Embedded, National Instruments, NEC Electronics, Nokia, Oki Electric Industry, Patriot Scientific, Philips Semiconductors, PMC-Sierra, Qualcomm, Red Hat, Renesas Technology, Sandbridge Technologies, Sony Computer Entertainment, STMicroelectronics, Stretch, Sun Microsystems, Tensilica, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, VIA Technologies, and Wind River Systems.
EnergyBench and ConsumerBench are trademarks and EEMBC is a registered trademark of the Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium. AMD, Geode, and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. All other trademarks appearing herein are the property of their respective owners.
* This processor operates at 500 MHz.