ARM and Intel have proposed hybrid architectures with a high-performance yet cost-effective processor . AMD has expressed interest in this type of processor, but confirms that there are still obstacles related to operating systems and software.
AMD wants to move forward, but not alone!
An old patent from 2017 has surfaced, suggesting that AMD is seriously considering a hybrid processor model to compete with Lakefield and Alder Lake processors. This processor is indeed slated for release in 2021. AMD's Vice President and Chief Product Officer, Joe Macri, announced that AMD is indeed studying this possibility, but the company has not yet developed any concrete plans. AMD confirmed that achieving this will require optimizations to operating systems and software to properly support hybrid architectures.
Refinement is needed regarding memory allocation and the scheduler. AMD has been working on this project, codenamed Big Little, for over 15 years and will continue to meet the challenge of producing high-performance hardware that consumes as little power as possible.
Performance also depends on the software
Joe Macri announced that AMD is waiting for the operating system and software to be able to effectively manage memory allocation and properly schedule operations to the appropriate cores. In this case, AMD will produce less complex, and therefore less power-hungry, cores. The result will be significant.
Therefore, there will be areas for improvement to be seriously studied at the level of system and software developers so that everything can benefit from hardware improvements.
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