AMD today announced the formation of a new Advanced Architecture and Technology Lab led by Rich Witek, AMD corporate fellow and chief architectural officer. The new lab will focus on technology and platform development beyond the five-year time horizon, further extending AMD's strong tradition of advanced silicon planning.

"With the help of Rich Witek and some of the brightest minds in the Pacific Northwest, AMD is furthering our advanced development work," said Phil Hester, AMD senior vice president and chief technology officer. "This forward-looking strategy underscores our commitment to consistent, ongoing innovation in design, software planning, system structures and chip architectures. The Advanced Architecture and Technology Lab helps ensure we are putting in place the foundation for continued innovations beyond the five-year time horizon, allowing AMD to continue delivering the technology our customers need to be successful."

Rich Witek has been with AMD since 2002 and has more than 30 highly accomplished years of hardware and software experience. He helped architect the ARM, StrongARM, Alpha processors and PowerPC. He also holds 22 patents in the areas of CPU, cache and system design; and has co-authored numerous Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) technical papers.

AMD plans to gradually increase the staff to between 30 and 40 people. AMD is also looking into opportunities to open Advanced Architecture and Technology Labs in other global tech hubs.