AmigaOne X1000 can use 6 cores at once???

Knowing that AmigaOne X1000 will have the "Xena" customisable XMOS co-processor, it should be worth
mentioned that "Xena" itself is a quad-core co-processor..

In addition to the Dual-core PowerPC CPU that is to be used, it should be possible to program AmigaOS to use the Xena's quad-core architecture, completing the AmigaOne X1000's abillity to use a hexa-core system, being one of the FIRST systems in the world to provide a 6 Core Multi-processing support!

How does that sound, people?

@Helgis

Quote:

Sounds like our good old Helgis is high again

@Helgis

I like your enthusiam :)

@trixie

LOL

@trixie

High on Amigaism yes, but not on drugs

But seriously, just imagine the possibility..

I do understand this right? The Dual-Core PPC CPU
and that Xena, the XMOS co-processor itself is
Quad-Core? Wouldn't that be Hexa-core (6 cores)
if AmigaOS will be able to support both?

@AmigaBlitter

Thank you, and i love all of you other loving the Amiga, too

@Helgis

From what I've read of the Xcore, I wouldn't use it as a general processor chip. It sounds much more like a device that gives you programmable IO pins. You can program the chip to behave like an IDE port, or to behave like a SCSI port, or to behave like SATA, an audio chip, ethernet MAC, USB controller, Zorro slot, etc. etc. But for algorithmic computing to run general software on, I don't think it will be strong in that usage.

@billt

You might have a point. At least probably not quite possible in the beginning, but later perhaps...

@Helgis

I don't think the Xcore chip will improve over time at general processing tasks. I think it will continue to be a pathway to different IO connections.

@billt
Someone could produce a multi-XCore card, which would work with the built-in Xena to provide massive numbers of cores. And surely you could find *something* to make use of them all! (Would probably be quite specialised, but who knows given some ingenuity).

BTW, remember that each of Xena's *cores* is roughly equivalent to an 060. Not to be sniffed at, at least if it can access some external memory.

From what I read, the X1000 is getting the "L1" version of the chip, which is only single core.

Anyway, I still can't figure out what on earth it does... Is it's mainly there to easily implement hardware add-ons? How difficult is it to programme for? Is there anything awesome it can do for software that can't be done on the ppc?

From what recall of the transputer (of which the X-core is a descendant), I think people are a little confused by what it does.

My understanding of it is that it's a kind of massively parallelised processor. I'm pretty sure it's not a programmable I/O chip, though, anyway!

Am I wrong?

@All

No doubt that Xena will provide many possibilities.

@Spirantho

Quote:

You're sort of wrong. It's first and foremost a programmable I/O chip.. It has support that makes it easy to run in massively parallel settings - for example they have a board where 16 quad core chips are connected in a 4D hypercube so all the cores can send messages to eachother. That part is very much like the transputer.

But the cores are not nearly powerful enough to compete in terms of raw processing power with "normal" server / desktop CPU's - it'd take a whole stack of them to even approach the raw processing power of the PowerPC in the X1000, for example (regardless which CPU they're planning on using).

What they're good for is stuff that requires programmable IO pins and/or very low latency (they can handle dozens of IO events before the PPC could even handle a single interrupt). E.g. if you'd like to hook up old Amiga hardware it would be a matter of a software driver, and a practically empty PCB just ensuring voltage regulation etc. and providing a suitable connector.

(just got the crazy idea of bridging an expansion port from a classic Amiga to the X1000, since you can easily control the bus fully including halting the 68k, monitor read/writes "live" etc... Not sure what I'd *use* it for, but it'd be fun - I do think it'd easily allow DMA'ing into the classic's memory too, for example - Zorro is "easy" to interface with..)

@vidarh,

I had the same idea using a Natami. This would be nice. Tuck the Natami away someplace out of sight and have both at your finger tips.

Chris

@vidarh

Thanks for the explanation!

@QuikSanz

I *think* that it'd be almost trivially for real Amiga's, since they expose the Zorro bus either internally or as a side expansion. Only issue might be number of IO pins required - might have to multiplex access. If not, it ought to be more or less a connector on either end and a cable, possibly some voltage regulation.. Zorro is more or less just the plain system bus (that's why Action Replay can freeze an app and recover the settings of special registers, for example - it just listens to the bus and "mirrors" the writes done to the various custom chip registers).

You could "slave" the classic off the X1000 completely quite easily, I think, including remotely rebooting it, halting the CPU so you can manipulate memory (load/save, whatever) and custom chip registers, or simulating various devices, including bridging hard disk access etc.

@vidarh

And do you think possible also capture the video output of the classic Amiga that way and have it in a window or own screen of the X1000. Or maybe plugging it to the capture port of a graphics card in the X1000?

@vidarh

I like your idea, but the name of that port is not Zorro, but Xorro. They should not be mixed. Xorro is the port that gives access to Xena, opens up even support for the XCore-features.

@Helgis

x1000 can have 2 threads running on the CPU and 8 threads on the xcore. If one want's to play with weird terms.


@thread

Speculation about xcore's/xena's future use is fun but futile, untill we know exactly how it is connected and interfaced with. And what Mhz it runs, and ....

Bridge to legacy HW is interesting option (to PLAY with), just as an example.
A "cheap" NG videotoaster solution might also be possible. And some realtime sound effects handler.


"Xena" specs: https://www.xmos.com/products/xs1-l-family/l1lq128