ARM Ltd. FPEmulator sources published
Posted by Steve Revill Wed, 26 May 2010 17:25:00 GMT
RISC OS Open (ROOL) are pleased to announce the immediate release of source code supplied by ARM Ltd. (ARM). This source code has been published as Open Source software under the New BSD licence and it comprises the FPA support code (FPASC) and emulator (FPE).
The FPE is a key part of the RISC OS operating system and as such the availability of these components in source form is a key step towards completing the publishing of the full sources to RISC OS. You can find the new FPASC source code within the ROOL CVS repository as part of the FPEmulator module.
Until now, the FPASC and FPE have only been available to the public in binary form. This is equally true for other operating systems, such as the BSD derivatives. ROOL will be contacting the maintainers of various ARM BSD projects in due course.
Note to editors: this press release does not constitute an endorsement of RISC OS or of the FPE by ARM.
About ARM
ARM designs the technology that lies at the heart of advanced digital products, from wireless, networking and consumer entertainment solutions to imaging, automotive, security and storage devices. The ARM comprehensive product offering includes 32-bit RISC microprocessors, graphics processors, enabling software, cell libraries, embedded memories, high-speed connectivity products, peripherals and development tools. Combined with comprehensive design services, training, support and maintenance, and the company’s broad Partner community, they provide a total system solution that offers a fast, reliable path to market for leading electronics companies.
About RISC OS Open
RISC OS Open (ROOL) is an organisation run on a largely voluntary basis. We are managing the process of publishing the source code to RISC OS and its further development. We also offer professional services to anyone who is interested in developing commercial products using RISC OS, or in other related fields.
About the FPEmulator module
The RISC OS FPEmulator module is a core component of the operating system which provides support for floating point instructions used by many of the applications and modules you encounter every time you use your machine.
The source code released by ARM comprises an OS-independent ‘core’ functionality. This needs to be linked to OS-specific code to handle configuration of the core and interfacing it to the host OS’s exception dispatch, error handling, context switching, memory management and system call interfaces. The OS-specific code for RISC OS also forms part of the FPEmulator module, and has been provided by Castle Technology Ltd under the same shared source licence as the bulk of the RISC OS source code.
This is very positive news. We can perhaps look forward to reading of it in the ARM newsroom and the press too!
Excellent!
I agree, this is excellent news! That means there’s now a real possibility of implementing a new FPEmulator, implemented in terms of the VFP instructions, as noted here, which could make existing math-intensive applications much faster.
It might also be used as a model for a VFPEmulator, as noted at the same place.