arm

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments on Arm Introduces Mali-G52 & Mali-G31 GPUs, Mali-D51 Display Processor, and Mali-V52 Video Processor for Mainstream Devices

Arm Introduces Mali-G52 & Mali-G31 GPUs, Mali-D51 Display Processor, and Mali-V52 Video Processor for Mainstream Devices

Arm has just announced four multimedia Mali IP blocks to be found in SoC for mainstream devices: Mali-G52 GPU with 30% faster performance over Mali-G51, and 3.6x better machine learning performance Mali-G31 GPU that’s 20% smaller, and 20% more efficient than Mali-G51, supports OpenGL ES 3.2 and Vulkan APIs Mali-D51 display processor 30% power saving, 50% lower latency compared to Mali-DP650 Mali-V52 video processor supporting 4K60/4K120 content Mali-G52 GPU Arm may have introduced Project Trillium for object detection and machine learning a few weeks ago, but the solution is better suited to premium devices, so the company’s Mali-G52 bitfrost mainstream GPU aims to fill the void for mid-range devices with up to 3.6 times faster machine learning capability over Mali-G51. Based on the first illustration, Mali-G52 will probably be coupled with DynamIQ Cortex A75/A55 processors. Other benefits of the new GPU include 30% more performance density, and 15% better energy […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Arm Kigen Puts SIM Card Functionality Right into IoT SoCs

Arm Kigen Puts SIM Card Functionality Right into IoT SoCs

Most cellular devices rely on SIM cards, and while with micro and nano SIM, the card has become smaller the electronics and connection remains the same. More recently, we’ve started to see boards featuring eSIM (embedded SIM), a chip soldered directly to the board that’s remotely provisioned by a local mobile network operator, so no more card needed, and the chip should not be tied to a single operator, so you can change plan whenever you want. But soon we won’t be able to find out if a board supports cellular connectivity by looking for a SIM card slot or eSIM chip  – although the antenna(s) will still be there, and give a pretty obvious clue – , as Arm has now unveiled Kigen that integrates SIM identity directly into SoCs for the Internet of Things. This will enable what the company (the industry?) call integrated SIMs (iSIM) combining an […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 19 Comments on Windows 10 on Arm Limitations

Windows 10 on Arm Limitations

Windows 10 on Arm was first demonstrated at Computex 2017 on a reference platform based on Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, at the time, I thought the expected 2-in-1 hybrid laptops based on the solution may bring cheaper Window 10 devices that work just like their x86 competitors, and offers longer battery life. Several models including HP Envy x2 (2017) and ASUS NovaGo TP370 were then announced at the end of 2017, and prices were quite higher than most expected with pricing for the ASUS model starting at $600 with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. But to be fair, Snapdragon 835 are used in premium LTE smartphones like Xiaomi Mi 6 that sell for around $400 and up. At least, we are still promised good battery life of over 20 hours of continuous use (e.g. playing a Full HD video). When the laptop were announced, I read several blogs and news […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments on Human Readable Decoding of /proc/cpuinfo for Arm Processors

Human Readable Decoding of /proc/cpuinfo for Arm Processors

One of the most common way to get CPU information is to check the content of /proc/cpuinfo. For example, this is the output I get from running the command on NanoPi NEO (Allwinner H3) board:

Many fields are self-explanatory, but what about CPU implementer and CPU part numbers? Those are values stored in Arm’s CPUID Base Register, and 0x41 looks up to Arm implementer, while 0xc07 refers to Cortex A7. But I had to look it up to find out. One solution would be to decode those values in the kernel, but the developers won’t do that probably because it may break user-space programs that rely on hexadecimal values. So instead, Riku Voipio decided to write and submit a patch for lscpu program found in util-linux package. The patch has been merged so the new ID mapping feature should be supported in util-linux 2.32 and greater. In the meantime, […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Arm’s Project Trillium Combines Machine Learning and Object Detection Processors with Neural Network Software

Arm’s Project Trillium Combines Machine Learning and Object Detection Processors with Neural Network Software

We’ve already seen Neural Processing Units (NPU) added to Arm processors such as Huawei Kirin 970 or Rockchip RK3399Pro in order to handle the tasks required by machine learning & artificial intelligence in a faster or more power efficient way. Arm has now announced their Project Trillium offering two A.I. processors, with one ML (Machine Learning) processor and one OD (Object Detection) processor, as well as open source Arm NN (Neural Network) software to leverage the ML processor, as well as Arm CPUs and GPUs. Arm ML processor key features and performance: Fixed function engine for the best performance & efficiency for current solutions Programmable layer engine for futureproofing the design Tuned for advance geometry implementations. On-board memory to reduce external memory traffic. Performance / Efficiency – 4.6 TOP/s with an efficiency of 3 TOPs/W for mobile devices and smart IP cameras Scalable design usable for lower requirements IoT (20 […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments on Linux 4.15 Release – Main Changes, Arm and MIPS Architectures

Linux 4.15 Release – Main Changes, Arm and MIPS Architectures

Linus Torvald has released Linux 4.15 last Sunday: After a release cycle that was unusual in so many (bad) ways, this last week was really pleasant. Quiet and small, and no last-minute panics, just small fixes for various issues. I never got a feeling that I’d need to extend things by yet another week, and 4.15 looks fine to me. Half the changes in the last week were misc driver stuff (gpu, input, networking) with the other half being a mix of networking, core kernel and arch updates (mainly x86). But all of it is tiny. So at least we had one good week. This obviously was not a pleasant release cycle, with the whole meltdown/spectre thing coming in in the middle of the cycle and not really gelling with our normal release cycle. The extra two weeks were obviously mainly due to that whole timing issue. Also, it is […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 16 Comments on Mainline Linux on Amlogic S905/S905X/S912 SoCs – 2018 Status Update

Mainline Linux on Amlogic S905/S905X/S912 SoCs – 2018 Status Update

BayLibre is working on mainline Linux for Amlogic SoC, and in February of last year, Neil Armstrong gave a presentation entitled “Mainline Linux on AmLogic SoCs” at the Embedded Linux Conference 2017. Neil has recently (actually yesterday) given another presentation about the status of mainline Linux on Amlogic processor at linux.conf.au 2018, so we have some updated information now. He goes through the whole history of upstreaming Linux for Amlogic SoCs, but I’ll provided summary of the new features, and if you have time you can watch the video (25 minutes) embed below, or the slides. Early last year, Linux 4.10 already supported general I/Os, USB host (for S905), Gigabit Ethernet, eMMC/SD/SDIO, PSCI for SMP, and SCPI for DVFS for Amlogic processor, and BayLibre was said to be working on HDMI display support, Mali (as external module), audio input/output, and high-speed eMMC modes. Based on the slide above, with Linux […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments on FOSDEM 2018 Open Source Developers Meeting Schedule

FOSDEM 2018 Open Source Developers Meeting Schedule

FOSDEM (Free and Open Source Software Developers’ European Meeting) occurs every year on the first week-end of February, where developers meet for two days discussing about open source software projects. FOSDEM 2018 will take place on February 3-4 this year with  652 speakers, 684 events, and 57 tracks, an increase over  last year 608 speakers, 653 events, and 54 tracks. There will be 8 main tracks namely: Community, History, Miscellaneous, Performance, Python, Security and Encryption, Space, and Global Diversity CFP Day. There will also be 33 developer rooms, and since the full schedule is now available, I’ll make a virtual schedule mostly based on sessions from the Embedded, mobile, and automotive, Hardware Enablement, and Internet of Things devrooms. Saturday 3, 2018 09:50 – 10:15 – Turning On the Lights with Home Assistant and MQTT by Leon Anavi In this presentation you will learn the exact steps for using MQTT JSON […]

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