I've been tasked to develop an OpenCL application for a specific platform, Intel CoffeeLake-H GT2 (UHD Graphics 630). There are two problems for me:
Even having some OpenCL programming experience (not that much though), I wouldn't know where to begin. I have no prior experience with targeting specific hardware before.
The device itself has to be emulated or something, because I don't have it at hand.
Of course, I tried googling information today, but couldn't find anything that could really help me. Guess, it's just because of my lack of experience. So, I'm stumped right now, and asking for help.
It would be really great if I can be helped. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Small note: I'm working on this project under Ubuntu 18.04.
I'm not aware of any emulated environment, and anyway, ultimately nothing replaces access to the target hardware. I see a few workarounds:
Target a similar-enough device. Intel GPUs haven't changed that drastically, so especially if you have an older/lower-spec one around, whatever you end up with should run better on the newer GPU. You can also work with a GPU from another vendor if you have at least sporadic access to a system with an Intel GPU. You don't want to go for too long at a time without testing on your target hardware. (It's generally a good idea to test OpenCL code against different implementations while developing, as it's easy to accidentally rely on implementation-defined or undefined behaviour otherwise.)
Rent a relevant physical device. Places exist that allow you to rent laptops or desktop PCs for a short time period.
Remote access to a target device. Presumably whoever posed the requirement actually has such devices. Ask for remote access to one of them, via the magic of the internet. (RDP, VNC, SSH)
Rent similar hardware in a data centre. There are bare metal hosting companies that rent out physical servers built from commodity hardware. Find one that offers servers with a close enough match to the system you're targeting and rent one there.
As for the skill gap, well, you'll either have to bridge that one yourself by following enough documentation, tutorials, etc. or by finding (hiring…) someone who will give you some degree of hand-holding through the project.
Related
Do Chromebooks offer adequate programming capabilities offline?
I can never guarantee my WiFi access.
I know I can access local files, and being Linux-based, what does this mean for programming offline?
Also, I am returning to obtain my MSc in IT. Would this be a good purchase for such a cause? I am focusing on web development (HTML, JavaScript, Rails).
I want to know specifically if a Chromebook (I have my eyes on the Acer C720) can get the work done. True, I'll probably rare ever be offline, but I want to know if I'll be able to both edit code, then run it to troubleshoot.
My main points: editing and running code on a Chromebook. Also, could I amend the drawback by running Windows or Linux (ie, Ubuntu, Mint)?Thanks guys for any advice.
I use an Acer C720 Chromebook (2GB RAM, 16GB SSD) as my Meteor (Javascript, HTML. CSS, MongoDB) development machine. The specs may sound poor but in reality - thanks to the fantastic Haswell chip - the laptop is great.
I have Xubuntu installed instead of ChromeOS... so maybe that is not a real answer to your question.
It's a fantastic little machine - long battery life and boots in a few seconds. I tried Bodhi Linux first but find Xubuntu better for my needs.
I expanded the storage using a keep-in tiny UltraFit 64GB USB 3.0 flash key. Amazing device.
I use an HDMI monitor when doing longer coding sessions.
Device cost me $150 on eBay and around $25 for the USB key.
I use the free http://komodoide.com/komodo-edit/ as my editor.
If you feel like taking the plunge and converting from ChromeOS to Xubuntu, these two links may help:
BIOS changes: https://blogs.fsfe.org/the_unconventional/2014/09/19/c720-coreboot/
Xubuntu distribution: https://www.distroshare.com/distros/get/14/
Good luck and enjoy!
Here's a candid admission first -- that I know zilch about RTOS or Embedded programming, so folks who know better may help me frame the query more appropriately.
What would be the minimal FOSS RTOS (or any OS for that matter) with support for TCP/IP, SSL, USB and some basic file-system for low-end ARM devices like Cortex-M3's ?
Have not ruled out something like ARM9/ARM7TDMI, so an RTOS that has "optional" MMU support, may be a major plus. We are at present dabbling with few uncertainities like precise processor, MMU/no-MMU, running completely head-less (no display), however I wanted to start a little ramp-up.
Would gladly answer counter questions to clarify the requirement.
I believe that eCOS has support for all you need and is scalable.
Alternatively you could build from a self-selected kit of parts; choosing independent RTOS, filesystem, USB, etc. From different sources, and integrating them yourself.
I'm in the research phase of my next computer build. I have the idea in my head of running a hypervisor as the base of the system, but i would want to be able to take a shot at programming opencl with one of the OS's installed on the hypervisor...and maybe some gaming. Would i have enough access to the GPU to be able to achieve this effectively, or am i better off installing an OS that i will do development(and gaming) from and then just virtualize any systems on top of that?
what are your recommendations for a hypervisor, vmware, microsoft or other?
sidenote: Recently graduated with a BS in CS, the massive parallel processing seems like a good idea of something to learn, won't be doing any 'real'/major development work. also, i'm aware that CUDA is more mature in it's development, but i'm sticking with opencl for a few reasons, so please don't try to persuade me.
thanks for your input!
dave k.
whats your focus? Virtualisation or OpenCL?
Hak5 did a nice walkthrough of debian based virtualisation environment ProxMox, but I don't know whether it allows virtual hosts hardware access or OpenCL virtualisation.
All
I've a Good Command over C++, But I've never done anything anything on device programming. I've some basic understanding on Digital Logic Design. But I am complete Noob in Electronics. Currently I am getting huge interest on microcontroller Programming.
Where To Start ?
I don't think one really needs to have huge amount of knowledge on electronics to run a program on a microcontroller.
I am using Linux. and I've downloaded Keil. never tried to run it through Wine. I've ran it in Windows. But how the code works is not completely clear to me. though I can understand Logic as its written in C. But Its still like a Fog to me.I Just need a Quick Kickstart.
SO is not the best site to ask this kind of question. There's really a large distinction between programming for a PC and programming for an embedded system, other SE sites specialize in physical computing. I got this email from Robert Cartaino on Tuesday:
...Barring any last-minute interest from
[chiphacker.com], we will be launching [electronics.stackexchange.com]
either tomorrow [Wednesday 9/22] or
Thursday.
So, go commit to electronics.stackexchange.com here, and browse chiphacker.com while you wait. Take a look at these questions on Chiphacker:
How to become an embedded software developer?
Steps to learning Arduino Programming
PIC Programming
What are the best beginner project[s] using an arduino
There are a few things you should consider when planning your entry path to embedded systems programming.
What do you want to do?
What do you know how to do?
How fast are you comfortable learning?
I've outlined a few options in the following paragraphs.
You tagged your question linux-device-driver, does this mean that you want to make a custom device to use in Linux? If you meant embedded-linux, then you're into a larger class of microcontrollers. I suggest that you look at the BeagleBoard, also look at this Chiphacker question for some other options. If you want to do embedded linux, and want to build your own board, you'll first need to build up some experience in simpler levels of embedded systems design.
You also tagged your question avr, which is a popular microcontroller class made by Atmel (check out the avrfreaks forum for more info). I started learning embedded systems on the ATmega324p; they really have great documentation, are easy to use, and there are more sites online for the avr than most any other processor.
If you want an easier learning curve, I suggest taking a look at the Arduino environment. It uses Wiring, which is very similar to C/C++, and the Arduino can be enhanced with 'shields', which are modules that can be plugged into the Arduino main board to add functionality. This is your Quick Kickstart.
A good learning path would be to get familiar with the Arduino, then build your own AVR board (possibly a Linux device, like a joystick), then work with an ARM-based development kit, and finally move on to to building your own embedded linux board. You can skip a few steps if you don't mind a steep learning curve, or stop at any point along the way if a given level's capabilities satisfy your needs. You don't necessarily need a "huge amount of knowledge on electronics to run a program on a microcontroller", it's true, but you should understand some basic things like voltage and current before you try to light an LED or connect two devices.
Finally, you said in your question that you've installed the Keil IDE. While this is a fine and rather popular IDE, I'd suggest that you learn using a gcc-based command line toolchain. There are a staggering number of ways in which things that can go wrong when working with embedded systems, and an IDE adds a layer of magic on top of everything that happens. While this can be nice, I'm a strong advocate of minimizing the magic when trying to learn the system. You need to understand the low-level stuff when things don't work automagically. This advice doesn't apply when using the Arduino, which is designed to (and does) make all of the automagical stuff work well.
sparkfun.com has a lot of boards, arduino family and other. I recommend the armmite pro, the lillypad instead of the arduino pro because there is no soldering involved, for either you will need/want the correct usb to serial/power. The mbed2 costs a little more, the blue leds are brutal on the eyes, but easy to use. For none of the above are you required to play in their sandbox, you can use the canned environment, etc but not required.
if it is linux development you are after I recommend the hawkboard.org over the beagleboard.org, to make the beagleboard useable costs about twice as much as the board itself, the hawkboard is usable by only buying something to power it. But you can just learn linux drivers on your desktop/laptop and dont need to mess with embedded necessarily.
Emulators are a good start. Qemu is good stuff, emulates a number of processors, great for emulating virtual linux systems, learning linux driver development, etc. But getting visibility into what the (virtual/emulated) processor is doing is not the goal. I find it useful to have visibility. gdb includes a few emulators as well. mame is loaded with them, but like qemu designed for fast emulation and not for education. visual boy advance is good. Emulation is never perfect, so eventually you want to run on hardware, but emulators and compiler tools are free and you can learn quite a bit before you have to buy hardware. There is a considerable amount you cannot learn from an emulator though, loading your programs into flash/ram, debugging using jtag or other interfaces. i2c, spi, etc.
I would like to develop a Network Inventory application that works on any operating system.
Reports on every possible resource attacehd to a network.
Reports all pertinent details of hardware and software.
Thats (and i hate to use the phrase) my "End Game".
However I am running before i can crawl here.
I have no experience of this type of development, e.g. discovering a computers hardware and software settings.
I've spent almost two weeks googling and come up short! :-(.
So I am turning to you to ask these questions:-
My first step is to find an existing open source project i can incorporate into my own code that extracts the fine grained details i am after, e.g. EVERYTHING there is to know about the hardaware and software on a single machine.
Does this project exist? or do i have to develop that first?
Have i got to write all this in C?
I am guessing getting this information about a computer is going to be easier than for printers, scanners, routers etc... e.g. everything else you would find attached to a network.
Once i have access to a single computers details i then need to investigate how i can traverse an entire newtork of printers, scanners, routers, load balancers, switches, firewalls, workstations, servers, storeage devices, laptops, monitors, the list goes on and on
One problem i have is i dont have a 1000 machine newtork to play on!
Is there any such resource available on theinternet? (is that a silly question?)
Anywho, if you dont ask you wont find out!
One aspect iam really looking forward to finding out how to travers the entire network,
should i be using TCP/IP for this?
Whats a good site, blog, usergorup, book for TCP/IP development?
How do i go about getting through firewalls?
How many questions can i ask in one go? :-)
My previous question on this topic ended up with PYTHON being championed as the language/script to go with to develop this application in.
Having looked at a few PYTHON examples they all seemed to be related to WINDOWS networks
and interrogating Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). I had the feeling you cant rely on whats in WMI, and even if you can that s no good for UNIX netwrks.
Surely there exist common code for extracting hardware and software details from a computer? Why cant i find it on the internet?
Pease help?
Theres no prizes though :-(
Thanks in advance
I would like to appologise if i have broken forum rules or not tried hard enough on my own before asking for assistance.
I just would like to start moving forward with this as its one of the best projects i have been involved with.
I am inspired by the many differnt number of challenges involved and that if i manage to produce a useful application at the end of it it would hopefully be extremely helpful to many people.
That sit
Thanks in advance
DD
as a software vendor of a discovery solution, I can just say: Respect, that you want to start a new one :-). Just in case you are interested in what it could look like: http://www.jdisc.com
Now to some of our experience:
Programming Language:
I wouldn't write it in C. Use Java or .NET. Those languages have great advantages when it comes to tracking down errors or problems. For instance, in Java (and I guess also in .NET), you can see the stack trace when something is failing. For some pieces of code (e.g. WMI access), you might need to use C++ or C (e.g. access to native APIs from Microsoft). Use a native interface or a COM bridge from Java. In .NET, it should even be easier to access the Windows APIs).
Devices:
well, network printers, router, and switches are actually easier to discover. They usually expose their information via SNMP. SNMP is pretty easy to use and pretty robust. Getting information from Windows (or even Unix) systems is a bit trickier. Protocols can be blocked, misconfigured, messed up... We had cases, where WMI was simply hanging when requesting data from a remote device.
Test Devices:
Since we are also a smaller company, we also do not have 1000 different devices to test with. But, there are some things that might help:
a) For SNMP devices use a SNMP simulator. We use MIMIC 9.0 from Gambit Solutions and we are pretty happy with it. You can import SNMP walks from network devices and simulate the device as if it would be in your network.
b) Secondly, use virtualization whenever possible. With VMware, you can install Windows, Linux, or even Solaris. We also use a project called GNS3 to emulate Cisco Routers, Firewalls or Juniper routers.
c)You can test the rest of the devices only, if you have a customer that helps you with testing and implementing new devices.
This are just some ideas to start with. But I have to tell you, that it is not trivial and it takes a lot of time....
Hope that you got some ideas to start with...
I don't know that it's open source, but we use Spiceworks (http://www.spiceworks.com) here as an IT management platform. You may get some use out of exploring that.