On Aug 6, 2007, at 8:28 AM, Steve Seltzer wrote:
On a related note, I believe that the GP2X has a modified version of
mplayer which will use their MPEG4 decoder chip. They were violating
the GPL, but I think they've finally released the mplayer source like
they're supposed to. That may be worth a look in order for ideas
about
integrating support for the SMedia chip into mplayer.
I've worked with the GP2X for a few years now (it replaced my other
ARM-based eval boards, quite well) and you are correct .. initially
there was a problem with the GPL, but this has now been long-since
fixed.
The GP2X has two ARM cores - 920 and 940 .. The linux base system
runs on the 920, and the 940 is available for whatever custom code
you care to write .. the GP2X has a custom codec lib that is uploaded
to the 940 for mp3 and mp4 decoding, leaving the 920 for normal linux
operation .. the custom mplayer that is used on the GP2X utilizes
this codec to do decoding, and then uses the onboard 2D accelerator
to do fast display blits .. you can learn more about this
architecture in the excellent GP2X wiki, which I might add is
definitely a developer-community model for which I hope OpenMoko
finds some parity ..
http://wiki.gp2x.org/wiki/Facts_about_the_ARM940T_processor
Of note is the development of other interesting things to run in the
940 core .. for example, there are audio processing modules (filters,
softsynths), an implementation of OpenGL (providing hardware-assisted
acceleration for 3D), etc. This model is an interesting direction
for integrated hardware and software design ..
j.
--
Jay Vaughan
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