Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Fancy making cool gadgets? Look here

  1. #1
    HEXUS webmaster Steve's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    14,276
    Thanks
    292
    Thanked
    837 times in 473 posts

    Fancy making cool gadgets? Look here

    Now, I know a fair few people around here do/have done degrees like CS or EEE (or in my case, CSE), so I'm willing to bet some of you will be interested in this.

    A company in Bristol called XMOS - born out of the University - has developed a new processor aimed at embedded environments. Some might say it sits somewhere between an ARM and a PIC, while others would say it kicks the arse of both of them.



    They've got a small development starter kit now for sale with various discount offers. The kit's USB programmed/powered. It doesn't have much on it, but it does expose lots of I/O so you can hang what you want off it.

    The processor is a four-core device, each core can run 4 threads, and it's so good at I/O that if you want to interface with something, you only need extra hardware to deal with the physical layer, then you define the rest in software.

    The programming language used is called XC, which unsurprisingly mimics C in syntax, so anyone with a head for parallelism and a knowledge of embedded system programming will pick it up in a jiffy. There's a community driven site called Xlinkers with a discussion forum, examples and so on.

    Why am I telling you this? Well for one I know some of you might want to have a play with this sort of thing, and secondly, I have course-mates who work there, along with my old course director, and one of the professors lecturing me this year is the CTO and co-founder
    Last edited by Steve; 20-11-2008 at 01:03 PM.
    PHP Code:
    $s = new signature();
    $s->sarcasm()->intellect()->font('Courier New')->display(); 

  2. #2
    Seething Cauldron of Hatred TheAnimus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    17,164
    Thanks
    803
    Thanked
    2,152 times in 1,408 posts

    Re: Fancy making cool gadgets? Look here

    why would i want to program a 4 core device, in an imperative language exactly?
    throw new ArgumentException (String, String, Exception)

  3. #3
    HEXUS webmaster Steve's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    14,276
    Thanks
    292
    Thanked
    837 times in 473 posts

    Re: Fancy making cool gadgets? Look here

    Ever used OCCAM?
    PHP Code:
    $s = new signature();
    $s->sarcasm()->intellect()->font('Courier New')->display(); 

  4. #4
    mush-mushroom b0redom's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    Middlesex
    Posts
    3,438
    Thanks
    174
    Thanked
    362 times in 279 posts
    • b0redom's system
      • Motherboard:
      • Some iMac thingy
      • CPU:
      • 3.4Ghz Quad Core i7
      • Memory:
      • 24GB
      • Storage:
      • 3TB Fusion Drive
      • Graphics card(s):
      • nViidia GTX 680MX
      • PSU:
      • Some iMac thingy
      • Case:
      • Late 2012 pointlessly thin iMac enclosure
      • Operating System:
      • OSX 10.8 / Win 7 Pro
      • Monitor(s):
      • Dell 2713H
      • Internet:
      • Be+

    Re: Fancy making cool gadgets? Look here

    No, but I've heard he makes exceedingly good razors.....

  5. Received thanks from:

    jimbouk (20-11-2008)

  6. #5
    WEEEEEEEEEEEEE! MadduckUK's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Lytham St. Annes
    Posts
    17,297
    Thanks
    653
    Thanked
    1,580 times in 1,006 posts
    • MadduckUK's system
      • Motherboard:
      • MSI B450M Mortar
      • CPU:
      • AMD Ryzen 5 3600
      • Memory:
      • 32GB 3200 DDR4
      • Storage:
      • 1x480GB SSD, 1x 2TB Hybrid, 1x 3TB Rust Spinner
      • Graphics card(s):
      • Radeon 5700XT
      • PSU:
      • Corsair TX750w
      • Case:
      • Phanteks Enthoo Evolv mATX
      • Operating System:
      • Windows 10 x64
      • Monitor(s):
      • Samsung SJ55W, DELL S2409W
      • Internet:
      • Plusnet 80

    Re: Fancy making cool gadgets? Look here

    no, but iv read they can maximize your customer retention
    Quote Originally Posted by Ephesians
    Do not be drunk with wine, which will ruin you, but be filled with the Spirit
    Vodka

  7. #6
    HEXUS webmaster Steve's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    14,276
    Thanks
    292
    Thanked
    837 times in 473 posts

    Re: Fancy making cool gadgets? Look here

    OCCAMs a parallel programming language... bit of a nuisance to program in if you ask me.

    Anyway, XC borrows some of the channel communication concepts from that, but plops it into a C-like environment where it's a lot easier to get to grips with.

    As for programming in an imperative language, these things are targetted at embedded/real-time applications, where predictability is extremely useful.
    PHP Code:
    $s = new signature();
    $s->sarcasm()->intellect()->font('Courier New')->display(); 

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Replies: 13
    Last Post: 17-11-2004, 05:10 AM
  2. making a new pc - here are the specs, help!
    By Afghan_Soulja in forum PC Hardware and Components
    Replies: 20
    Last Post: 22-10-2004, 07:40 PM
  3. Anyone fancy making me a sig (pt2)?
    By Lead_Head in forum General Discussion
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 25-07-2004, 10:43 PM
  4. Making Drivers Cars?
    By TiG in forum Automotive
    Replies: 47
    Last Post: 15-04-2004, 08:36 PM
  5. Anyone fancy making....
    By DR in forum General Discussion
    Replies: 23
    Last Post: 18-03-2004, 07:22 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •