121–130 of 159 posts
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The Arduino Uno retails for around $30 and gives you a 16MHz CPU and 2KB of RAM so I don’t think specs and price are that related, especially when looking at different architectures.
Microcontroller vs microprocessor. Also I don't know anyone who pays RRP on Arduinos. If I need one for a project I get a Pro Mini (same specs, much smaller) for $2 shipped from China.
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> Arguments that Broadcom is forcing their hand on this simply don't add up. I have worked with much more mundane integrated circuits where the manufacturer required you to sign an NDA before getting any kind of design support from them. One of the terms of the NDA was not publishing the schematic of the device using their product. I don't see why Broadcom wouldn't do something similar for their SoCs.
A few things. Broadcom is notorious for demanding NDAs for their datasheets, completely pointlessly. I've also heard of companies demanding their parts be redacted on schematics if published, even more ridiculously, though as far as I know Broadcom isn't one of them (I've seen public schematics with Broadcom parts). Still, from what I've heard of Broadcom specifically, they're pathologically secretive with their docu…
Yet the chips weren't sold by any distributor. To even just get engineering samples from the manufacturer you had to sign this draconian NDA that covered everything from software to hardware docs even remotely connected to their part. Even after signing the NDA they wouldn't disclose full datasheet for e.g. what some registers did. For some things the comments in the Linux kernel turned out to be more informative than anything we got through official channels.
But if they're the only source of parts you have to use, you have to dance by their rules. Ruin the relationship by breaching the NDA and you might just as well bury the product you spent a year developing.
Why is RISC-V even so hyped up/successful? Other open ISAs precede it, and AFAIK the code density that RISC-V allows is disappointing considering the designers had an opportunity to start from scratch.
>Other open ISAs precede it Do you have any in mind? From what I can tell even POWER is not as open as RISC-V. They only show schematics to their partners, not the public at large. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenPOWER_Foundation#Openness
POWER opened up only after RISC-V.
Relevant Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_instruction_set_...
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> the code density that RISC-V allows is disappointing considering the designers had an opportunity to start from scratch. IIRC the code density beats ARMv8 and x86_64 in most situations.
They may have beaten the average compiler in x86 code density, but compilers aren't normally optimising for size and, as someone who has been writing x86 Asm for a long time, I can safely say that compiler output in general, even at max size opts, is far from the theoretical limit for x86 --- there is plenty of room for improvement there. On the other hand, RISCs are far more constrained in size optimisation. For an…
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Image in the article says TSMC 28nm. https://www.cnx-software.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Pico...
Apparantly we are in for another major escalation of the chip wars: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-smic-exclusive/... Exclusive: Trump administration weighs blacklisting China's chipmaker SMIC
This is the exact reason why RISC-V is getting increasingly more attentions.
Promising hardware, though this isn't looking like comparable hardware even to the Raspberry Pi Zero. Only has a quad-core 64-bit RISC-V (RV64GC) processor at 500+ MHz. RAM size not specified. If it was priced in the $5-15 range it would be more or less practical, but higher than that I'd be buying it solely for the architecture novelty.
Original iPhone managed 60fps with an even slower processor (412MHz - https://everymac.com/systems/apple/iphone/specs/apple-iphone... ). I know it only had 320x480 resolution, but if you consider that the CPU's job is to keep the GPU busy then I see no reason that efficient software could get a smooth UI out of this processor paired to a 60fps-capable GPU. Having said that, 'efficient software' is like hens teeth now…
Depends on your expectations, technically NES had 60 FPS GPU.
If you want to drive a FullHD at that rate, and render GUI comparable to modern phones - you need 3D acceleration, ideally programmable shaders, and the fillrate.
GPU is unavailable at launch, they say it will appear in later versions, and it will be a PoverVR. Never said which PowerVR.
Oof, GPU by Imagination Technologies. Here's hoping their close brush with death opened them to the idea of open sourcing their code.
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Yeah, I noticed. And hopefully by the time the 2nd version comes, they'll have understood who they're selling these to... or there'll be alternatives.
Yeah, I'm hoping that the delay before the second edition is enough that they can change course on it, too. Either way, better to have more riscv options than fewer:)
Promising hardware, though this isn't looking like comparable hardware even to the Raspberry Pi Zero. Only has a quad-core 64-bit RISC-V (RV64GC) processor at 500+ MHz. RAM size not specified. If it was priced in the $5-15 range it would be more or less practical, but higher than that I'd be buying it solely for the architecture novelty.