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AMD updates Stream software development kit

In an effort to drive adoption of industry standards in general purpose graphics processing software development, AMD plans full support of Microsoft DirectX 11 and OpenCL to enable increased C/C++ cross-platform programming efficiency.

By Ann Steffora Mutschler, Senior Editor -- EDN, 8/6/2008

To help increase the ease and efficiency of software development using its AMD Stream processing approach, Sunnyvale, Calif-based microprocessor challenger Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) today announced an extensive set of upgrades planned for future versions of the Stream Software Development Kit (SDK), meant to reduce the time and effort needed to produce GPU accelerated applications that run on multiple platforms, with expanding support for industry standard application programming interfaces (APIs) and providing enhanced support for C/C++.

AMD said through a series of updates to the SDK scheduled over the course of the next 18 months, full support will be added for DirectX 11, the next-generation suite of advanced APIs from Microsoft Corp.

DirectX 11 is expected to build upon the performance of DirectX 10.1 for 3-D graphics rendering and gaming control and is being designed to include new technologies aimed at making it easier for programmers to create general purpose graphics processing (GPGPU) accelerated applications that can run on any Windows Vista powered platform, the company explained.

AMD reminded that it is supporting efforts to develop OpenCL as an open standard and plans to evolve the Stream SDK to be OpenCL compliant.

By support for both DirectX 11 and OpenCL, and by continuing to give developers the option of creating and using their own programming languages and high level tools, AMD is continuing to work towards giving programmers maximum choice and flexibility.

“Industry standards are essential to unlocking the compute potential of GPUs and driving broad adoption of this capability in mainstream applications. GPGPU is now moving past the era of closed and fully proprietary development chains. With the advent of DirectX 11 and OpenCL, C/C++ programmers worldwide will have standardized and easier ways of leveraging the GPU’s computational capabilities,” commented Rick Bergman, senior VP and general manager of AMD’s graphics product group, in a statement.

Finally, AMD also said it will continue to enhance and support the Brook+ programming language, providing programmers a stable, high-performance platform for accelerating their applications.