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Single-Chip Linux Computer

Posted by michael on from the but-does-it-run...-yes-it-does dept.

goombah99 writes "Axis Computer has announced a single-chip Linux-based computer that integrates 2MB Flash, 8MB SDRAM and an Ethernet transceiver into a single chip with a 27mm x 27mm footprint. 'Just add power to the chip and you have a Linux computer with network connection.' It runs the Linux 2.4 kernel without any patches. The announcement says the chip is 'available' but the tech specs are labeled as preliminary, and the order form on the web site is broken, so it's hard to confirm if it is out yet or not. Some specifications in html and pdf are available at the company's web site."

9 of 217 comments (clear)

  1. You know... by craenor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Add some BlueTooth and you might finally have a decent platform to run all those household appliances you've been wanting to network at home. Interesting possibilities at least...

    1. Re:You know... by Listen+Up · · Score: 3, Insightful


      Dumbass, typical male.
      Here is the truth to all of you lonely geeks out there. A woman has to love you for who you are. Period. I am engaged to get married to a very, very beautiful girl. She loves me for a million reasons, but one of the most important reasons is because of my intelligence. Not all women want a stupid, dipshit male who only knows how to party, act stupid, pretend he is great, and have the intelligent conversations of an 8 year old who has managed to stumble into his 20's (or 30's unfortunately for some). I never thought I would stand a chance with the girl I am love with. Every guy I knew (and a lot I didn't know) at college wanted her. I worked up the nerve to ask her out one night. I thought to myself "I should be cool and fun like all of the other guys...DON'T TOUCH THE COMPUTER...TALK ABOUT FUN, PARTYING, STUPID SHIT. BE FUN AND STUPID." But, then I said "You know what...f*ck it...if she doesn't love me for who I am then I won't be able to spend the rest of my life with her anyways." The first night we were together we spent all evening talking about Mesopotamian history and the roots of Eastern philosophy. Then I fixed her laptop so she could save her homework for lecture in the morning (we were still in college when we met). Stupid woman are fun for about 1 date (where the conversation is about as intelligent as..."what's you favorite color? What's your favorite music?"). Then it's like "...duhhh...*twists hair on finger*...what are you, some kind of computer geek? This isn't any fun...What's so fun about playing on the computer? I'm going to go hang out, you wanna come with?..." To which I think to myself, "fuc*ing a, this chick sucks..." Do you know what is more of a turn-on than getting Linux to boot on your computer, running a cluster in your lab, and/or kickin hardcore code? An intelligent woman who loves your brains, appreciates your passion for programming (and passions for everything else), and who really gets into you for who you are and for what you love. Wire up your house like the article talks about. Love your life. Be true to yourself always. Your soulmate will be there.
      PS-Since I have met my soulmate (who happens to be one of the smartest people I know...date the smart girls (and/or the artistic females if that type of person also completes you, but they can still be very smart people so they are awesome people too), they are a ton more fun and a ton more beautiful than anyone who is attractive on looks alone), my friends have all taken my advice and one of them is also engaged to get married (and his fiance' is damn smart just like him, she is really cool). And trust me...NOT all smart girls are fat or ugly. My soulmate certainly isn't fat or ugly...and neither is my bestfriends fiance' (and soulmate as I have been told by both of them :-). Not in the slightest.

  2. Re:enough of the 1990 hardware!! by PetiePooo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Also from the article..

    The overall approach is one suited for connectivity rather than computation, supports data transfer rates of up to 200 Mbit/s (100 Mbit Ethernet full duplex), as well as a wide range of network device applications.

    At only 100MIPS, I wouldn't want to use it in a laptop/notebook. Intel, AMD and Transmeta make better chipc for that. This one wouldn't have the computational power.

    Great technology, yes. It would make a rockin' embedded system, and could serve up static web pages fast enough to saturate a 100MB pipe. I'll be keeping an eye on it for any future applications I can dream of..

  3. Re:enough of the 1990 hardware!! by swb · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'd agree on the parallel port complaint, but a lot of stuff out there that won't be going away for years still uses serial ports. I'm not a programmer, but I'd wager that good ol RS232 is a simpler interface to work with than USB and probably more robust over longer runs. I don't think something like this was designed for replacing your desktop.

  4. Christ you people are stupid. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So many complaints about the "obsolete" hardware - FUCKING DUH! It's a system-on-a-chip, running a common OS that is relatively easy to write software for, using tried-and-true peripheral technology and with enough horsepower to be used in all manner of embedded systems.

    Sure, you wouldn't use it in a laptop or even a PDA, but that's not the target -- it can be used anywhere you need a simple PC to do simple tasks, but you don't want the huge and power-hungry old 386 you've got sitting in your closet/warehouse.

    The thing's running Linux and is capable of networking for fuck's sake. Use your imagination.

  5. versus PC104 by Hayzeus · · Score: 3, Insightful
    The developer board at $299 (with no support) looks pretty reasonable, although you can get a more capable PC-104 board for the same price.

    Still,given the feature set and the low power consumption this is a pretty appealing package, but I think even the embedded the applications are somewhat limited.

    --

    Roving Web-Teleoperated Robot
  6. Is it an ARM? by brejc8 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It doesnt want to say what processor it is.
    All I can see is that it is a RISC (what isnt) and has 15 x 32bit registers.
    Sounds like an ARM ut why dont they say so.

    --
    Mouse powered Chips, Open source Processors and Lego
    1. Re:Is it an ARM? by bmetzler · · Score: 3, Insightful
      All I can see is that it is a RISC (what isnt) and has 15 x 32bit registers.

      The technical page said that it was a mips.

      -Brent
  7. Re:Cell computing anyone? by Koos+Baster · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's probably a crazy idea, but at 27x27mm you could fit over 50 of these on an atx PCB. And that's still 2D, stacked you could easily fit a hundred in a litre (though heat may be a problem even with embedded harware like this one).

    Of course, compared to desktop computers these tinies have far from impressive specs (see: rants by others), but power isn't necessesarily measured in terms of Mhz/GBs. Power can come in numbers as well. And in that case, price per piece is more important, as well as Watt/instruction and physical size.

    Now let's see about bulk prices...

    ---
    The prospects for high-end PCs are far overrated