Robert Green wrote: [...] > 1) Like Romain said - Android doesn't need multiple cores nor does the > G1 have them. The G1 has a multicore CPU in that it contains a > discrete CPU and GPU but not 2 CPU cores. The iPhone has 1 ARM CPU > (same arch as G1) and 1 discrete GPU.
People may be being confused by the fact that the G1 is kind of phone normally called a *two-chip* phone --- what this means is that there are two CPU cores, one of which runs the applications, and one of which runs the mobile radio stack. (Even though they'll be on the same piece of silicon.) This is different from *one-chip* phones, where the same CPU runs both the applications and the radio stack. Most Linux phones are two-chip systems because Linux doesn't get on well with real-time work, and mobile radio stuff is about as real-time as it gets. On the G1, the MSM7201A is a multicore CPU combining: - an ARM11 core - an ARM9 core - a QDSP4000 core - (possibly a QDSP5000 core as well, the spec sheet is unclear whether you get both this and the QDSP4000) - (possibly a 3D acceleration engine; again, the spec sheet is unclear about whether this is a separate module or just done by the DSP. A lot of these mobile processors just bolt on a PowerVR core for the 3D acceleration) So it might be technically accurate to call the MSM7201A a *five* core CPU. Regardless, Linux only sees one core, the ARM11. The radio stack runs its own specialised OS on the ARM9. The DSPs will run *another* tiny OS to service requests from the other processors. If there is a separate 3D accelerator it's probably not programmable, which means it's probably not correct to refer to it as a GPU. And all the processors will share silicon and physical resources in a deeply incestuous manner, so you may not be able to draw hard dividing lines between them the way you can with PC hardware. So the G1 could plausibly be described as a one-core two-core two-chip single chip device. If you're used to PCs, the mobile world may seem a little odd. And believe it or not, this is pretty *standard* for a smartphone processor. (Incidentally, if anyone can point me at a real datasheet for the MSM7201A, I'd be interested to see it. All I can find are marketing puff pieces.) -- David Given [EMAIL PROTECTED] --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to android-developers@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
