HKG15-101: Programming for Performance --------------------------------------------------- Speaker: Jon "maddog" Hall Date: February 9, 2015 --------------------------------------------------- ★ Session Summary ★ The 96Boards program creates new opportunities for universities and the community to develop software and learn about advanced coding without getting tied into a single proprietary piece of hardware. maddog will discuss the requirements for success in this space. -------------------------------------------------- ★ Resources ★ Pathable: https://hkg15.pathable.com/meetings/250761 Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj-keqX2xA4 Etherpad: http://pad.linaro.org/p/hkg15-101 --------------------------------------------------- ★ Event Details ★ Linaro Connect Hong Kong 2015 - #HKG15 February 9-13th, 2015 Regal Airport Hotel Hong Kong Airport --------------------------------------------------- http://www.linaro.org http://connect.linaro.org

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Take No Prisoners:
Winning With ARM and Linaro
By
Jon “maddog” Hall

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My “Second Computer”
● PDP-8 Assembler
– 4000 12-bit
words
– Data and
Instructions
same length
● From a book
– Plenty of
practice
Nobody told me “assembly was difficult”

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Digital Equipment Corportation
Users Society (DECUS)
● Library of software for the cost of copying
– Sharing of source code
● Groups of customers who designed the meetings
● Eventually devolved to DEC marketing event
– Went from two meetings per year at 19000 each
– Last meeting had 300 people, mostly DEC

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DECUS In May of 1994:
New Orleans
● Linux V1.0:
– 32 Bit
– Intel (CISC)
● Convinced Linus to do
Alpha port:
– 64 bit
– Alpha RISC
I learned the power of the community

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Would Closed Source Allow
Them To Do This?
● Enterprise Creator – 22
● President - 21
● Kernel Developer – 15
● Distribution Developer - 14
● Soweto Entrepreneur – 22
● Distribution Developer - 12

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Colombia: Arduinos and RPis

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Many Little ARM Computers:
45 USD – 199 USD
BeagleBoneBlack Hackberry 10
ODROID-U3
OlimoX - LIME Pandaboard

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How To Win
● Make ARM and Linaro everyday words
● Make ARM/Linaro and “Freedom” synonymous
– Freedom of choice
– Freedom (and ease) of information
– Freedom to use for any purpose
● Establish a “community”
– Make them feel welcome
– Listen to their ideas
– Explain your actions
– When you are wrong, admit it

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Make IT Easy(er)
● “ARM for Dummies”
● Information for gratis
– Non-examples:
● Assembly language books cost ~ 80 USD
– Example:
● Assembly for RPi – 18.51 USD
● “Why can't I install an ARM system like I can an
Intel system”.....boot!
– Thanks Wookie!

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Encourage Projects;
Encourage Entrepreneurship
● Examples
– Raspberry Pi Foundation
– IoT
● Research
● Contests
– Prizes include vendor boards
● Publish user projects that are “open”

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Education
● Guide development of entire University
curriculums using ARM/FOSS
– Computer Engineering (Compilers, OS,
Database)
– Networking
– Systems Administration
– Embedded systems
– Graphics and GPUs
– New and unique processors (FPGAs)
● Make it easy for professors to teach it
● Use Raspberry Pi Foundation to further K-12

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Universities
● Make REAL relationships with major (and
second-tier) research universities
– Cambridge, Carnigie Mellon, Berkeley,
Stanford, Columbia, etc.
– University of Sao Paulo, University of
Monterey, etc.
● Facilitate them sharing research with each other
and with Linaro/ARM
● Research with closed source is hard

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Research
● Other “Open” operating systems
– TinyOS
– *BSD
– Hurd
● A “Smaller kinder kernel” (6000 lines) – USP
Sao Carlos
– Ala John Lions
● “And some of the source code has comments”
● Secure from the ground up (flashable boot ROM
or “Coreboot on SD”)

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Community
● Blogs
● User groups
– Speaker's Bureau
● Youth groups at Universities
– Mentors
● Consistantly publish papers
– Encourage Engineers
– Encourage Customers (Application Abstracts)
● Community store for “signature identity items”
– Community “funds” identity items by buying them
– Partner with “Adafruit” like companies

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maddog's Supercomputer
In a Briefcase
● 12 ARMv7 Cores at 1 GHz
each
● 6 GBytes of RAM
● 6 HDMI ports
● 6 SATA ports (currently
driving two disks)
● IR on board
● 2 TB SATA disk
● 8 Port Gbit ETHERNET
● 70 Watts
● Fits in standard briefcase

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Why Is This Interesting?
● Can be used to teach
– HPC computing
– HA computing
– Heterogeneous computing
– Heterogeneous systems administration (including RAID)
● Very portable, can be assembled in minutes
● Relatively low power consumption (~70 Watts)
● Very modular
● Prototype cost: 500 USD
– Currently using “Banana Pi”
● Production cost: < 400 USD
– Will use (4) new “Raspberry Pi 2 Model B”
– Will increase from 12 to 20 ARMv7 cores

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Why Is This Even MORE Interesting?
● Now can be used to teach
– 64-bit HPC computing
– HA computing
– 32/64 bit heterogeneous computing
– Heterogeneous systems administration (including RAID)
● Very portable, can be assembled in minutes
● Very modular
● Suggested:
– Use one “Raspberry Pi 2 Model B” (4 ARMv7 cores at 900 MHz)
– Four new 96 Boards (40 ARMv8 cores at 1.2GHz)
– Two Banana Pis for SATA access (2 x 2 ARMv7 cores at 1.2 GHz)
– Increase from 12 ARMv7 cores to 12 ARMv7 cores and 32
ARMv8 cores
– Estimated price 35 + 4 x 129 + 2 x 35 + 2 x 60 + 68 = 809 USD

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What Can Make IT MORE
Interesting?
Alter the “Stack” to accept other small boards such
as Beaglebone for additional features

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What Not To Do
● Compare 96 Boards to RPi other than to say it is
“complimenary” and “good”
● Have closed-source drivers

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Other Courseware Needed:
Microcontroller to 64-bit
“InternetOfThings with ARM”

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I AM Not So Egotistical...