61–64 of 64 posts
It seems to me that they're comparing a USB powered device to a battery powered device. The iPhone runs its GPU in a particular way, and its GPU was chosen based on the fact that the iPhone needs to have its battery last all day. However the Raspberry can draw a continuous 1A without rest, because it effectively has an infinite battery. So, sure, you can put a larger GPU in a device like that.
The ARM11 cpu is too old, I wish they used at least a Cortex-A8. ARM11 has a virtually addressed cache with aliasing issues that requires all sorts of hacks in linux kernel, it will require old compiler flags and lacks other ARMv7 features. It's the cpu from 2005. I wonder what the price difference would be if they used an A8.
There are some similar cool open hardware projects sponsored by TI. They have better specs, although their prices are quite a bit higher. I don't know if it is because they do lower volumes, the chips cost more, or price just wasn't as much a concern when they were designed. The beagleboard-xm has an A8, 4 usb ports, and 512 ram for $150, the related beaglebone has arduino like pins and an A8 for $80, and the pandabo…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
FPGAs are typically 5-20x worse in power consumption and max speed over a dedicated ASIC with the same logic. That is the price you pay for flexibility of being able to change your design at the drop of a hat. For now, they are the low volume option (<1-10m units) if you need special interfaces. If all you are doing is number crunching a Gpgu would likely be a more effective option.
While superb for power and performance, the problem with ASICs is that you can't embed an ASIC fab in your mobile phone ;) On the other hand, doing number crunching on a GPU will quickly burn your your battery. FPGAs seem like the ideal middle ground.
FPGAs are not a silver bullet. If you can express your design using a GPGPU instruction set, then by all means please use that. Its going to be more efficient by an order of magnitude, from power consumption and especially cost.
High end FPGAs can easily run in the $30k for a single unit range (this is what NVidia is going to buy to simulate their latest design in hardware, its not likely going to end up in a shipping product). They are also relative power hogs. Their strength lies in highly concurrent systems, especially around data streaming from disparate interfaces to other interfaces, when you can't put enough I/O bandwidth into an existing processing solution.
GPUs are good at processing and will floor an FPGA there. They are relatively terrible at I/O.
I am interested to know what other folks think of the potential to build low cost PCs using Raspberry Pi (RPi) for education in India & the developing world.
I am curious to know what other people think of OLPC XO3 vs RPi vs Aakash (the Indian govt.'s low cost tablet)
OLPC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8428147.stm http://asia.cnet.com/what-can-we-learn-from-the-olpc-xo-3-0-...
Aakash Ubislate7 http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/01/08/the-inside-story-o...
1. Raspberry Pi(RPi) requires monitor + mouse +k/b while XO3 is self-contained. 2. RPi is more geared to be a lab machine or a home pc while XO3 is more of a personal device.
3. From a pedagogical viewpoint, IMHO, i think younger kids should not have a digital device 24x7 as they could possibly get "addicted" to it . It is more important to impart a sense of curiosity(scientific temper) & hunger for learning, & having an XO3 might hamper kids' social activities - going outdoors & playing with other kids, being fit, taking part in sports.
So i feel younger kids could be exposed to low-cost computers( made of a RPi) in school, which are low cost & encourage tinkering (open source, simple inexpensive hw) while older (say high school kids can get their own personal XO3.
#4. From an Indian perspective, i wish the Indian govt scraps the crappy Aakash tablet in favour of the XO3.
http://phonemantra.com/2012/01/olpc-india-head-rips-into-aak...
The vast majority of schools in India are run by the govt & most govt. schools dont have a computer lab or the computers:students ratio is abysmal. The RPi could be an excellent, low-cost way to create computer labs in all govt schools, colleges & vocational institutions.
#5. Internet connectivity
http://laptop.org/en/laptop/hardware/specs.shtml http://www.raspberrypi.org/faqs http://www.akashtablet.com/
The XO3 comes with 802.11b/g & most importantly 802.11s(mesh networking) & the concept of school servers, so kids can download learning content even if access to the larger public Internet is not available.
Aakash has GPRS( much slower) & RPi supports wired ethernet & USB WiFi dongles.
Exciting times ahead for sure & would love to hear what other folks think
cheers
p.s. Detailed interview with Eben Upton, RPi's executive director (free registration required)
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/digitalfoundry-inside-...