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AMD exec named as head of HyperTransport Technology Consortium

Several of AMD's platforms, including its quad-core Spider PC gaming platform, utilize HyperTransport technology.

By Gail Flower, Contributing Editor -- Electronic News, 2/16/2009

The HyperTransport Technology Consortium, a non-profit organization for developing and licensing HyperTransport interconnect technology, has named Mike Uhler, VP of accelerated computing for AMD, as its president. Uhler follows David Rich, previous president of the consortium, and also an AMD executive.

AMD founded the HyperTransport Consortium in 2001 with Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, Nvidia, PMC-Sierra, and Sun Microsystems. The group now includes more than 60 global members. Several of AMD’s platforms, including its quad-core Spider PC gaming platform, use HyperTransport technology.

“Mike’s extensive expertise in advanced processor design and system architectures will be critical to the consortium as we continue to advance the capability and reach of our technology,” said Mario Cavalli, the consortium’s general manager, in a statement. “Furthermore, Mike’s deep understanding of the high-performance computing market makes him the ideal candidate to help the consortium capitalize on growth opportunities in this quickly expanding industry segment.”

Not just another pretty face, Uhler holds 36 patents in computer architecture and design, and is experienced in developing advanced chip architectures and software for customers targeting high-performance markets. At AMD, he focuses on the implementation of interconnect technology for next-generation products, among other design issues.

Previously as CTO of MIPS, Uhler worked with consortium members to help them ease the integration of multiple IP cores into IC designs. Before his MIPS position, Uhler served as director of engineering at Silicon Graphics Inc’s  MIPS group, and as senior consulting engineer at Digital Equipment Corp.

HyperTransport, as described by the organization, is a scalable, high-performance, low latency, low cost, chip-to-chip, board-to-board, and chassis-to-chassis interconnect technology, targeted at high-performance appliances, embedded systems, networking systems, PCs, workstations, gaming systems, servers, and supercomputers. The consortium claims that HyperTransport is the only CPU-native interconnect in the industry.