XiP Filesystem Primps For Linux 2.6.28

nerdyH writes "The Linux-Embedded discussion list has been abuzz the last two days over a flash filesystem designed to support binary code execution (sometimes called XIP, or "execute-in-place"). When combined with forthcoming "Phase Change Memory" products from Intel/ST JV Numonyx, the "Advanced XiP Filesystem" (AXFS) could radically change Linux systems of all kinds, replacing Flash, hard drives, and even DRAM with a single chunk of low-cost, non-volatile memory that can both store files and serve as a platform for program execution."

Comments

Interesting question....

[allaunjsilverfox2]

As processor caches increase, could you use this to run the kernel from the processor caches? Intel based processor caches will soon exceed 6mb. Just a idea.

nothing to see here

[QX-Mat]

unless you're an embedded dev, nothing to see, move along.

the slowest part of the intel cpu cycle is decode - but before your cpu processes streams of op codes for decode you have to load the executable image into ram and then run the dynamic linker. the dynamic linker needs to parse every the segment to be worthwhile, otherwise you'll hit the linker each time you load a segment that's slightly interesting (weaker the symbols/IAT, the more likely) only to find out you didn't need to causing jitter.

its one of those "ill believe it when i see it" performance gains

Matt

This comment is not very well wrote.

[suck_burners_rice]

That would be really cool because it is currently a waste that programs need to take up twice as much "memory" as their actual size: Once for the amount it takes up on the hard drive (or flash or whatever) and once for the copy loaded into memory when you run the damn thing. It would be very, extremely cool if memory didn't wear out like flash currently does after so many writes and whatnot, and if it were plentiful and cheap, and execute-in-place and whatnot. This would actually be a bit more in line with how Joe Sixpacks view their computers. They'll have a billion gigs of free hard drive space and 640 bytes of available RAM (that's enough for anyone, isn't it?) and then a program says, "Out of memory" and they go, "Duh, what the hell? I got a billion gigs of free space!" Or another Joe Luser has a hard drive so full of pr0n that there's about three bits of available space (not even a whole byte) but he has ten gigs of RAM. So the damn thing says, "Device full" or whatever Windoze says when there ain't no more space, and he goes, "Duh, but I got ten gigs of memory!" If it were all one big huge string of memory like the way it was envisioned with Turing machines, then although computers wouldn't make one bit of sense more to these Sixpacks fellows than they do now, at least the terminology will be correct with respect to the whole memory thing.