AMD XDNA explained

AMD XDNA
Designfirm:	AMD
Introduced:	April 2023
Type:	Neural processing unit microarchitecture

XDNA is the name for AMD's neural processing unit microarchitecture. It is based on IP blocks from Xilinx, a company which was acquired by AMD in 2023.^[1]

As of 2024, XDNA is implemented in AMD's consumer PC processors (branded as Ryzen AI), as well as the AMD Alveo V70 AI accelerator.

Generations

First

First-generation XDNA, initially implemented in the Ryzen 7040 series mobile processors, provides up to 10 TOPS of processing performance. The Ryzen 8040 series (codenamed "Hawk Point"), a refresh of the Ryzen 7040 series, features a higher-clocked XDNA NPU providing 16 TOPS of performance.^[2]

XDNA is also used in AMD's Alveo V70 datacenter AI inference processing card.^[3]

Second

XDNA 2 was introduced in the Strix Point Ryzen AI 300 series processors. The NPU provides up to 50 TOPS of processing power,^{[4] [5]} and the implementation is labelled by AMD as the third generation of Ryzen AI.

See also

• Neural Engine, Apple's neural processing unit microarchitecture
• Tensor Processing Unit, Google's AI acceleration microarchitecture

External links

• AMD XDNA official webpage

Notes and References

1. Web site: Hachman . Mark . Why AMD thinks Ryzen AI will be just as vital as CPUs and GPUs . PCWorld . 24 August 2024 . en . 15 May 2023.
2. Web site: Svitlyk . Yuri . What is AMD XDNA? Architecture that launches AI on Ryzen processors . Root Nation . 24 August 2024 . 7 March 2024.
3. Web site: Alveo V70 AI Accelerator . AMD . 24 August 2024.
4. Web site: Alcorn . Paul . AMD deep-dives Zen 5 architecture — Ryzen 9000 and AI 300 benchmarks, RDNA 3.5 GPU, XDNA 2, and more . Tom's Hardware . 24 August 2024 . en . 15 July 2024.
5. Web site: Bonshor . Gavin . The AMD Zen 5 Microarchitecture: Powering Ryzen AI 300 Series For Mobile and Ryzen 9000 for Desktop . www.anandtech.com . 24 August 2024 . 15 July 2024.