Re: porting linux to DSP

jerome@psti.com
Tue, 27 Jul 1999 13:42:01 -0400

On Tue, Jul 27, 1999 at 01:32:15AM +0000, Steve Underwood wrote:
> Hello folks!
>
> I am thinking whether linux can be ported to a DSP chip. I would like to
> know if it is possible, given that it doesn't have a cache and not a huge
> amount of memory etc. If anybody thinks it is possible, can you please tell
> me where to start and how to go about doing it?
>
> When I say linux, I don't mean linux servers; just the basic kernel with
> its networking features. I am toying with this idea because a DSP chip is
> considerably cheaper than the present day pentium.
>

here at least 2 problems:

1. the dsp are much less mainstream than x86 so the compilers are more
bugged. i maintain a os which run on a lot of cpu including dsp and have
to experience some really hard-to-find bugs.

2. some dsp can't read a single byte in memory and read only words by words
(eg. 24bits or 32bits). some codes assume they can read 1 single byte in
a non-padded struct. for example: the network stack. the packet parser
must be rewrote to support that.

-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu
Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/