[ALTERA] NIOS-II + MMU + FPU

Hi all,

I just wonder if someone in the US could comit the following:

ALTERA will bring out an update for its SOPC set featuring the
MMU and optional a FPU for the NIOS-II system.

These enhancements shall be availabel this year?

This would make it possible to run standard
unix like Linux (MMU required) ...

Best Regards
Markus

 

FYI:
Linux is not unix. Also, linux does not require an MMU.
http://www.uclinux.org

--buddy

 

Is uclinux the same as Linux? I thought the kernel
and the executables were considerably different.

 

99% of the kernel code is identical. From 2.6 onwards, uClinux (ie
nommu) support is integrated into Linus' root source tree. For 2.4
kernels, uClinux is a patch that *adds* to Linux, nothing is removed.

In the microblaze port for example, we take drivers written by
MontaVista for the PPC/V2Pro kernel, and drop them in directly. Some
small modifcations are required usually due to differences in kernel
configuration mechanisms, not fundamental architectural issues.

From an application programming perspective, much of the time apps are
source compatible between linux and uClinux. I recently took some ntp
(network time protocol) tools and had then running on my microblaze
uClinux board in under half an hour. No source code changes required.

nommu means no fork(), you use vfork instead. Many Linux/Unix programs
use the sequence fork()/exec() - this is easily ported to vfork. Other,
more complex uses can be a bit trickier. pthreads works on uClinux
platforms.

uClinux uses a different executable file format (called flat binaries),
rather than ELF. However, the build environment and tools automatically
handles the creation of these files. Once your board has booted, they
are just executables, same as any other.

Read the following excellent article by Dave McCullough if you'd like to
learn more about the differences (and lack thereof):

http://www.linuxjournal.com/article.php?sid=7221

Regards,

John

 

Followup to: <cismeb$85u$>

However, if you take "Unix-like" as an adjectival phrase, and the
parenthesis as definitional (therefore avoiding arguments about its
validity), it makes sense:

"This would make it possible to run the standard Unix-like Linux,
i.e. the one which requires an MMU."

Desipire ucLinux, there is clearly still a win in having an MMU for
running Linux.

-hpa

 

Hi Markus,

I cannot comment on specifics of future releases, but please watch for
official press releases concerning Nios II - they will let everyone
know about new features - stay tuned

Jesse Kempa
Altera Corp.