[Arm-netbook] Single-Core Cortex A9 1ghz, ECC DDR3 RAM available soon

[Gordan Bobic]

On 08/13/2011 02:46 PM, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton wrote:
> On Wed, Aug 10, 2011 at 7:37 PM, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton
> <lkcl at lkcl.net>  wrote:
>
>>> This sort of question should always be considered in the context of the lead
>>> time, i.e. "in 9 months time when TI and NVidia and Freescale (etc.) have
>>> announced their next generation chips and boards, would you still be interested
>>> in a board with an 800 MHz Coretex A9, 512 MB RAM etc.?".
>
>   ok, right.  continuing on the discussion of upcoming and/or available
> Cortex A9 systems, i heard back from one of the CPU manufacturers
> (can't say which one), and they are sampling a new CPU next month.
> rough spec:
>
>   * Single-Core Cortex A9, 1ghz
>   * MALI 400MP 3D
>   * SATA-II
>   * 10/100 Ethernet
>   * 32-bit-wide access to DDR2 and DDR3 ECC RAM, up to 2gb.
>   * the usual interfaces - HDMI, SD/MMC, USB2, USB-OTG.
>
>   whilst i don't know what the exact cost is, based on the popularity
> of its predecessor and also the tiny size of the packaging it's not
> going to be a $45 chip, it'll be more like a $20 chip, which would
> make it a perfect freedombox-esque / SOHO / PVR / plug-computer
> candidate.
 >
> with the exception of Our Phil (Mr Endecott), who has confessed he is
> a bit odd and wants something with all the bells and whistles
> including PCI-e as well as Gigabit Ethernet _and_ armv7 (Cortex A9)
> _and_ a cake with sparkly candles that relight when you blow them out,
> would anybody else be interested to see a small panda-like board (4in
> x 3in or so) or other type of board be brought into existence based
> around this CPU?

Depends on the cost. Freescale are pretty competitive in this arena with 
iMX53.

>   if so, what would you be prepared to do to make that happen and,
> also, what retail price would you be prepared to pay for it?

Based on the competition maybe $170 for a 2GB one if it has ECC RAM.

>   bear in mind that the CPU's manufacturer has:
>
> * a full web site with a publicly accessible wiki
> * full publicly accessible documentation with *no* NDAs or
> incompatible Software License Agreements required to be signed in
> order to access any information
> * full linux kernel support (downloadable and in git repository form)
> * full u-boot support (downloadable and in git repository form)
> * full android support (downloadable and in git repository form)
> * a general understanding of and respect for free software licenses
> including the GPL.

What about GPU drivers supporting all the recent Xorg ABIs? I'm not an 
OSS faschist who demans everyting be OSS - I am prepred to overlook the 
OSS-ness of drivers and detailed documentedness of the GPU if the 
drivers are of decent quality, feature-complete and continuously supported.

> they also have a "system library" for the on-board Video CODEC DSP,
> which those who understand the subtleties of the GPL will appreciate
> qualifies for an exemption under the GPL, even though it's
> proprietary.  they've released an example application which utilises
> libffmpeg (enhancements to use their "system library" have already
> been made) and is a working video player.
>
> for the freedombox to fulfil its sponsor commitments (bearing in mind,
> as we know, the freedombox project is not a hardware project despite
> the word "box" being in the name of the project but they still have to
> deliver a number of actual physical boxes to the pledgeware sponsors),
> i'd say that this CPU and the fact that its manufacturer respects the
> GPL fits the requirements far better than the chosen marvell-based
> plug computer.

That would depend on the quality of the current drivers/libraries that 
aren't OSS and the ongoing support for them.

> perhaps the freedombox project might like, if nothing else, to use
> this CPU as leverage to accelerate marvell out of their self-imposed
> stupor by threatening to pull the plug (ha ha) if they don't get with
> the C21st?
>
> please bear in mind that there is a window of opportunity lasting a
> couple of weeks in which i can potentially persuade the CPU designer
> to come up with a demo / engineering board that would actually be a
> useful saleable product in its own right...
>
> ... and that i can *only* do that if there is a demonstrable need for such.

The problem is that this board would be in direct competition with this:
http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/prod_summary.jsp?code=IMX53QSB

It does have an advantage in terms of A9 vs A8 and ECC, though.

> so, if you would like an affordable 1ghz Cortex A9
> panda/beagle/imx53qsb-esque/plug-computer board with 1 or even 2gb of
> DDR3 ECC RAM, with SATA-II and 10/100 Ethernet as well as the usual
> other interfaces including some GPIO pins, *and* where the usual
> battle with the CPU manufacturer over GPL violations and NDAs has
> completely gone, now is the time to speak up and say so.

I would love to see this succeed - ARM boards with more RAM and more 
importantly ECC RAM is something we definitely need in this arena. 
Unfortunately, I just committed to getting a load of Freescale boards of 
similar spec so I won't be needing any more for a long time to come.

Gordan