Altivec Support

Hi,

I’ve been thinking about creating some simple benchmarks to compare some of
our hardware against the power of the AltiVec engine in the PPC 7400.
However, I can’t seem to find anything in the documentation on support for
enabling support for the AltiVec in the compiler.

Have Motorola’s extensions for AltiVec been added to QSSL’s release of the
GCC compiler?

I found a QSSL press release that said that it should have been ready for 1Q
2000:

http://www.qnx.com/news/pr/oct18_99-Motorola.html

“As part of its support for the MPC7400 processor, QNX plans to implement
Motorola’s proposed AltiVec C/C++ language extensions, so developers can
write AltiVec-enabled drivers or applications using standard C tools; no
assembly language needed. This support is slated for 1Q 2000. For more
information, or for OEM pricing for the QNX RTOS, contact QNX Software
Systems directly.”

What is the current status?

Thanks,

Wayne

I think the status is ‘sorry, we forgot about that statement’ :wink:

“Wayne Fisher” <wayne.fisher@vtecna.com> wrote in message
news:a2peaa$rjs$1@inn.qnx.com

Hi,

I’ve been thinking about creating some simple benchmarks to compare some
of
our hardware against the power of the AltiVec engine in the PPC 7400.
However, I can’t seem to find anything in the documentation on support for
enabling support for the AltiVec in the compiler.

Have Motorola’s extensions for AltiVec been added to QSSL’s release of the
GCC compiler?

I found a QSSL press release that said that it should have been ready for
1Q
2000:

http://www.qnx.com/news/pr/oct18_99-Motorola.html

“As part of its support for the MPC7400 processor, QNX plans to implement
Motorola’s proposed AltiVec C/C++ language extensions, so developers can
write AltiVec-enabled drivers or applications using standard C tools; no
assembly language needed. This support is slated for 1Q 2000. For more
information, or for OEM pricing for the QNX RTOS, contact QNX Software
Systems directly.”

What is the current status?

Thanks,

Wayne

“Igor Kovalenko” <kovalenko@home.com> wrote in message
news:a31jqq$l16$1@inn.qnx.com

I think the status is ‘sorry, we forgot about that statement’ > :wink:

“Aww, come on baby…that was just pillow talk” - Ash

All kidding aside, I’m not sure what became of this but we’ll look into it
immediately.

cheers,

Kris

“Wayne Fisher” <> wayne.fisher@vtecna.com> > wrote in message
news:a2peaa$rjs$> 1@inn.qnx.com> …
Hi,

I’ve been thinking about creating some simple benchmarks to compare some
of
our hardware against the power of the AltiVec engine in the PPC 7400.
However, I can’t seem to find anything in the documentation on support
for
enabling support for the AltiVec in the compiler.

Have Motorola’s extensions for AltiVec been added to QSSL’s release of
the
GCC compiler?

I found a QSSL press release that said that it should have been ready
for
1Q
2000:

http://www.qnx.com/news/pr/oct18_99-Motorola.html

“As part of its support for the MPC7400 processor, QNX plans to
implement
Motorola’s proposed AltiVec C/C++ language extensions, so developers can
write AltiVec-enabled drivers or applications using standard C tools; no
assembly language needed. This support is slated for 1Q 2000. For more
information, or for OEM pricing for the QNX RTOS, contact QNX Software
Systems directly.”

What is the current status?

Thanks,

Wayne

\

Would it be possible to use Altivec optimized Linux libries in the
same way as Intel’s optimized Linux libraries can be used on RTP x86?

Tom

Wayne Fisher wrote:

Hi,

I’ve been thinking about creating some simple benchmarks to compare some of
our hardware against the power of the AltiVec engine in the PPC 7400.
However, I can’t seem to find anything in the documentation on support for
enabling support for the AltiVec in the compiler.

Have Motorola’s extensions for AltiVec been added to QSSL’s release of the
GCC compiler?

I found a QSSL press release that said that it should have been ready for 1Q
2000:

http://www.qnx.com/news/pr/oct18_99-Motorola.html

“As part of its support for the MPC7400 processor, QNX plans to implement
Motorola’s proposed AltiVec C/C++ language extensions, so developers can
write AltiVec-enabled drivers or applications using standard C tools; no
assembly language needed. This support is slated for 1Q 2000. For more
information, or for OEM pricing for the QNX RTOS, contact QNX Software
Systems directly.”

What is the current status?

Thanks,

Wayne

Hi
What is the status of this?

On Mon, 28 Jan 2002 12:25:39 -0500, “Kris Warkentin” <kewarken@qnx.com> wrote:

“Igor Kovalenko” <> kovalenko@home.com> > wrote in message
news:a31jqq$l16$> 1@inn.qnx.com> …
I think the status is ‘sorry, we forgot about that statement’ > :wink:


“Aww, come on baby…that was just pillow talk” - Ash

All kidding aside, I’m not sure what became of this but we’ll look into it
immediately.

cheers,

Kris

“Wayne Fisher” <> wayne.fisher@vtecna.com> > wrote in message
news:a2peaa$rjs$> 1@inn.qnx.com> …
Hi,

I’ve been thinking about creating some simple benchmarks to compare some
of
our hardware against the power of the AltiVec engine in the PPC 7400.
However, I can’t seem to find anything in the documentation on support
for
enabling support for the AltiVec in the compiler.

Have Motorola’s extensions for AltiVec been added to QSSL’s release of
the
GCC compiler?

I found a QSSL press release that said that it should have been ready
for
1Q
2000:

http://www.qnx.com/news/pr/oct18_99-Motorola.html

“As part of its support for the MPC7400 processor, QNX plans to
implement
Motorola’s proposed AltiVec C/C++ language extensions, so developers can
write AltiVec-enabled drivers or applications using standard C tools; no
assembly language needed. This support is slated for 1Q 2000. For more
information, or for OEM pricing for the QNX RTOS, contact QNX Software
Systems directly.”

What is the current status?

Thanks,

Wayne



\

Sorry about the long response time. I must have forgotten to finish
following up on this one. I’ve forwarded your mail to someone who can give
an official response. I don’t know if it’s ‘ask and you shall receive’ or
‘contact your sales rep’.

Kris

“Alex Cellarius” <acellarius@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1103_1019655577@pentiumii…

Hi
What is the status of this?

On Mon, 28 Jan 2002 12:25:39 -0500, “Kris Warkentin” <> kewarken@qnx.com
wrote:

“Igor Kovalenko” <> kovalenko@home.com> > wrote in message
news:a31jqq$l16$> 1@inn.qnx.com> …
I think the status is ‘sorry, we forgot about that statement’ > :wink:


“Aww, come on baby…that was just pillow talk” - Ash

All kidding aside, I’m not sure what became of this but we’ll look into
it
immediately.

cheers,

Kris

“Wayne Fisher” <> wayne.fisher@vtecna.com> > wrote in message
news:a2peaa$rjs$> 1@inn.qnx.com> …
Hi,

I’ve been thinking about creating some simple benchmarks to compare
some
of
our hardware against the power of the AltiVec engine in the PPC
7400.
However, I can’t seem to find anything in the documentation on
support
for
enabling support for the AltiVec in the compiler.

Have Motorola’s extensions for AltiVec been added to QSSL’s release
of
the
GCC compiler?

I found a QSSL press release that said that it should have been
ready
for
1Q
2000:

http://www.qnx.com/news/pr/oct18_99-Motorola.html

“As part of its support for the MPC7400 processor, QNX plans to
implement
Motorola’s proposed AltiVec C/C++ language extensions, so developers
can
write AltiVec-enabled drivers or applications using standard C
tools; no
assembly language needed. This support is slated for 1Q 2000. For
more
information, or for OEM pricing for the QNX RTOS, contact QNX
Software
Systems directly.”

What is the current status?

Thanks,

Wayne





\

You guys sure this ‘contact your sales’ approach goes along nicely with GPL?

“Kris Warkentin” <kewarken@qnx.com> wrote in message
news:aajv8k$j2n$1@nntp.qnx.com

Hi Wayne,

I remember when we built the custom version for you but I didn’t know for
sure what the whole deal was. I expect that if Alex were to contact his
Sales or Support person (probably support first) he should be able to get
a
copy with no trouble.

cheers,

Kris
“Wayne Fisher” <> wayne.fisher@avvidasystems.com> > wrote in message
news:aajnbi$7ho$> 1@inn.qnx.com> …

Hi,

I was the one who originally asked for an AltiVec-aware GCC. I got a
copy
of
QSSL’s AltiVec-aware GCC from them. So, if you ask the right person you
can
probably get a copy too.

Wayne


“Alex Cellarius” <> acellarius@yahoo.com> > wrote in message
news:1103_1019655577@pentiumii…
Hi
What is the status of this?

On Mon, 28 Jan 2002 12:25:39 -0500, “Kris Warkentin”
kewarken@qnx.com
wrote:

“Igor Kovalenko” <> kovalenko@home.com> > wrote in message
news:a31jqq$l16$> 1@inn.qnx.com> …
I think the status is ‘sorry, we forgot about that statement’ > :wink:


“Aww, come on baby…that was just pillow talk” - Ash

All kidding aside, I’m not sure what became of this but we’ll look
into
it
immediately.

cheers,

Kris

“Wayne Fisher” <> wayne.fisher@vtecna.com> > wrote in message
news:a2peaa$rjs$> 1@inn.qnx.com> …
Hi,

I’ve been thinking about creating some simple benchmarks to
compare
some
of
our hardware against the power of the AltiVec engine in the PPC
7400.
However, I can’t seem to find anything in the documentation on
support
for
enabling support for the AltiVec in the compiler.

Have Motorola’s extensions for AltiVec been added to QSSL’s
release
of
the
GCC compiler?

I found a QSSL press release that said that it should have been
ready
for
1Q
2000:

http://www.qnx.com/news/pr/oct18_99-Motorola.html

“As part of its support for the MPC7400 processor, QNX plans to
implement
Motorola’s proposed AltiVec C/C++ language extensions, so
developers
can
write AltiVec-enabled drivers or applications using standard C
tools; no
assembly language needed. This support is slated for 1Q 2000.
For
more
information, or for OEM pricing for the QNX RTOS, contact QNX
Software
Systems directly.”

What is the current status?

Thanks,

Wayne

\

Hi,

I was the one who originally asked for an AltiVec-aware GCC. I got a copy of
QSSL’s AltiVec-aware GCC from them. So, if you ask the right person you can
probably get a copy too.

Wayne


“Alex Cellarius” <acellarius@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1103_1019655577@pentiumii…

Hi
What is the status of this?

On Mon, 28 Jan 2002 12:25:39 -0500, “Kris Warkentin” <> kewarken@qnx.com
wrote:

“Igor Kovalenko” <> kovalenko@home.com> > wrote in message
news:a31jqq$l16$> 1@inn.qnx.com> …
I think the status is ‘sorry, we forgot about that statement’ > :wink:


“Aww, come on baby…that was just pillow talk” - Ash

All kidding aside, I’m not sure what became of this but we’ll look into
it
immediately.

cheers,

Kris

“Wayne Fisher” <> wayne.fisher@vtecna.com> > wrote in message
news:a2peaa$rjs$> 1@inn.qnx.com> …
Hi,

I’ve been thinking about creating some simple benchmarks to compare
some
of
our hardware against the power of the AltiVec engine in the PPC
7400.
However, I can’t seem to find anything in the documentation on
support
for
enabling support for the AltiVec in the compiler.

Have Motorola’s extensions for AltiVec been added to QSSL’s release
of
the
GCC compiler?

I found a QSSL press release that said that it should have been
ready
for
1Q
2000:

http://www.qnx.com/news/pr/oct18_99-Motorola.html

“As part of its support for the MPC7400 processor, QNX plans to
implement
Motorola’s proposed AltiVec C/C++ language extensions, so developers
can
write AltiVec-enabled drivers or applications using standard C
tools; no
assembly language needed. This support is slated for 1Q 2000. For
more
information, or for OEM pricing for the QNX RTOS, contact QNX
Software
Systems directly.”

What is the current status?

Thanks,

Wayne

Hi Wayne,

I remember when we built the custom version for you but I didn’t know for
sure what the whole deal was. I expect that if Alex were to contact his
Sales or Support person (probably support first) he should be able to get a
copy with no trouble.

cheers,

Kris
“Wayne Fisher” <wayne.fisher@avvidasystems.com> wrote in message
news:aajnbi$7ho$1@inn.qnx.com

Hi,

I was the one who originally asked for an AltiVec-aware GCC. I got a copy
of
QSSL’s AltiVec-aware GCC from them. So, if you ask the right person you
can
probably get a copy too.

Wayne


“Alex Cellarius” <> acellarius@yahoo.com> > wrote in message
news:1103_1019655577@pentiumii…
Hi
What is the status of this?

On Mon, 28 Jan 2002 12:25:39 -0500, “Kris Warkentin” <> kewarken@qnx.com
wrote:

“Igor Kovalenko” <> kovalenko@home.com> > wrote in message
news:a31jqq$l16$> 1@inn.qnx.com> …
I think the status is ‘sorry, we forgot about that statement’ > :wink:


“Aww, come on baby…that was just pillow talk” - Ash

All kidding aside, I’m not sure what became of this but we’ll look
into
it
immediately.

cheers,

Kris

“Wayne Fisher” <> wayne.fisher@vtecna.com> > wrote in message
news:a2peaa$rjs$> 1@inn.qnx.com> …
Hi,

I’ve been thinking about creating some simple benchmarks to
compare
some
of
our hardware against the power of the AltiVec engine in the PPC
7400.
However, I can’t seem to find anything in the documentation on
support
for
enabling support for the AltiVec in the compiler.

Have Motorola’s extensions for AltiVec been added to QSSL’s
release
of
the
GCC compiler?

I found a QSSL press release that said that it should have been
ready
for
1Q
2000:

http://www.qnx.com/news/pr/oct18_99-Motorola.html

“As part of its support for the MPC7400 processor, QNX plans to
implement
Motorola’s proposed AltiVec C/C++ language extensions, so
developers
can
write AltiVec-enabled drivers or applications using standard C
tools; no
assembly language needed. This support is slated for 1Q 2000. For
more
information, or for OEM pricing for the QNX RTOS, contact QNX
Software
Systems directly.”

What is the current status?

Thanks,

Wayne

On Mon, 29 Apr 2002 11:13:37 -0400, “Wayne Fisher” <wayne.fisher@avvidasystems.com> wrote:

Hi,

I was the one who originally asked for an AltiVec-aware GCC. I got a copy of
QSSL’s AltiVec-aware GCC from them. So, if you ask the right person you can
probably get a copy too.

I can get it for my customer, but only if they have premium support.
Thanks for letting me know it’s available, though.

“Igor Kovalenko” <kovalenko@attbi.com> wrote in message
news:aalpfr$moj$1@inn.qnx.com

You guys sure this ‘contact your sales’ approach goes along nicely with
GPL?

Well, lets see. The terms of the GPL insist that if I give someone a binary
compiled with modified GPL code, then I have to make the source code
available to that person. It says nothing about being obligated to give
everyone the code, only the people who have the binary. If you would like
an example of this, contract Redhat to do some custom work on gcc/gdb/etc.
for you. They will do the work, give you the binary and source and, perhaps
6 months later, perhaps never, release the code into the wild. So, if we
sell someone some modified GPL tools then we are required to give them the
source code.

In this case, I don’t think it’s quite the same though. I don’t believe
we’re trying to sell the altivec stuff but rather it’s just a custom branch
to our tools that isn’t in our main tree. I don’t know the details but I’m
pretty sure that we just gave it to Wayne as part of his support contract.
Like I said earlier, I remember when Marcin was building that branch for
Wayne a while ago. The only reason I said contact support or sales is
because I didn’t know the details of how the tools were to be given out and
I didn’t want to open my big mouth without knowing all the details. You may
not know this but I sometimes do that. :wink:

cheers,

Kris

“Kris Warkentin” <> kewarken@qnx.com> > wrote in message
news:aajv8k$j2n$> 1@nntp.qnx.com> …
Hi Wayne,

I remember when we built the custom version for you but I didn’t know
for
sure what the whole deal was. I expect that if Alex were to contact his
Sales or Support person (probably support first) he should be able to
get
a
copy with no trouble.

cheers,

Kris
“Wayne Fisher” <> wayne.fisher@avvidasystems.com> > wrote in message
news:aajnbi$7ho$> 1@inn.qnx.com> …

Hi,

I was the one who originally asked for an AltiVec-aware GCC. I got a
copy
of
QSSL’s AltiVec-aware GCC from them. So, if you ask the right person
you
can
probably get a copy too.

Wayne


“Alex Cellarius” <> acellarius@yahoo.com> > wrote in message
news:1103_1019655577@pentiumii…
Hi
What is the status of this?

On Mon, 28 Jan 2002 12:25:39 -0500, “Kris Warkentin”
kewarken@qnx.com
wrote:

“Igor Kovalenko” <> kovalenko@home.com> > wrote in message
news:a31jqq$l16$> 1@inn.qnx.com> …
I think the status is ‘sorry, we forgot about that statement’ > :wink:


“Aww, come on baby…that was just pillow talk” - Ash

All kidding aside, I’m not sure what became of this but we’ll look
into
it
immediately.

cheers,

Kris

“Wayne Fisher” <> wayne.fisher@vtecna.com> > wrote in message
news:a2peaa$rjs$> 1@inn.qnx.com> …
Hi,

I’ve been thinking about creating some simple benchmarks to
compare
some
of
our hardware against the power of the AltiVec engine in the
PPC
7400.
However, I can’t seem to find anything in the documentation on
support
for
enabling support for the AltiVec in the compiler.

Have Motorola’s extensions for AltiVec been added to QSSL’s
release
of
the
GCC compiler?

I found a QSSL press release that said that it should have
been
ready
for
1Q
2000:

http://www.qnx.com/news/pr/oct18_99-Motorola.html

“As part of its support for the MPC7400 processor, QNX plans
to
implement
Motorola’s proposed AltiVec C/C++ language extensions, so
developers
can
write AltiVec-enabled drivers or applications using standard C
tools; no
assembly language needed. This support is slated for 1Q 2000.
For
more
information, or for OEM pricing for the QNX RTOS, contact QNX
Software
Systems directly.”

What is the current status?

Thanks,

Wayne



\

On Mon, 29 Apr 2002 11:13:37 -0400, “Wayne Fisher” <wayne.fisher@avvidasystems.com> wrote:

Hi,

I was the one who originally asked for an AltiVec-aware GCC. I got a copy of
QSSL’s AltiVec-aware GCC from them. So, if you ask the right person you can
probably get a copy too.

Do you (or anyone) use a signal processing library with the PowerPC/Altivec?
e.g. from Transtech
http://www.transtech-dsp.com/software/vsipl.htm

The Transtech libraries only support VxWorks and Linux.
My (potential) customer is interested in any VSIPL (this is a standard) libraries
or similar signal processing libraries which are optimized to
use the Altivec extensions.

“Alex Cellarius” <acellarius@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1104_1023128209@pentiumii…

On Mon, 29 Apr 2002 11:13:37 -0400, “Wayne Fisher”
wayne.fisher@avvidasystems.com> > wrote:

Hi,

I was the one who originally asked for an AltiVec-aware GCC. I got a
copy of
QSSL’s AltiVec-aware GCC from them. So, if you ask the right person you
can
probably get a copy too.

Do you (or anyone) use a signal processing library with the
PowerPC/Altivec?
e.g. from Transtech
http://www.transtech-dsp.com/software/vsipl.htm

The Transtech libraries only support VxWorks and Linux.

I haven’t used any third party libraries on AltiVec.

My (potential) customer is interested in any VSIPL (this is a standard)
libraries
or similar signal processing libraries which are optimized to
use the Altivec extensions.

I looked at VSIPL a few months back. It looks good but I couldn’t get an
idea of how many people actually use it.

Have you been to the Altivec.org website? I recall some discussion related
to VSIPL in the Altivec.org mailing list a couple months or so ago. You
might try looking through the email archive.

Wayne

On Tue, 4 Jun 2002 11:21:57 -0400, “Wayne Fisher” <wayne.fisher@avvidasystems.com> wrote:

“Alex Cellarius” <> acellarius@yahoo.com> > wrote in message
news:1104_1023128209@pentiumii…
On Mon, 29 Apr 2002 11:13:37 -0400, “Wayne Fisher”
wayne.fisher@avvidasystems.com> > wrote:

Hi,

I was the one who originally asked for an AltiVec-aware GCC. I got a
copy of
QSSL’s AltiVec-aware GCC from them. So, if you ask the right person you
can
probably get a copy too.

Do you (or anyone) use a signal processing library with the
PowerPC/Altivec?
e.g. from Transtech
http://www.transtech-dsp.com/software/vsipl.htm

The Transtech libraries only support VxWorks and Linux.

I haven’t used any third party libraries on AltiVec.

My (potential) customer is interested in any VSIPL (this is a standard)
libraries
or similar signal processing libraries which are optimized to
use the Altivec extensions.

I looked at VSIPL a few months back. It looks good but I couldn’t get an
idea of how many people actually use it.

Have you been to the Altivec.org website? I recall some discussion related
to VSIPL in the Altivec.org mailing list a couple months or so ago. You
might try looking through the email archive.

Thanks-will have a look.