[Arm-netbook] ingenic jz4760 (600mhz, MIPS, X-Burst, 720p), FSF Hardware-Endorseable

[Gordan Bobic]

 On Tue, 3 Jan 2012 13:26:10 +0000, lkcl luke <luke.leighton at gmail.com> 
 wrote:
> http://rhombus-tech.net/jz4760/
>
> i've created a page for this CPU, because it's the best low-cost FSF
> Hardware-Endorseable option that i can find... and ingenic seem to
> grok the concept of "we sell ICs as our product, not software,
> schematics or information *about* our product", so they've released
> absolutely everything, including PDF files of EVB schematics.  one of
> the precursors to this CPU went into the Ben Nanonote (same CPU that
> went into the absolutely famous Skytone Alpha 400).
>
> what's special - unique - about this CPU is that it has a home-grown
> 8-stage Vector Processing Unit, as extensions to the MIPS-compatible
> instruction set... and all the tools to program it (badly, it has to
> be said :) are fully available.
>
> that Vector Processor is powerful enough to be able to do 720p video
> decode and also has enough horsepower to provide a quite reasonable 
> 3D
> Graphics performance.

 Can you elaborate how this VPU relates to the graphics subsystem on the 
 JZ4760? What about the GPU itself? Is it little more than a dumb frame 
 buffer and fully open? I guess what I really want to know is whether it 
 is possible to maintain the standard separation of functionality, e.g. a 
 xorg driver with xv and gl acceleration? Is there such a driver already?

 How does this compare to the Allwinner A10 on cost and openness?

 What boards/devices are available with JZ4769?

 Gordan