XBURST SIMD

Wolfgang Spraul wolfgang at qi-hardware.com
Thu Aug 20 22:41:27 EDT 2009


Maurus,

> I think there's no way Ingenic is going to publicly release their 
> documentation regarding the MXU instruction set..

Why not? Are you talking to them? :-)
I have met with the CEO of Ingenic numerous times and we have a good
relationship. I have also started talking about SIMD with him.
The thing is that I don't always want to demand new things without
delivering anything.
So my strategy is this:

First get them to be more open about the regular Linux BSP.
They have since, upon our request, released a formerly closed driver,
mtdblock-jz. I think it's useless and will disappear as part of our
kernel cleanup, but nonetheless. Then they have released new 2.6.27
patches (all of this is up on downloads.qi-hardware.com).
I am hoping they will publicly release the Programmer's Manual for
all their SoCs. Right now only the datasheets are open, an old version
of the 4740 PM got leaked, see
http://www.mediafire.com/?djnnnmnojzd
However, Ingenic has a new version of the PM (which they also worked on
upon our request thankfully), but we got it confidentially so I
don't want to leak it. I hope Ingenic publishes the PM, it would be
a good next step.

Then my goal is to show them that the Linux community is real by doing
some work on their Linux BSP. They need help, we are all not perfect.
Ingenic does not employ the kind of kernel hacker that could get their
source quality to where you could even try to send patches upstream.
Luckily it seems some of the Qi activities pick up steam and Mirko Vogt
and Lars are starting to do kernel hacking. It would be very important
if others could join, maybe Ignacio Garcia from dingux.com when he's back
from vacation, or others.
Please join!
http://github.com/lindnermarek/openwrt-x-burst/tree/x-burst

If we can show a clean up-leveled (2.6.3x) kernel development to them,
I can guarantee you they will open up more.

Sure they consider SIMD to be their 'crown jewels', but it's also clear
when other semiconductors add SIMD extensions (Intel SSE, AMD 3DNow!),
of course they publicly and professionally document them. I cannot see
why Ingenic would not want to do this, it's just a matter of doing all
the work and doing it right.
They are working on new things, SIMD2, 3D (opengl), GPS, etc.
In all of this we (Qi Hardware) will want 'open documentation', but we
can only really make the case if that 'open documentation' leads to
something, namely software development. Perfectly reasonable to me.

Next step is a great Linux kernel. After that I will go back to SIMD.
Hope this makes sense, feedback welcome, and most importantly anybody
who can join kernel hacking, please do so...
Wolfgang

P.S.: Worst case, if Ingenic remains closed for good in some areas, we
at Qi Hardware will eventually have to look for alternatives, really open
chips, maybe even 100% GPL'ed chips like www.opensparc.net. But right now
Ingenic seems to be responsive, and I feel the ball is on our side to
get some work done...

On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 01:27:18AM +0200, Maurus Cuelenaere wrote:
> Andrés Calderón schreef:
> > Hi,
> >
> > Where can I find information on the XBurst SIMD and XBurst SIMD2 instructions?
> >   
> I think there's no way Ingenic is going to publicly release their 
> documentation regarding the MXU instruction set..
> 
> And what's this SIMD2 instructions? I've only heard of the MXU ones..
> 
> Regards,
> Maurus Cuelenaere
> 
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