This latest specification extends the benefits of AMD's I/O Memory Management Unit (IOMMU) to provide a secure, scalable, high-performance solution for I/O virtualization in x86-based servers, desktops, and notebook computers. IOMMU technology also improves reliability in non-virtualized environments and is expected to be a necessary component for secure systems of the future.
Demonstrating AMD's ongoing commitment to collaborative innovation, IOMMU revision 1.2 was developed in close cooperation with hardware and software ecosystem partners who worked as a collective whole to advance the benefits of AMD's Direct Connect Architecture.
AMD was the first company to develop an open specification between devices and announced broad availability of its I/O virtualization technology in February 2006. AMD also responded to the needs of its partners by advancing the initial technology to support the PCI-SIG IOV standards.
IOMMU revision 1.2 offers the following enhancements designed to handle the systems from complex datacenters to mobile laptops:
- Enhanced security and system reliability - adds precise device access control to protect against malicious or errant device DMA;
- Enhanced virtualization capabilities - improves performance and scalability by enabling direct device access by applications reducing overhead in guest and device paths;
- Open Standards - designed to conform to PCI-SIG IOV and ATS standards;
- Interrupt remapping - enables central management of interrupts in a virtualized system;
- ACPI tables - provides information from platform firmware to system software of key I/O topology information; and
- Enhanced error recovery - provides information for efficient detection and recovery from page faults and errors.
The IOMMU 1.2 specification is designed to be used by hypervisors and operating systems in both virtualized and non-virtualized environments, and is useful for server consolidation, protecting operating system integrity, and secure initialization.
As part of its ongoing efforts to actively collaborate with hardware and software developers, AMD's I/O specification is also an aspect of AMD's "Torrenza" initiative to co-develop accelerated computing processes. IOMMU 1.2 is the basis for AMD's Tightly Coupled Accelerators, which will allow third-party chipsets to perform specific functions while off-loading general computing functions managed efficiently by the AMD Opteron processor. Through collaboration with partners such as #27068 Broadcom, HP, Microsoft and NVIDIA, IOMMU 1.2 highlights AMD's strong commitment to open partner development.
