Freescale i.MX31 Processor Announced => MBX

Kristof

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http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps...8rH329733642&tid=WMSG200506BANNERIMX31FSH

The i.MX31 processors include leading power management, security management and digital rights management, and image processing technology, plus, a vector floating point co-processor and L2 cache. This combination of features satisfies mobile entertainment companies’ desire to protect trusted mobile content and respond to “power usersâ€￾ who require 3D graphics, video play-back, and messaging applications to run simultaneously.

3-D Gaming
Today's mobile society desires wireless devices that serve as both a business tool and an on-the-go entertainment console. Manufacturers seeking to differentiate their wireless mobile devices require an applications processor with the capability to deliver the raw processing power needed to provide a rich, eye-popping 3D gaming experience along with the long play times consumers crave. Success in this marketplace requires graphics performance that is comparable with the user experience with 3D graphics game performance in computer applications and game consoles.

The i.MX31 processor adds an integrated 3-D Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) that delivers an incredible 1 MTri/sec (double textured, bi-linear, Gouraud shaded) at about 100 Mpix/sec (effective) to drive screen resolutions of VGA and above and color representation up to 32 bits per pixel. The GPU is built around the ARM MBX R-S™ graphics accelerator. It offers full scene anti-aliasing for superior image quality and provides OpenGL® ES and Java Mobile 3-D support.

The software packages available for the GPU includes OpenGL ES libraries and optimized drivers, low level graphics libraries and tools (MGL) provided by ARM. Open GL ES is OS agnostic and provides high portability for applications.

K-
 
This is hopefully the start of the rest of the licensees finally showing their implementations. Freescale's seems similar to the MBX Lite that Intel is providing to the Dell Axim.
 
Though it's MBX Lite, it lists FSAA at zero cost.

Is this an SoC?

Seems like most every semiconductor uses ARM in this sector. Has SuperH been licensed out from Renesas to any of the chip companies?
 
pepperpad_lg.jpg


Off-topic: is this Pepperpad using an MBX Lite, Intel 2700G ARM R-S processor? If so, how well does it drive the 800x600 display?
 
SiBoy said:


Strange whitepaper!

They use overdraw to calculate the fillrate for the MBX. Didn't the MBX have an TBDR architecture, or not? ;)

Also the bandwidth usage calculations seem to be an little bit odd IMHO.


Otherwise I find it a little bit strange that they decided to use an MBX @ 66MHz but without an VGP, so this SoC is the second after Intel to use the MBX without the VGP. On the other side they use the "highend" MBX with 2xMSAA for free and up to 132MPixel fillrate instead of the MBX-lite inside the 2700G which is IMO good.
 
Otherwise I find it a little bit strange that they decided to use an MBX @ 66MHz but without an VGP, so this SoC is the second after Intel to use the MBX without the VGP. On the other side they use the "highend" MBX with 2xMSAA for free and up to 132MPixel fillrate instead of the MBX-lite inside the 2700G which is IMO good.

ARM MBX models:

MBX R-S = MBX Lite (no optional VGP)

MBX HR-S = MBX (with or w/o VGP)

From Freescale's whitepaper:

The GACC is built around the ARM MBX R-S graphics accelerator.

On power consumption:

Running at 66 MHz, the GPU consumes approximately 40 mW.

ARM used to claim in it's very early whitepapers <0.5mW/MHz for MBX R-S at 275K.

0.5 * 66MHz = 33mW
 
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