Texas Memory Systems XP-15 User Manual

XP -15 Vector Processor

User Guide

Any trademarks or registered trademarks used in this document belong to the companies that own them.
Copyright © 2001, Texas Memory Systems, Inc. All rights are reserved. No part of this work may be

reproduced or used in any form or by any means - graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems - without permission of the copyright owner.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Introduction ........................................................................................................................1-1

1.1 Related Texts.................................................................................................................................... 1-1

1.2 Typographical Conventions ...............................................................................................................1-1

Chapter 2 - Overview ..............................................................................................................................2-1

Chapter 3 - Installation ..........................................................................................................................3-1

3.1 Installing the XP -15 Hardware..........................................................................................................3-1

3.1.1 Jumper Settings ..........................................................................................................................3-1

3.1.2 Installing the XP -15 in a Computer ............................................................................................. 3-1

3.2 Installing the XP -15 Software............................................................................................................3-1

3.2.1 Tru64 (Digital Unix) Installation ................................................................................................3-1

3.3 Running the XP-15 Confidence Test ..................................................................................................3-2

3.3.1 Diagnostic Confidence Test .........................................................................................................3-2

3.3.2 Programming Example Confidence Test...................................................................................... 3-3

Chapter 4 - X-Midas Programming Example: XTMIC ......................................................................... 4-1

4.1 Overview ...........................................................................................................................................4-1

4.2 Running the XTMIC Example........................................................................................................... 4-1

Appendix A – XP -15 Confidence Test................................................................................................... A-1

Appendix B – PCI Local Bus Specifications........................................................................................ B-1

Appendix C – XP -15 Hardware Control and Status Registers .......................................................... C-1

XP-15 User Guide Texas Memory Systems, Inc. (8/ 6/01) i

Chapter 1 - Introduction

The XP-15 vector processor is a PCI card that can be installed in a workstation and that delivers
SuperComputer-class vector processing performance. This document is concerned with the installation and
set-up of the XP-15.

Chapter 2 gives an overview of the functionality of the XP-15. Chapter 3 describes the hardware and
software installation of the XP-15. Chapter 4 describes a programming example for the XP-15 for use in an
X-Midas environment.

1.1 Related Texts

The following Texas Memory Systems user documentation may be useful for reference purposes:
TM-44 Programming Overview

VP Scientific Math Library Reference Manual

1.2 Typographical Conventions

Text within this document is typed in the same typeface as this paragraph. User input and information is in
the same typeface as the word filename in the example below:

Filename

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Chapter 2 - Overview

The XP-15 is a high-performance vector processor implemented on a single card suitable for installing in a
PCI Local Bus card slot in a general-purpose computer. The XP-15 is based on the 8 GFLOPS TM-44 DSP
chip from Texas Memory Systems and includes four 32 MB banks of fast local memory. The XP-15 is
programmed by making calls to move data from host memory to XP-15 local memory, to perform one or more
vector processing operations on the data, and to move results back to host memory. There are more than
400 such function calls available to the XP-15 programmer; detailed specifications for these functions can be
found in the VP Scientific Math Library Reference Manual, and an introduction to XP-15 programming
techniques can be found in the TM-44 Programming Overview.

Although many computer systems provide PCI Local Bus card slots, a driver for the XP15 is currently
available for computer systems from Compaq under Tru64 version 5.1 only. Accordingly, this document
covers the installation and checkout of an XP-15 in a Compaq Alpha-based computer system under Tru64.

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Chapter 3 - Installation

The XP-15 vector processor has currently been tested in the following computer platforms:

q Compaq ALPHASERVER ES40.
q Compaq ALPHASERVER DS10.

XP-15 Software is currently available for the following operating system revisions:

q TRU64 (Digital Unix) 5.1

3.1 Installing the XP-15 Hardware

3.1.1 Jumper Settings

The XP-15 has no user -selectable jumpers.

3.1.2 Installing the XP-15 in a Computer

Power-off the computer system. Select a suitable vacant PCI slot and remove the faceplate. Insert the XP15
card firmly into the vacant slot. Lock down the XP15 faceplate using the screw that previously held in the
blank faceplate.

3.2 Installing the XP-15 Software

XP-15 software is delivered on CDROM. This chapter describes the steps that should be used to install the
software. The account that performs the installation must have certain system privileges, and is normally
the system account.

Release notes for the delivered version of the XP-15 hardware and software are included on the CDROM in a
file called README.TXT. This file lists enhancements since the previous version, known hardware and
software deficiencies, documentation errors, and other information not included in the manuals.

3.2.1 Tru64 (Digital Unix) Installation

Log on to the computer with system privileges, this is normally root. Insert and mount the CDROM using a
command along the lines of the one below:

# mount –r /dev/disk/cdrom0c /cdrom

There are two script files located on the CDROM, one is to load the user software and the other is to load the
XP15 driver. First load the user software as follows:

# cd /cdrom change directory to the CDROM mount point
# ./install_software invoke the software install script

The script will run and will ask questions about where the software is located and where to install it on the
host machine. A typical run is shown below with normal user responses underlined.

Installing Texas Memory Systems XP15 USER software

Are you installing the software on a Compaq Tru64 system (y/n)?yes

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Enter the mount point of the CDROM - /cdrom

What directory do you want to install the XP-15 software to - /usr/tms

The XP15 software will be installed from /cdrom to /usr/tms
Is this correct (y/n)?yes

Installing the XP15 software.

Finished installing the USER part of the XP15 software.

The final step in installing the XP15 is to install the driver using a script that also asks a few questions. A
typical run is shown, again with user responses underlined.

#cd /cdrom
#./install_driver

Installing Texas Memory Systems XP15 DRIVER software

Are you installing the DRIVER software on a Compaq Tru64 system (y/n)?yes

Enter the mount point of the CDROM - /cdrom

The XP15 driver software will be install from /cdrom
Copy driver source
Add path to driver source files
Create make and make the driver
Create soft links
Update system configuration and load the XP15 driver

You need to reboot the system to make the new driver available

Do you want to reboot the system now (y/n)?yes

3.3 Running the XP-15 Confidence Test

The XP-15 confidence test is a two-stage process, starting with a simple diagnostic test followed by running a
simple programming example.

3.3.1 Diagnostic Confidence Test

The XP-15 diagnostic is located in the $TMS/bin directory that was installed from the cdrom and is called
XPMON. XPMON has many features and commands, but the one command that tests the basic operation of
the XP-15 is the T99 command. A sample run is shown, the XP-15 to be tested is /dev/xp0.

$xpmon –d /dev/xp0

XP-15 Diagnostic Monitor v1.0

XP-15 device “/dev/xp0” opened successfully

Allocating host data buffers:
DMA write buffer size = 0x2000000 bytes
DMA read buffer size = 0x2000000 bytes

Verbosity set to HIGH

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