ARM for the future?

[takemehomegrandma]

For years people have been discussing a potential alternative route to PPC for "Next Generation Amiga", a discussion that has only become more relevant since PPC effectively went dead for all interesting purposes a few years back.

Often has these discussions been focused on x86, but as many people has pointed out, its endianness would probably be a show stopper. Other people feels that x86 is a show stopper in its own merits, because of various historical/"nerd-religious"/emotional reasons.

However, there might be a better alternative, if a new platform jump is to take place; ARM!

I have written a few posts over at MorphZone about this, and I'm not going to cross-post, but point you to it:

http://www.morphzone.org/modules/newbb_plus/viewtopic.php?forum=3&topic_id=7675&sortname=&sortorder=&sortdays=&viewmode=flat&order=0&start=0

(Don't miss the video with Windows and Office running on ARM!

So a lot has been happening on the ARM front recently, and a *solid* momentum and future for the platform is being built up.

So what do you think? Would ARM qualify as a new architecture for *miga?

[takemehomegrandma]

Guys, this ARM thing isn't just about nVidias Denver project, not at all!

Did you even look at the Windows @ ARM video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKc_XGuvNIk

That's on *current* technology, not the ones 3 year away (but it's of course a good thing that a long term evolution plan exists, that's what I mean by ARM having a great support and momentum!

The current stuff is actually great! And even on short term (within this year!) we will see new generations of ARM CPU's rolling out! This is the road map from Freescale:

Freescale i.MX Road Map

Of course the other ARM CPU manufacturers have similar Road Maps (but maybe different philosophies on the included support controllers, etc)!

Genesi is already working with a new, multi-purpose i.MX53 based motherboard (a single motherboard that can be used in various applications, like pads, laptops, desktops, etc). And while this still is based on Cortex-A8, it will probably be clocked faster than the current Genesi products (although that is a guess from my side), and have upgraded support controllers to do full HD (among other things)! It will also make things a lot cheaper than it already is! Even more power, for even less money!

Sure, nVidia has announced "that it plans to build high-performance ARM® based CPU cores, designed to support future products ranging from personal computers and servers to workstations and supercomputers". And that surely bodes well for the future, since others will follow as well! This promise real, heavy performance, never before seen in ARM territory! However, ARM is *already* being used in low power servers in data centers, and while the market is young, the future is bright and big companies like Dell and IBM are very positive. And did you see Windows run, play media and run Office on the current ARM based machines in the MS demonstration above? Looks very good! Heck, current cheap, low power ARM CPU's could even be used to build super computers, like IBM did with their BlueGene by building a new system architecture around an array of simplified PowerPC 440 cores.

Add to that the future roadmaps of first the Cortex-A9 and then the Cortex-A15 that will over time bring:

• Speeds beyond 2.5GHz+, 14,000+ DMIPS
• 1-4X SMP within a single processor cluster
• Multiple coherent SMP processor clusters through AMBA® 4 technology
• ARM ISA
• Thumb-2
• TrustZone® security technology
• NEON™ Advanced SIMD
• DSP & SIMD extensions
• VFPv4 Floating point
• Jazelle® RCT
• Hardware virtualization support
• Large Physical Address Extensions (LPAE), meaning up to 1TB memory

Add to that all the various controllers that individual CPU manufacturers chooses to add. So I'd say that ARM is definitely breaking out of its old boundaries, with or without nVidia's Denver!

[takemehomegrandma]

Add to that all the various controllers that individual CPU manufacturers chooses to add.

For example, Key technical features of Freescale's newly announced i.MX6 CPU's include:

• Industry-leading four-core design
• Up to four ARM Cortex-A9 cores running at up to 1.2 GHz per core
• Up to 1 MB system level 2 cache
• ARMv7, Neon, VFPv3 and Trustzone support
• Multistream-capable HD video engine delivering 1080p60 decode, 1080p30 encode and 3D video playback in HD
• Exceptional 3D graphics performance with quad shaders for up to 200 MTPS
• Separate 2D and vertex acceleration engines for uncompromised user interface experiences
• Stereoscopic image sensor support for 3D imaging
• Interconnect: HDMI v1.4 w/ integrated PHY, SD3.0, multiple USB 2.0 ports w/ integrated PHY, Gb Ethernet w/ integrated PHY, SATA-II w/ integrated PHY, PCI-e w/ integrated PHY, MIPI CSI, MIPI DSI, MIPI HSI, and FlexCAN for automotive applications
• Support for the VP8 codec (See related thread here on MZ!)
• Support for one of the broadest ranges of major operating system platforms in the industry
• Optional integration of an ePaper display controller for eReader and similar applications

http://androidandme.com/2011/01/news/freescale-announces-new-low-power-multicore-processors/
http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/overview.jsp?code=IMX6X_SERIES
http://www.freescale.com/files/32bit/doc/fact_sheet/IMX6SRSFS.pdf

[takemehomegrandma]

Meanwhile, I continue to follow Genesi's developments with great interest!

They are really supported by Freescale, now probably more than ever. They even have a Freescale vanity page now: www.freescale.com/genesi!

There are two interesting videos in their latest blog, one is showing a Genesi ARM computer with one of the amazing Pixel Qi screens bolted on, that will be optional in future Genesi products:

http://bbrv.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-year-ces-and-lots-more.html

[takemehomegrandma]

There is no longer any connection between Genesi and MorphOS.  They are two totally seperate things.
 
No support either way any more as far as I know

Even though Genesi indeed has nothing to do with MorphOS development past v1.4 (2004?), I believe Genesi's stance (from the past) is that they own MorphOS 1.4 in full. But when they stopped paying for MorphOS development, they said something in the lines of "Go ahead and continue developing MorphOS in any way you like, release it for any platform you like (even for AmigaOne(! Shock! Horror! ))" etc.

That has pretty much been the connection since then. Genesi has a silent claim for MorphOS 1.4, while the MorphOS Team freely went on far beyond that, the entire relevant Mac PPC platform has almost entirely been conquered, and MorphOS 2.7 has come a long way since then! At one point (as a prequel to the 5121e/"LimePC" development), Genesi paid for a port to Efika PPC, and that's why the Efika has been a supported platform sine MorphOS 2.0.

From Genesi's Point of View, I have no clue to whether MorphOS could play *any practical role whatsoever* in a Genesi future on ARM today? Probably not! Genesi has Linux/Android/ChromiumOS/Whatever, as well as all the relevant applications and "real" standards, official Flash support, etc, etc.

AFAIK, MorphOS is today being developed entirely on a hobby basis. On PPC only, for practical reasons mostly I guess.

But if the MorphOS Team would expand their ambitions regarding CPU architecture, I actually *do* think that Genesi and bPlan (and *Freescale* through them) would *actively assist* them in many ways! Through documentation, knowledge, experience, etc. Through early development hardware? Etc...

In *that* sense, I believe that the connection that still exists would be beneficial!

Otherwise I think it's just as you say JJ, "There is no longer any connection between Genesi and MorphOS"

[takemehomegrandma]

These would be great to run MorphOS on...

Yes, indeed they would!

But perhaps even more their respective i.MX53 Sequals!

[takemehomegrandma]

Seeing Windows running on ARM makes me weep for the Future.

Nah...

:-(