On 2 Aug 2005 11:58:35 -0000
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> That's a good question. Is a FPGA more expensive to produce than a
> dedicated chip?
FPGAs are cheap if you need a few, ASICs are cheap if you
need tenthousands.
> If IBM where to use the OGP in e.g. their servers, the production
> prize would properly be an importnat factor.
Which server has a graphics cards ?
And no, PCs do not count as servers, at least not to
companies like IBM or Sun. Also keep in mind that IBM
does not sell PCs, actualy they do not even make money
with them. They are just a goody to those who buy
a AS/400 or a S/390 (or i- resp z-series, as they are
called nowadays) and those two do not have anything
resembling a graphics card as they use terminals.
Also note, that IBM doesn't make money with the hardware
but with the support and service contracts.
Not to talk about that IBM sells any division that smells
like commodity (hardisks, laptops...) and PCs are the worse
commodity in the computer industry.
If you want a company to sell ogp as OEM, then you'd
be better off with asking Dell.
> I guess it depends on, if they have a need for it... Do they make
> other hardware than servers?
Yes, but most things are around servers (and i mean here real
servers, not PCs), like tape drives, high speed switches/routers,
etc pp.
> I think they would. The PR that the hardware itsself is Open Source
> have a value too.
Only if you can sell it to them like this.
> I could see a banner saying "IBM going all the way." =)
IBM isn't going that way at all. IBM uses Linux to make
it easier to migrate from unix based systems to their
midrange and big iron systems.
<side note>
IBMs biggest disadvantage against Sun is, that every
system they sell has its own operating system that is
totaly different from anything else. They try to mitigate
this by porting Linux on all their plattforms and using
it as the common denominator.
</side note>
> > That's a charity amount, although even a small amount could be a
> > great PR move for them. PR is a good thing, especially when it
> > comes to OSS. :)
>
> So asking for $x with no strings attached could be of great interest
> at this time?
You will not get that.
> > Again, large volumes to us are small volumes to them. However, I
> > wouldn't be surprised if they gave us a deep discount on production.
> >
> > So say it cost only 1 million to produce the 100k quantity. We
> > still have to get what, to us, is a huge amount of money.
>
> Is $x or producing the proto type/final equally good?
I'd say so, if and only if the exact amount of produced
items is declared.
> I have come to think of an article I once read about AMD, where they
> told that setting up the prodution for a new chip is the most
> expensive part.
ten thousands to millions. Depending on the chip and the process.
Afterwards it's just using the masks. IIRC Timothy did a calculation
of the cost somewhen in the past. Have a look at the archives.
> Does anyone have experince on costs of manufacturing FPGA's and PCB's?
Sure, Timothy has.
> I tend to forget/(didn't knew) that it always ends down to money.
Do not do that.
> Could it be, that they hold patents for algorithms for the GPU that
> could be of interst if they licenced them in the way Linus demands
> licenses from IBM?
I do not think that there are still any valid patents on
2D processing out there. But then again, one cannot be
cautious enough.
> Could it be of interest to get their source codes for their graphics
> drivers?
No, drivers are tailored to the hardware they control.
Beside, the hard thing isn't writing the drivers but
the hardware.
> Or perhaps the diagrams for their graphics cards?
Dunno.. but i don't think so.
Most 2D graphics cards follow more or less the same design
pattern.
Attila kinali
--
心をこめて聞け心をこめて話せ
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