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A developer's guide to the POWER architecture
POWER processors are found in everything from supercomputers to game consoles and from servers to cell phones -- and they all share a common architecture. This introduction to the PowerPC application-level programming model will give you an overview of the instruction set, important registers, and other details necessary for developing reliable, high-performing POWER applications and maintaining code compatibility among processors.
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30 Mar 2004 |
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POWER to the people
In the last decade alone, IBM scientists have announced one semiconductor breakthrough after another: copper technology, silicon-on-insulator, silicon germanium, strained silicon, and low-k dielectrics. All of these technologies came out of IBM's fertile in-house research community. This prowess in modern chipmaking know-how didn't come out of a vacuum -- rather, it came out of the hermetically-sealed clean rooms of the most advanced R & D department in the semiconductor industry.
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28 Apr 2004 |
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Standards and specs: Standards
Introducing a regular column on the specifications and standards affecting people involved in nearly every aspect of Power Architecture technology, Peter Seebach looks at the different kinds of standards in the industry today, as well as how to find out about and make the most effective use of standards in your own work.
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27 Sep 2004 |
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Redbooks
IBM Redbooks are developed and published by the IBM International Technical Support Organization, the ITSO. ITSO develops and delivers skills, technical know-how, and materials to technical professionals of IBM, Business Partners, and customers.
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30 Sep 2004 |
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Forums and community
Get involved in the developerWorks Power Architecture technology community by participating in discussion forums and newsgroups.
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30 Sep 2004 |
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Training
Start here to find the tutorials and courses you need to stay up-to-date with Power Architecture technology and to keep your skills top notch.
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30 Sep 2004 |
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Redbooks
IBM Redbooks are developed and published by the IBM International Technical Support Organization, the ITSO. ITSO develops and delivers skills, technical know-how, and materials to technical professionals of IBM, Business Partners, and customers.
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30 Sep 2004 |
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From the stacks: PowerPC 750FX/GX design and debug tips, Part 1
Soak up some of the wisdom that the IBM PowerPC Applications Engineering team has accumulated from dozens of years of designing, troubleshooting, and debugging PowerPC systems. In the first of a two-part series, IBM Senior Engineer Dale Elson presents tips and best practices for designing applications for PowerPC 750FX/GX processors -- but you can extrapolate much of his advice to other systems as well.
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06 Oct 2004 |
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From the stacks: PowerPC 750FX/GX design and debug tips, Part 2
In the second and final installment of this series, IBM Senior Engineer Dale Elson offers comprehensive tips on troubleshooting and debugging your PowerPC 750FX/GX systems. Part 1 focused on design best practices. This article also covers system qualification and lists the information to communicate when you need debugging help.
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12 Oct 2004 |
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Frequency switching improves power management in Power Architecture chips
IBM first introduced power-saving, frequency-shifting techniques in its PowerPC 750 line of processors. As process geometries have shrunk further, power dissipation has become even more of a challenge, and IBM engineers have worked hard to improve power-saving technologies and maintain performance. Read on to find out how these techniques have advanced in latest chips from IBM.
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15 Oct 2004 |
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The IBM PowerPC 970FX power envelope and power management
For potent chips like the PowerPC 970 FX, power consumption is a real concern.This article looks at the power envelope for IBM's PowerPC 970FX processor to give you an understanding of the processor's power management techniques. See how the chip's power-tuning capabilities, along with the several power-saving modes available, allow for an overall reduction in power consumption.
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15 Oct 2004 |
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Understanding 64-bit PowerPC architecture
Each of the leading microprocessor manufacturers has announced the availability of one or more 64-bit desktop processors, but differences exist in architectural design, fabrication, support, and intended use of each processor. This article looks at the critical issues in a few of IBM's 64-bit POWER designs, covering 32-bit compatibility, power management, processor bus design, and the manufacturing process.
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19 Oct 2004 |
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From the stacks: Making the transition to 64 bits
Developers porting applications to the 64-bit computing mode of the 970FX processor may face a number of issues; this excerpt from a longer Technical Library article covers some of the issues faced when porting existing 32-bit code to the new computing model -- or when embarking on new 64-bit development.
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19 Oct 2004 |
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From the stacks: TCP/IP checksum vectorization using AltiVec, Part 1
This two-part article demonstrates the kinds of performance gains AltiVec can produce on the TCP/IP checksum, or on code similar to it. It gives special attention both to instructions that help improve performance, and to general unrolling and scheduling techniques. The net result? Performance increased by a factor of four.
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26 Oct 2004 |
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Standards and specs: Open Firmware -- the bridge between power-up and OS
Open Firmware provides a reasonably standardized way for computers to find hardware, configure it, and boot an operating system. In this month's Standards and specs, author Peter Seebach looks at the Open Firmware spec, traces its history as a standard, examines how it works and some of its components, and discusses the benefits it offers.
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26 Oct 2004 |
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Save your code from meltdown using PowerPC atomic instructions
Something as simple as incrementing an integer can fail in a concurrent environment. This article illustrates the failure scenario and introduces the PowerPC's coping mechanism: atomic instructions. Learn how to use these assembly-level instructions to update memory correctly, even in the face of concurrency.
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02 Nov 2004 |
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From the stacks: TCP/IP checksum vectorization using AltiVec, Part 2
This article, the second in a two-part series, focuses on unrolling loops in ways that allow the AltiVec unit to execute code more efficiently and give the GCC compiler hints for automatically generating vectorized code from plain C.
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02 Nov 2004 |
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Meet the experts: John McCalpin
This question and answer article features IBM Senior Technical Staff Member John McCalpin on his work on the POWER5 and in high performance computing; on the Hypervisor and the size of POWER5 chips; on 128-bit computing -- and even on why he became a computer scientist instead of an entomologist.
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23 Nov 2004 |
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Standards and specs: The nitty-gritty on the C committee
The C standard is a few hundred pages full of specifications and requirements. This month's Standards and specs looks at some of the different components of the C standard, and how they might affect Power Architecture developers and implementors.
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23 Nov 2004 |
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About: Power.org
This interview focuses on the structure and aims of Power.org, a major new standards consortium in the marketplace. Discover what this new body has to do with open standards, customizable processors, consumer devices -- and doughnuts.
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02 Dec 2004 |
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PowerPC development from the bargain basement
The Kuro Box promises something fairly interesting: a usable single-board PowerPC computer, for only US$160 -- when other PowerPC development boards often cost ten times as much. Peter Seebach guides you through setup and install in this developerWorks hardware howto.
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14 Dec 2004 |
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The advantages of using IBM Power Architecture processors in the set-top box
As digital television has become a fact of life the set-top box has reached more and more homes. The IBM PowerPC 4xx processors are a perfect fit for such devices.
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15 Dec 2004 |
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Standards and specs, Special Edition: Introducing Power.org
Major electronics companies have come together to form a new standards body focused on Power Architecture technology. This organization will create and promote a family of standards, reference designs, and more. This month's Standards and specs looks at how the new standards body will work, and what it will do.
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15 Dec 2004 |
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Great moments in microprocessor history
The evolution of the modern microprocessor is one of many surprising twists and turns. Who invented the first micro? Who had the first 32-bit single-chip design? You might be surprised at the answers. This article shows the defining decisions that brought the contemporary microprocessor to its present-day configuration.
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22 Dec 2004 |
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The year in Power Architecture technology: The year in microprocessors
From spintronics to clockless CPUs, 2004 was a year of process and research in the microprocessor industry. This article offers a month-by-month look at the highlights of the 2004 microprocessor timeline.
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22 Dec 2004 |
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Migrating from x86 to PowerPC, Part 1: Robots and networked appliances on a shoestring
This series on embedded development shows you how to migrate a project prototype from x86 to PowerPC. This initial installment explains the realities and rationale of the project: it introduces the robotic submarines that were the start of the project (and where they came from), and describes the Linux/GCC development environment and the bare-bones Kuro Box PowerPC development board.
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04 Jan 2005 |
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From the stacks: Programming the cache on the PowerPC 750GX/FX
Many programs can obtain acceptable performance by simply letting the processor manage its own caching -- however, programs with special requirements (for instance, bootware) may obtain dramatically improved performance by manipulating the cache directly. This excerpt from an IBM Microelectronics Technical Library Application Note discusses cache basics for the PowerPC 750GX and 750FX.
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04 Jan 2005 |
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Meet the experts: Regina Darmoni
This question and answer article features the IBM Program Director of PowerPC licensing, Regina Darmoni. Regina has led the PowerPC licensing effort from the concept stage to the present and talks about general license terms and what's available -- and what it's like to be the little guy.
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11 Jan 2005 |
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11 Jan 2005 |
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This is a test article. Please ignore.
This is a test article. Please ignore.
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11 Jan 2005 |
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Meet the experts: Regina Darmoni
This question and answer article features the IBM Program Director of PowerPC licensing, Regina Darmoni. Regina has led the PowerPC licensing effort from the concept stage to the present and talks about general license terms and what's available -- and what it's like to be the little guy.
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12 Jan 2005 |
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Power Architecture Community Newsletter, 14 Jan 2005: Community calendar
Stay up-to-date with breaking news, upcoming events, and webcasts.
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14 Jan 2005 |
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Power Architecture downloads and documentation: Power Architecture tools to help your business
Download these tools to get a closer look at what Power Architecture technology can do for your business.
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14 Jan 2005 |
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Emulation and cross-development for PowerPC
This article introduces PowerPC emulation and cross-compiling for developers without access to real hardware. It is intended for developers familiar with computer architecture who own an x86-based workstation but are interested in experimenting with PowerPC.
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18 Jan 2005 |
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Standards and specs: A house divided
What happens when two coalitions within a standards committee come into conflict, and the dispute doesn't get resolved quickly? The ultrawideband technology standardization issue shows you.
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25 Jan 2005 |
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Power Architecture downloads and documentation: XL Fortran, the IBM PowerPC 750GX/FX Evaluation Kit, and more
Check out the XL Fortran 60-day Open Beta, and download the IBM PowerPC 750GX/FX Evaluation Kit, including board and software technical specifications, evaluation board schematics, and an application note that describes step-by-step instructions on how to obtain and build GNU software development tools for use with the evaluation kit software
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01 Feb 2005 |
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Big iron lessons, Part 1: FPU architecture, now and then
Floating point provides a convenient, approximate representation of real numbers that can greatly simplify scientific and engineering algorithms. This article gives an overview of two floating point formats used in the z990 architecture and discusses key FPU issues that system architects should consider in new designs. It is intended to assist system architects who are considering FPU integration and want to learn from the rich history of IBM mainframe FPU architecture evolution.
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01 Feb 2005 |
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Power Architecture Community Newsletter: How to contribute
Thank you for your interest in contributing to the Power Architecture Community Newsletter. This article offers guidelines on how the process works -- from submission to publication.
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07 Feb 2005 |
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Data alignment: Straighten up and fly right
Data alignment is an important issue for all programmers who directly use memory. Data alignment affects how well your software performs, and even if your software runs at all. As this article illustrates, understanding the nature of alignment can also explain some of the "weird" behaviors of some processors.
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08 Feb 2005 |
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Migrating from x86 to PowerPC, Part 2: Anatomy of the Linux boot process
This installment of "Migrating from x86 to PowerPC" discusses detailed similarities and differences between booting Linux on an x86-based platform (typically a PC-compatible SBC) and a custom embedded platform based around PowerPC, ARM, and others. It discusses suggested hardware and software designs and highlights the tradeoffs of each. It also describes important design pitfalls and best practices.
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08 Feb 2005 |
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Power Architecture Community Newsletter, 15 Feb 2005: MareNostrum: A new concept in Linux supercomputing
The MareNostrum supercomputer at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, ranked number four in the world in speed in November 2004, is constructed of such totally off-the-shelf parts as IBM BladeCenter JS20 servers, 64-bit 970FX PowerPC processors, TotalStorage DS4100 storage servers, and Linux 2.6. This is its story.
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15 Feb 2005 |
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Power Architecture downloads and documentation: Editors, compilers, debuggers, databases, and more
Find a wealth of Power Architecture resources in this issue of Downloads and docs: editors, compilers, debuggers, databases, clustering tools, documentation, and information on IBM Redbook Residencies.
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15 Feb 2005 |
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Meet the experts: Scott Handy
The Chiphopper initiative is an aggressive, new, end-to-end program from IBM that lets you port code to eServer even if you don't own an eServer. It's aimed at helping ISVs to easily test, port, and then support applications across all IBM systems from OpenPower to zSeries. developerWorks talked with Scott Handy, VP, WW Linux business strategy at IBM, about what it is and how it works.
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15 Feb 2005 |
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Meet the experts: Scott Handy
The Chiphopper initiative is an aggressive, new, end-to-end program from IBM that lets you port code to eServer even if you don't own an eServer. It's aimed at helping ISVs to easily test, port, and then support applications across all IBM systems from OpenPower to zSeries. developerWorks talked with Scott Handy, VP, WW Linux business strategy at IBM, about what it is and how it works.
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15 Feb 2005 |
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Power Architecture author FAQ
If you're interested enough in Power Architecture technology to read articles on our content area, then you just might have some knowledge to share with your fellow pros. Find out how you can submit your ideas to developerWorks.
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18 Feb 2005 |
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Build a GCC-based cross compiler for Linux
Get step-by-step instructions for building a cross-compiler so that you can build and develop applications for an alternative platform. Cross-compilers can be useful in many different situations, such as when you develop applications for embedded platforms.
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Tutorials |
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22 Feb 2005 |
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Standards and specs: The PCI bus
The widely adopted PCI standard has defeated a large number of competing standards in the marketplace. This month's Standards and specs looks at how the PCI bus won, what the effects of its dominance have been, and what might happen next.
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22 Feb 2005 |
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Power Architecture Community Newsletter, 1 Mar 2005: Profiling partner products
Introducing the product spotlight: MULTI by Green Hills and TimeStorm LDS by TimeSys.
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01 Mar 2005 |
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Power Architecture Community Newsletter, 1 Mar 2005: Community calendar
Stay up-to-date with the latest headlines, upcoming events, Webcasts, and more. In this issue, IBM seeks partners for iSeries, meets partners at PartnerWorld, and partners with Zend on Cloudscape.
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01 Mar 2005 |
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Unrolling AltiVec, Part 1: Introducing the PowerPC SIMD unit
AltiVec? Velocity Engine? VMX? If you've only been casually following PowerPC development, you might be confused by the various guises of this vector processing SIMD technology. In this first installment of a three-part series, Peter Seebach gives you the basics on what AltiVec is, what it does -- and how it stacks up against its competition.
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01 Mar 2005 |
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Power Architecture downloads and documentation: Updates to the Linux on POWER toolkit
Check out 30 updates to the Linux on POWER toolkit, download the PowerPC 970FX and PowerPC 750GX/FX Evaluation Kits, and read up on recent Power Architecture Redbooks.
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01 Mar 2005 |
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Big iron lessons, Part 2: Reliability and availability: What's the difference?
Historically, system architects have taken two approaches to designing reliable computing systems: building highly reliable, fail-safe systems with low probability of failure, or building mostly reliable systems with quick automated recovery. The RAS (Reliability, Availability, Serviceability) concept for system design integrates concepts of design for reliability and for availability along with methods to quickly service systems that can't be recovered automatically.
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08 Mar 2005 |
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Migrating from x86 to PowerPC, Part 3: Kuro Box Linux up close
This installment of "Migrating from x86 to PowerPC" moves from the abstract to the concrete, looking into implementation details of the Kuro Box. Lewin Edwards shows how to get the box configured with development tools and device drivers installed and updated.
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08 Mar 2005 |
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Power Architecture Community Newsletter, 15 Mar 2005: Profiling partner products
This week's product spotlight features the following five products: PowerPC GNU Toolkits, OCDemon Flash Memory Programmer, and OCD Commander by Macraigor Systems; also VxWorks 6.0 and visionICE II by Wind River.
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15 Mar 2005 |
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A moment of Xen: Virtualize Linux to test your apps
Xen is a virtualization technology available for the Linux kernel that lets you enclose and test new upgrades as if running them in the existing environment but without the worries of disturbing the original system. The author shows you how to install Xen using Fedora Core, but once installed, everything works the same in Xen on any distribution. Take a look at virtualization on Linux and see the benefits of having a sandbox for testing new software, as well as a playground for running multiple virtual machines on the same Linux box.
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15 Mar 2005 |
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An embedded view of the Mac Mini, Part 1: Apple's new PowerPC BSP
The Mac Mini isn't just competition for Shuttle computers and mini-tower PCs. It's also competition for the much smaller embedded development boards that many users are building custom applications around. Peter Seebach takes a look at the Mac Mini as an embedded development platform.
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15 Mar 2005 |
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Unrolling AltiVec, Part 2: Optimize code for SIMD processing
In this second article of a three-part series, Peter Seebach looks closer at AltiVec, the PowerPC SIMD unit. He explains further how you can effectively use AltiVec, discussing the choice between C and assembly, and shows some of the issues you'll face when trying to get the best performance out of an AltiVec processor.
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16 Mar 2005 |
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This hardware, that operating system: Series overview
So, you want this hardware to run that operating system. What's next? Join journeyman Jack-of-all-trades Tim Kelly as he documents the process of porting NetBSD to a PowerPC-based platform. This in-depth look at the components involved in interfacing an operating system to hardware is in a quantitative manner, and offers something for all levels of readers.
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Articles |
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22 Mar 2005 |
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Power Architecture Community Newsletter, 1 Apr 2005: PowerPC processor tips
This tip provides the details on how to use a JTAG debugger to take CPU2 out of reset, thereby allowing it to execute code.
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Articles |
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01 Apr 2005 |
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Power Architecture Community Newsletter, 1 Apr 2005: Community calendar
Stay up-to-date with the latest headlines, upcoming events, Webcasts, and more. In this issue, Blue Gene/L, Cell, photonics and Blade news; InStat Spring Processor forum and Moscow's eighth ExpoElectronica conference events are profiled.
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01 Apr 2005 |
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Power Architecture downloads and documentation: Performance simulator for Linux on POWER, Cell documentation, and more
Find the IBM performance simulator for Linux on Power, Cell articles posted to the IBM Microelectronics Technical Library, and the latest documentation and residencies.
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Articles |
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01 Apr 2005 |
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Unrolling AltiVec, Part 3: Down and dirty loop optimization
This series has looked at how the AltiVec instruction set can improve performance on G4 and G5 PowerPC chips. With the theoretical discussion covered in Parts 1 and 2, Part 3 tries to actually get some code optimized. This installment of the Unrolling AltiVec series looks at some real-world code that processors might spend a serious amount of time running, and shows how to tweak it to get extra performance.
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01 Apr 2005 |
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An embedded view of the Mac Mini, Part 2: Free software on a cheap computer
NetBSD and Yellow Dog Linux have both begun to support the Mac Mini. Peter Seebach looks at open source operating system options on this new contender in the embedded PowerPC platform space.
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05 Apr 2005 |
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MySQL for Linux on POWER, Part 1: Introduction to creating a database
Learn about the availability of MySQL Database Server for Linux(R) running on IBM(R) POWER(TM) and PowerPC(R) processor-based servers (collectively referred to as Linux on POWER). As a brief guide for application developers using MySQL on Linux on POWER, this paper is intended for MySQL developers and database administrators who are familiar with their system environment, networks, media devices, and disk resources. In Part 2 of this article, read about developing applications for MySQL using PHP, C/C++, Java, Perl, and Python.
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05 Apr 2005 |
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Migrating from x86 to PowerPC, Part 4: Build a minimal embedded Web interface
This installment shows you how to use small-footprint, highly portable, Free Software tools to Web-enable your unmanned submarine, in anticipation of browsing its onboard photo library from an underground lair in the next episode.
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05 Apr 2005 |
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Standards and specs: Naturally occurring standards
What makes a standard viable without the formal blessing of a standards organization? Should you use such informal standards, or ignore them? Learn more about de facto standards in this month's Standards and specs.
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12 Apr 2005 |
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Power Architecture Community Newsletter, 15 Apr 2005: Profiling partner products
Keeping it real (time): This spotlight profiles two products: OSE RTOS from Enea and QNX Neutrino RTOS from QNX.
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15 Apr 2005 |
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Power Architecture Community Newsletter, 15 Apr 2005: Community calendar
Stay up-to-date with the latest headlines, upcoming events, Webcasts, and more. In the news, storage virtualization on the move, OpenPower servers tuned specially for Linux, and a vision for Power servers. In the calendar, the Portable Power Developers Conference and the Conference on Lead-Free Components.
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15 Apr 2005 |
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Power Architecture downloads and documentation: Updates to Power Architecture tools
Find a Linux on Power post-link optimization utility update, details on a retired PowerPC API library, and an update to the PowerPC 750CX/CXe user's manual.
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Articles |
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15 Apr 2005 |
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Big iron lessons, Part 3: Performance monitoring and tuning
For many developers and engineers, performance is often an afterthought. But when a product functions as designed and has proven stability and the right feature mix, success in the marketplace often depends upon performance. Architectural decisions define the ultimate feasible performance of any product. In this article, learn how performance-monitoring technology initially developed for mainframes can help you improve your own code's performance.
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19 Apr 2005 |
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Standards and specs: The ins and outs of USB
The USB specification may be an example of that hybrid de jure or de facto standard, one that clearly earned wide acceptance through its technical merit. Learn the history of the USB standard and some of its benefits to users and vendors, as well as where it missed the boat.
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26 Apr 2005 |
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Power Architecture Community Newsletter, 02 May 2005: Community calendar
Stay up-to-date with the latest headlines, upcoming events, Webcasts, and more. In the news, RosettaNet sets standard for Semicon's data exchange, IBM and National Geographic trace humanity's genetic ancestry, where we are going after Moore's Law, and more. In the calendar, FREE OpenPower and JS20 BladeCenter seminars, 64-bit Linux on POWER workshops, the IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems, the E3 Interactive Entertainment Expo, and much more.
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02 May 2005 |
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Power Architecture Community Newsletter, 02 May 2005: PowerPC processor tips
Expand your knowledge of the PowerPC 750FL, now ready for limited sampling.
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02 May 2005 |
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Power Architecture downloads and documentation: xCAT toolkit for Linux cluster deployment, updated Redbooks, and more
Find the xCAT toolkit for Linux cluster deployment, an updated programming environments manual for 32 and 64-bit processors, and eight updated Redbooks, including a communications controller migration guide and an introduction to the eServer OpenPower 710.
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02 May 2005 |
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Power Architecture Community Newsletter, 02 May 2005: Solving the fabrication dilemma: The MOSIS service
Wes Hansford, Deputy Director of MOSIS, talks about the company's history, multiproject wafer runs, and the future of the Moore's Law.
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02 May 2005 |
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An embedded view of the Mac mini, Part 3: Rapidly prototype an embedded application
In a continuing look at the Mac mini as an embedded development platform, Peter Seebach shows how to rapidly prototype a simple application, looking at the variety of tools and glue available natively in Mac OS X.
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04 May 2005 |
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Multifunction multimedia machine, Part 1: Load Linux on the Mac mini
The Mac mini is an ideal low-cost, high-performance PowerPC development platform for numerous applications. Learn how to install and configure Linux on the mini. Future articles will add the software required to make it into a stand-alone multimedia appliance.
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10 May 2005 |
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Power Architecture Community Newsletter, 16 May 2005: PowerPC processor tips
Keep your knowledge of the Blue Gene and Cell processors up-to-date with two new document categories.
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16 May 2005 |
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Power Architecture Community Newsletter, 16 May 2005: Community calendar
In the news, eavesdrop on the beginning of the universe, pick your place on the dual-core software licensing spectrum, and more. In the calendar, Wind River 2005 Worldwide User Conference, Power.org in Barcelona, the 42nd DAC 2005 Design Automation Conference, and much more.
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16 May 2005 |
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Power Architecture downloads and documentation: Download a Linux embedded development suite and an on-chip debugger and simulator
Find the demos for TimeSys' Linux embedded development suite and for Lauterbach's on-chip debugger and simulator, a new approach to organizing and implementing the register-renaming mapper for out-of-order POWER4 processors. Also find 12 updated Redbooks, including how to implement partitions for IBM eServer p5 servers, a metascheduler proof of concept using the Tivoli Workload Scheduler, and a virtual partition manager guide.
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16 May 2005 |
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Power Architecture Community Newsletter, 16 May 2005: Profiling partner products
This issue's product spotlight: Magma Design Automation, a processor design tool company specializing in EDA software.
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16 May 2005 |
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Big iron lessons, Part 4: Power, cooling, and performance: Find the right balance
The z990 mainframe system uses active cooling with cycle steering to achieve balance. See how you can incorporate similar emergent cooling and adaptive power control methods into your embedded system designs.
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17 May 2005 |
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Migrating from x86 to PowerPC, Part 5: Create a Kuro-based Web album
In the fifth article of the Migrating from x86 to PowerPC series, Lewin Edwards shows how to get a photo album running on the Kuro Box. In the process, he covers embedded systems design goals, Web server security, and shows off a few handy tricks for off-loading processing work to the client system.
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17 May 2005 |
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Standards and specs: The Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) standard
SCSI has a reputation as one of the oldest and most widely respected standards in computing, but it also has a reputation for poor price and performance and amazing quirkiness. This month's Standards and specs looks at the history of the legendary SCSI specification.
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24 May 2005 |
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An embedded view of the Mac mini, Part 4: Perfecting the prototype
In this installment of "An embedded view of the Mac mini," Peter Seebach builds upon the original prototype "photo booth" application using Fink to get third-party software help in photo setup and layout.
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31 May 2005 |
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Power Architecture Community Newsletter, 08 June 2005: Community calendar
In the news: The IBM/Chartered common design platform; game consoles powered by PowerPC; open source Cell; Apple on x86; and a roundup of chip-related headlines. In the calendar: Intro to Linux on POWER workshops, Reconfigurable Systems and Algorithms, MPSoC'05, IBM DAC notebook, free IBM Web broadcasts -- and much more.
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08 Jun 2005 |
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Power Architecture Community Newsletter, 08 June 2005: PowerPC processor tips
Check out the new PowerPC in town: The low-power IBM PowerPC 750GL is now available in limited sampling.
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08 Jun 2005 |
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Power Architecture downloads and documentation: Download open source Slimline Open Firmware
Find two new downloads, two updated tools, a gathering of technology-related resources, new data on cooling and power management, eight new Redbooks, and much more.
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08 Jun 2005 |
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Power Architecture Community Newsletter, 08 June 2005: Synopsys and IBM: A partnership for design -- and designers
Users of Synopsys DesignWare IP Library can now access Design Views for the just-announced PowerPC 405 and 440 fully synthesizable cores. The Power Architecture Community Newsletter caught up with Synopsys' Norm Kelly to talk about the new synthesizable cores, buying versus building design tools, best practices for designing high-quality IP, and much more.
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08 Jun 2005 |
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SoC design with CoreConnect: 128-bit PLB explained
CoreConnect is based on three buses: the Device Control Register (DCR), the Processor Local Bus (PLB), and the On-chip Peripheral Bus (OPB). This architecture lets you connect your IP to the bus that's most suited to it. The objective of this tutorial is to describe the steps required to design a PLB4 IP. PLB4 is the latest 128-bit version of PLB, which is the backbone of CoreConnect. Learn how to design a system-on-chip (SoC) using PLB4, the latest 128-bit version of PLB. Upon completion of this tutorial, you will be able to implement, test, and debug 128-bit PLB IPs for 4xx, 7xx, and 9xx PowerPC cores.
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15 Jun 2005 |
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Meet the experts: Arnd Bergmann on the Cell BE processor
This question and answer article features Arnd Bergmann of IBM: a kernel hacker with the IBM Linux Technology Center, the Linux on Cell Broadband Engine (Cell BE) processor kernel maintainer, and author of the spufs file system.
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25 Jun 2005 |
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Spufs: The Cell Synergistic Processing Unit as a virtual file system
Base platform support for Linux on the Cell has been established and is currently on its way into the mainstream Linux kernel tree. Read about the Cell's unique architecture and the SPU file system interface that allows Linux to run on it.
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25 Jun 2005 |
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Power Architecture Community Newsletter, 1 July 2005: Community calendar
New, super-concentrated format for all the PowerPC news that's fit to print. This issue: Supercomputing, Power.org, Apple, Cell, and more. In events: no-fee Web-based education: WebSeries webcasts and developerWorks tutorials, introducing "Solaris to Linux Migration," and more.
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01 Jul 2005 |
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Power Architecture Community Newsletter, 1 July 2005: Chartered and IBM: Building a common platform for manufacturing
Maybe you've read the announcements of the 90- and 65-nanometer platform, but what does it all mean? Chartered's Walter Ng puts it into perspective -- including where Samsung and Infineon fit in (and how Power Architecture fits in).
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01 Jul 2005 |
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Power Architecture downloads and documentation: SoC tutorial, PowerPC 4xx cores, and Slimline Open Firmware
Find one tutorial, two downloads, two docs on Cell and on ASICs, a new IBM Microprocessor 750GL datasheet, and a veritable feast of Redbooks and Redbook Residencies.
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01 Jul 2005 |
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Power Architecture Community Newsletter: Editorial calendar: Fall 2005
Deadlines, due dates, and themes for the 2005 Power Architecture Community Newsletter.
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07 Jul 2005 |
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Power Architecture Community Newsletter, 15 July 2005: Community calendar
In news: New dual-core and low-power PowerPC 9xx processors; recent advances in research; PowerPC product watch, and more. In events: System on Chip for Real Time; PowerPC 970 Hardware design webcast; and lots of Linux.
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15 Jul 2005 |
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Power Architecture Community Newsletter, 15 July 2005: Quick community quotes from Walter Ng of Chartered
Chartered's Walter Ng provides more perspective on the company's evolution, the Common Platform, Power Architecture technology, and more.
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15 Jul 2005 |
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Power Architecture downloads and documentation: Download bootware-building Slimline Open Firmware, an updated PIBS, and more
Find TimeSys customizable solutions, bootware-building SLOF, an updated PIBS, plus plenty of Power papers to absorb and IBM residencies to fill.
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15 Jul 2005 |
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Migrating from x86 to PowerPC, Part 6: Add vision to your robot submarine
In this episode of the ongoing Kuro Box project, learn how to add a USB camera to the machine. This article includes example Linux code to initialize and read from a USB camera through Video4Linux. Also find a brief introduction to edge detection techniques in captured images.
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21 Jul 2005 |
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