http://kerneltrap.org/node/view/4057
Linux: Status Update On Open Source Friendly Graphics Card
Timothy Miller offered a summary of the recent discussions surrounding his proposal to create a free software and open-source friendly graphics card [story], "I'm still trying to digest all the feedback I've been getting. It's overwhelming and gratifying, and I want to offer my gratitude for all the discussion and ideas." He noted that as the active discussion evolves toward the actual implementation of the card, his intention is to move it from the lkml to another more topical mailing list. He then went on to discuss the features that will most likley be in the new graphics card.
Timothy pointed out that the card would have a reprogrammable field-programmable gate array (FPGA) primarily to reduce non-recurring engineering (NRE) costs. He explains, "reprogramability is not its primary purpose. The primary reason to use an FPGA is to minimize NRE for manufacturing. However, as a result, users will be able to download updates. Additionally, those who are dedicated enough to reprogram it completely will find the necessary documentation to do so. Finally, it is my desire that we would release the source code to the FPGA for obsoleted products, however, it's too early to make promises."
He went on to further describe the Graphics Processor Unit (GPU), explaining, "what I'm thinking is that the setup engine will be [a] general-purpose-ish CPU with special vector and matrix instructions. This way, the transformation stage will occur in "software" executed by a specialized processor. Additionally, the lighting phase might be done here as well. The setup engine would produce triangle parameters which are fed to a rasterizer which does Gouraud shading and texture-mapping. That feeds pixels into something that handles antialiasing and alpha blending, etc." He noted that this offers three advantages: the engine is fully customizable by the user community simply by writing code, 2d emulation is included, and anything "missing" can be emulated. He also pointed out three disadvantages: the triangle rate would be limited by the speed of the processor, transform and lighting (T&L) functionality would be serialized, and phong shading and bump mapping "may be impossible or too slow". Read on for the full description.
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-- "সন�দীপ" Sandip Bhattacharya * Puroga Technologies * [EMAIL PROTECTED] Work: http://www.puroga.com * Home: http://www.sandipb.net
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