I was reading the pros/cons of ESRAM thread and found the discussion regarding future hardware revisions of the XBox One interesting. Particularly considering future memory changes and cost reductions.
The comment about the XBox Game OS and hypervisor got me thinking (http://forum.beyond3d.com/showpost.php?p=1851448&postcount=521). If we assume para-virtualisation is being used (derived from Hyper V), this will (as far as I'm aware) abstract out all access to specific memory timings and ultimately 'simply' provide access to the memory address space and the features exposed by the graphics driver.
Does this abstraction give MS more flexibility in terms of future hardware revisions and ultimately the ability to to provide forward compatibility in next - next gen hardware?
As I'm not a GFX programmer I'm interested to understand the likely graphics 'costs' to having the hypervisor in terms of performance?
Also, over a 5-10 year horizon, does this give MS the ability to release an XBox 1.5/2.0 with additional processing capability with 100% compatibility to the XBox 1. If this is the case, then I can see a situation where MS has broken the traditional console cycle and can introduce new hardware (potentially through 2/3rd parties as well) that adds new pre-defined performance levels while retaining compatibility.
What are your thoughts?
The comment about the XBox Game OS and hypervisor got me thinking (http://forum.beyond3d.com/showpost.php?p=1851448&postcount=521). If we assume para-virtualisation is being used (derived from Hyper V), this will (as far as I'm aware) abstract out all access to specific memory timings and ultimately 'simply' provide access to the memory address space and the features exposed by the graphics driver.
Does this abstraction give MS more flexibility in terms of future hardware revisions and ultimately the ability to to provide forward compatibility in next - next gen hardware?
As I'm not a GFX programmer I'm interested to understand the likely graphics 'costs' to having the hypervisor in terms of performance?
Also, over a 5-10 year horizon, does this give MS the ability to release an XBox 1.5/2.0 with additional processing capability with 100% compatibility to the XBox 1. If this is the case, then I can see a situation where MS has broken the traditional console cycle and can introduce new hardware (potentially through 2/3rd parties as well) that adds new pre-defined performance levels while retaining compatibility.
What are your thoughts?