Tag Archives: arm

Robot OS to support Linux and Android on Snapdragon

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Developed in large part by now defunct Willow Garage, ROS was designed for collaborative, open source robotics development. ROS is a collection of tools and libraries that simplify the task of creating and programming robotic platforms and applications. ROS is not a real-time OS, but it can be integrated with RTOSes, as well as Linux. As of earlier this year, Android support was added.

The default install for ROS is Ubuntu Linux. Core ROS components include message passing, message recording and playback, remote procedure calls, and a distributed parameter system. In addition to these core middleware components, ROS offers more robotics-specific features like a Unified Robot Description Format (URDF), a remote geometry library, preemptable remote procedure calls, and diagnostics. It also offers ready-built packages for common robotics problems like mobile navigation, pose estimation, and building a map and having the robot self-localize on it.

via Robot OS to support Linux and Android on Snapdragon ·  LinuxGizmos.com.

Linux-capable Arduino TRE debuts at Maker Faire Rome

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As Zoe Romano puts it in an Arduino blog post, “the Arduino TRE is two Arduinos in one.” Basically, the new ARM Cortex-A8-based Sitara AM335x’s job is to run Linux applications and manage the SBC’s PC-style interfaces (video, audio, Ethernet, USB, optional WiFi, etc.), while an Atmel ATmega microcontroller takes care of the SBC’s real-world I/O (analog inputs, digital I/O, PWM outputs, etc) and handles the interface to shields (Arduino expansion modules) in a fully AVR-compatible manner. Best of all, Romano points out, the 1GHz TI ARM processor offers up to “100 times more performance” than Arduino’s earlier Leonardo and Uno boards, writes Romano.

via Linux-capable Arduino TRE debuts at Maker Faire Rome ·  LinuxGizmos.com.

What’s unique about the TRE, however, is that its Linux OS runs on an ARM processor that’s truly integrated into the SBC’s basic architecture, as opposed to being a collateral benefit of a WiFi add-on module. As a result, the TRE will support a “full Linux” OS in contrast to the Yun’s Linino OS, a custom version of the lightweight OpenWRT embedded Linux distribution.

Calxeda’s ARM server tested

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At first sight, the relatively low performance per core of ARM CPUs seems like a bad match for servers. The dominant CPU in the server market is without doubt Intel’s Xeon. The success of the Xeon family is largely rooted in its excellent single-threaded (or per core) performance at moderate power levels (70-95W). Combine this exceptional single-threaded performance with a decent core count and you get good performance in almost any kind of application. Economies of scale and the resulting price levels are also very important, but the server market has been more than willing to pay a little extra if the response times are lower and the energy bills moderate.

via AnandTech | Calxeda’s ARM server tested.

As usual another thorough review from Anandtech.  Below is another interesting architectural tidbit.

CalxedaSoc_575px

Let’s start with a familiar block on the SoC (black): the external I/O controller. The chip has a SATA 2.0 controller capable of 3Gb/s, a General Purpose Media Controller (GPMC) providing SD and eMMC access, a PCIe controller, and an Ethernet controller providing up to 10Gbit speeds. PCIe connectivity cannot be used in this system, but Calxeda can make custom designs of the “motherboard” to let customers attach PCIe cards if requested.

Samsung laying groundwork for server chips, analysts say

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The faster 64-bit processors will appear in servers, high-end smartphones and tablets, and offer better performance-per-watt than ARM’s current 32-bit processors, which haven’t been able to expand beyond embedded and mobile devices. The first servers with 64-bit ARM processors are expected to become available in 2014.

via Samsung laying groundwork for server chips, analysts say – servers, Samsung Electronics, hardware systems, Components, processors – Computerworld.

“Samsung is a lead partner of ARM’s new Cortex A50 processors. However, we’re not in a position to comment on our plans for how we’ll use the Cortex A50 as part of our Exynos product family,” said Lisa Warren-Plungy, a Samsung Semiconductor spokeswoman, in an e-mail.

Moving from love-hate to hate-hate

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Since the early 2000s, Samsung has been involved in designing of Apple’s A-range of chips as the main manufacturer. Samsung technologies contributed in the development of the A6 predecessors A5 and A5X, thanks to a broad agreement between the two companies. It now appears that the structure of the deal has been dramatically adjusted.

via Moving from love-hate to hate-hate.

As the patent war deepens, the two companies have seen a faster deterioration of their business partnership. Apple has already reduced its memory chip orders from Samsung for the iPhone 5 as it intends to widen its supply chain.

Unlike memory chips, which just read and write data, application processors control an entire computing system, therefore processor chips are more profitable.

TSMC Seen to be Sole 20nm Process Supplier

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Taipei, Oct. 12, 2012 (CENS)–Citigroup Global Markets Inc. estimated Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) to be the only supplier of 20nm process to Apple quad-core processors over the next one to two years, citing the company’s unmatched technological advance on 20nm process and Apple’s decision to adopt 20nm quad-core processors in its new products.

via TSMC Seen to be Sole 20nm Process Supplier to Apple Quad Processors | CENS.com – The Taiwan Economic News | Daily Prime News | HTML |Ta1-CaE-Dy2012/10/12-Id41728.

Next Linux kernel release supports more ARMs with less code

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A new coding effort recently folded into the next version of the Linux kernel may finally resolve the long-running problems associated with Linux on ARM processors. While devices like the Raspberry Pi have shown what can be done with Linux on the low-cost, low-power ARM processor, the burden of developing Linux on the growing number of ARM-derivative processors on the market has been, as Linus Torvalds himself has described it, “a fucking pain in the ass.”

via Next Linux kernel release supports more ARMs with less code | Ars Technica.

Until now, each implementation of ARM by manufacturers has had its own associated kernel code tree, creating a code management nightmare.

ARM Information Center

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Welcome to the ARM Infocenter. The Infocenter contains all ARM non-confidential† Technical Publications, including:

Via ARM Information Center.

Low-Power Slab Server Pairs ARM with Linux

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While Baserock Linux was first developed around the X86-64 platform, its developers planned the leap to the ARM platform. Each Slab CPU node consists of a Marvell quad-core 1.33-GHz Armada XP ARM chip, 2 GB of ECC RAM, a Cogent Computer Systems CSB1726 SoM, and a 30 GB solid-state drive. The nodes are connected to the high-speed network fabric, which includes two links per compute node driving 5 Gbits/s of bonded bandwidth to each CPU, with wire-speed switching and routing at up to 119 million packets per second.

via Low-Power Slab Server Pairs ARM with Linux.

ARM rival MIPS porting Android 4.1 to low-cost tablets

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MIPS is a processor licensing company that battles ARM, which dominates the tablet and smartphone market. But MIPS late last year sprang a surprise by announcing a US$99 tablet, in conjunction with a manufacturer called Ainol, based on its processor and running Android 4.0. The tablet was among the cheapest and among the first at that time with Android 4.0, but this year Google took the honors of releasing the first Android 4.1 device with Nexus 7, which runs on a quad-core ARM processor.

via ARM rival MIPS porting Android 4.1 to low-cost tablets – Google Nexus 7 tablet, Android OS, Android, smartphones, consumer electronics, processors, Components, MIPS Technologies, Google, Intel – Mobile Phones – Mobile – Techworld.