Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2016 15:30:06 -0400 From: "Isaac (.ike) Levy" <ike@blackskyresearch.net> To: Russell Haley <russ.haley@gmail.com> Cc: Shawn Webb <shawn.webb@hardenedbsd.org>, freebsd-arm <freebsd-arm@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: RPI3 Hackathon at BSDCan/Dev SUmmit Message-ID: <8328C70D-51EA-4A0F-93A5-80CD665ECDFF@blackskyresearch.net> In-Reply-To: <CABx9NuRzD_urJakzxyb5bsFzDsrqiHCoo6n3dWpuj9Vf-5uJ9Q@mail.gmail.com> References: <20160607043134.GB22884@mutt-hardenedbsd> <CAN5odxDYeQMrK4G=5_GSn5Wj-R30J6ryTFBasfd=sR8nZzKGaw@mail.gmail.com> <20160607123450.GA75317@mutt-hardenedbsd> <20160608165711.GA63330@mutt-hardenedbsd> <CAN5odxCN6pt9BdyzF57oBM15x5b625T6%2B_51b5AtW4rEqgy7Vw@mail.gmail.com> <20160608170107.GB63330@mutt-hardenedbsd> <F0D7869D-A0A9-4810-B5BA-4BF655299F7B@blackskyresearch.net> <20160608182810.GC63330@mutt-hardenedbsd> <0E28F6C5-96BC-4696-AD8F-C898CA0082D9@blackskyresearch.net> <CABx9NuRzD_urJakzxyb5bsFzDsrqiHCoo6n3dWpuj9Vf-5uJ9Q@mail.gmail.com>
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Thanks Russ, All, > On Jun 8, 2016, at 3:22 PM, Russell Haley <russ.haley@gmail.com> = wrote: >=20 > On Wed, Jun 8, 2016 at 11:56 AM, Isaac (.ike) Levy > <ike@blackskyresearch.net> wrote: >>=20 >>> On Jun 8, 2016, at 2:28 PM, Shawn Webb <shawn.webb@hardenedbsd.org> = wrote: >>>=20 >>> Your builds would be ARMv7, correct? As far as I know, there are no >>> ARMv8 BeagleBone boards. >>=20 >> Oh, I could be very mistaken- perhaps someone on list could help me = understand this- (searching the web isn't helping me here), >>=20 >> Can anyone on list here help me clarify the ARMv7 or ARMv8 = architectures? >=20 > Oh, oh, now you've done it... ha ha. This is very very very confusing > due to both marketing terms and some incongruency in terminology. I'm > just an amateur but I'm gonna take a shot at this so anyone who knows > better please feel free to correct me. >=20 > - Cortex-A8 is a marketing term for a specific processor design. This > is an "ARM Ltd." design that can be licensed by anyone. >=20 > - ARMv6, ARMv7 and ARMv8 are all different ARM *instruction sets*. > Different processors and families use different instruction sets (also > license-able by anyone to design their OWN processors). >=20 > - The Beaglebone series uses the Texas Instruments am33XX processor > family, which I think includes designs of both ARMv6 and ARMv7 > variants. The ARMv7 variants are based on the Cortex-A8 design. The > RPI2 uses a Broadcomm chip that is also a Cortex-A8 based processor > (ARMv7). >=20 > - Within FreeBSD, ARMv6 and ARMv7 are represented by one architecture > (ARCH) which is called ARMv6 (as was recently lamented by Mr. Lapore). > That's why you can't find reference to ARMv7. >=20 > (This is where i start getting fuzzy on details) >=20 > -The RPI3 is a 64 bit variant of the PRI development board. ARMv8 is > the Arm 64 bit family of instruction sets. In FreeBSD, it's called > AARCH64. That's why you won't see it mentioned as ARMv8. >=20 > Hence, when referring to RPI 1, 1+ 2 or 2B, the term armv6 is thrown > around and when discussing the RPI3 the term AARCH64 is used. >=20 > I think...? tee hee. >=20 > Cheers, >=20 > Russ "RISC architecture is gonna change everything." I really appreciate this shot at an explanation, and would hazzard to = say that clarity here is perhaps the biggest problem ARM platforms have = going for them :) For users, far more confusing than Itanium vs. AMD64 = ever was! Thanks again Russ. Best, .ike
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