A New AMD Built on Historical Strength

Fred Weber
Chief Technical Officer of AMD Corporation

January 27, 2005
11 a.m. - 12 noon
Campus Center Odeum

Abstract

The AMD Opteron Architecture marked an important technical and business turning point in the CPU and computer system industry. With the Opteron, AMD established itself as the leading proponent of the x86 architecture by introducing 64 bit extensions. In addition, the Opteron marks the first mass market adoption of a micro-architecture, for servers and clients, based on a network interconnect topology rather than the traditional bus-centric design. Fred Weber, CTO of AMD, will present details of the Opteron instruction set and internal architecture, and discuss the importance of these in a business and technical context. He will conclude his talk by exploring the future of Computer Architecture and Organization design in the presence of accelerated convergence of technology, devices, content (i.e., applications), and market segments.

Biography

As corporate vice president and chief technology officer (CTO), Fred Weber envisions and designs microprocessor technologies that enable tomorrow's computing products based on a synthesis of customer needs, market demands and technical possibilities. A frequent recipient of industry accolades, Weber was most recently voted Innovator of the Year by EDN magazine and one of InfoWorld's 25 Most Influential CTOs in 2004.

In the mid-1990s, Weber envisioned bringing the power of 64-bit x86-based computing to everyone. His foresight led to the 2003 launch of the AMD Opteron™ and Athlon™ 64 processors offering a unique mix of investment protection and industry-leading performance through simultaneous 32-bit/64-bit operation.

In late 2003, Weber unveiled his vision for "x86 Everywhere," highlighting the extensive benefits to be gained from the migration of low-power x86-based microprocessors into a myriad of new products and form factors, including PDAs, mobile phones, TVs, set-top boxes, and storage peripherals.

Weber began his career working with Gordon Bell at Encore Computer Corporation, where he focused on parallel software development. Later, as a member of the founding team of Kendall Square Research, he participated in all aspects of hardware design including the development of CAD methodologies, the invention of the AllCache memory system, the architecture and design of the CPU and the multiprocessor verification environment.

Weber is a frequent speaker at global industry events such as Microprocessor Forum as well as technical and financial conferences, such as WinHEC and Thomas Wiesel. He has been quoted in domestic and international business and trade publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Electronic Engineering Times, CNET, PC World and eWeek.

He studied physics and systems engineering at Harvard University and received a Bachelor's degree in physics.

Host

Fernando C. Colon Osorio
Refreshments will be served.

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Last modified: Sep 27, 2006, 16:05 EDT