AMI Implements HTX BIOS Extensions in AMIBIOS®8 and Aptio® Platforms
Sunnyvale, Calif., October 18, 2007 – Dramatically reducing the development time of systems
and subsystems that use the popular HTX connector, the HyperTransport™
Technology Consortium today announced that American Megatrends Inc. (AMI) has incorporated
generic BIOS and firmware support for HTX-enabled products into their BIOS platforms serving
next-generation AMD processors. AMI, a high-level member of the HyperTransport Consortium,
has included the HTX BIOS extensions in its AMIBIOS®8 and Aptio® firmware, eliminating the
need to develop custom BIOS solutions.
“AMI is a recognized leader in the development of generic BIOS implementations,” said Mario
Cavalli, general manager of the HyperTransport Consortium. “Their decision to provide BIOS
support for the HTX connector reinforces the considerable business value that HTX solutions
bring to performance-driven applications. AMI’s HTX BIOS support reduces product design time
by several months and saves HTX product manufacturers hundreds of thousands of dollars in
development costs. We believe that AMI’s support will further accelerate the adoption of HTX-
enabled solutions.”
HTX, a HyperTransport-based connector specification standardized by the HyperTransport
Technology Consortium, allows system, motherboard and add-in card manufacturers to leverage
the low latency and high bandwidth of HyperTransport technology. The specification defines an 8-
or 16-bit HyperTransport interface with a 1.6 gigatransfer/second data rate. As a result, the HTX
slot connector standard provides an ideal, high-performance direct-connect path between system
processor and board-level network interconnect, storage optimization and compute acceleration
subsystems.
“We’ve seen a growing adoption of generic HTX BIOS support from customers who want to take
advantage of the performance benefits associated with HyperTransport technology,” said S.
Shankar, President and CEO of AMI. “That’s why we’ve put extensive resources behind testing
and validating the HTX BIOS extensions. The results of our close collaboration with the
HyperTransport Consortium and its members will be dramatically reduced design complexity and
accelerated time-to-market of HTX-based products for our high-profile system customers.”
About AMIBIOS8 and Aptio
Leveraging modular code components that can be easily integrated into a project’s source code,
AMIBIOS8 eases design of server blades, telecommunication servers, industrial PCs, mobile PC
electronics and web access devices. The BIOS features a smaller footprint, fast boot times,
efficient power management features and support for a wide set of features.
Aptio is AMI's next-generation BIOS firmware based on the Universal Extensible Firmware
Interface (UEFI) Specifications and the Intel® Platform Innovation Framework for EFI. Aptio is
specifically designed to address firmware portability and extensibility to future platforms. Along
with silicon enabling components, Aptio can be expanded using a variety of drivers, development
tools, support utilities and pre-boot application solutions.
Pricing and Availability
AMI’s AMIBIOS8 and Aptio products are available directly from AMI. For more information on
pricing and availability, please contact Imran Ahmad, Software Sales Manager for Aptio and
AMIBIOS products, at 1-800-U-BUY-AMI or
SWsales@ami.com.
About AMI
Founded in 1985, American Megatrends Inc. (AMI), best known for AMIBIOS, supplies state-of-
the-art hardware, software and utilities to today's high-tech manufacturers. AMI, focused on IP
Storage Area Networks (IP-SAN), Network Attached Storage (NAS), and Storage Management,
also offers remote server management, KVM over IP, IPMI 2.0 firmware and high-density
motherboards. AMI is an Associate Member with the Intel® Communications Alliance, a
community of communications and embedded developers and solution providers. Headquartered
in Atlanta, AMI has locations in the U.S., China, Germany, India, Japan, Korea and Taiwan to
better serve its customers. For more information on AMI, its products or services, call 1-800-U-
BUY-AMI or visit
www.ami.com.
About the HyperTransport™ Technology Consortium
The HyperTransport Technology Consortium is a membership-based, non-profit organization that
licenses, manages and promotes HyperTransport Technology. The HyperTransport Consortium
was founded in 2001 by leading technology innovators like Advanced Micro Devices, Apple,
Broadcom, Cisco, NVIDIA, PMC-Sierra and Sun Microsystems and counts on more than
50 industry-leading member companies worldwide, including Dell, HP and IBM. Membership is
based on a yearly fee and it is open to companies interested in licensing the royalty-free use of
HyperTransport technology and intellectual property. Consortium members have full access to
the HyperTransport technical documents database, they may attend Consortium meetings and
events and may benefit from a variety of technical and marketing services, including the new,
member-driven web portal, whose business benefits are part of a wide array of services offered
by the Consortium free of charge to member companies. To learn more about member benefits
and how to become a Consortium member, please visit the Consortium Web site at
www.hypertransport.org.
