ClearSpeed SDK Specifications
The ClearSpeed Software Development Kit (SDK) allows developers to write code to utilize the acceleration of the Advance boards.
Tools
The SDK consists of the following tools:
- Command line tool driver providing a standard interface to the other compilation tools
- ANSI C-based cross compiler for the CSX600
- Industry-standard GDB source-level debugger
- Macro assembler
- Linker
- Dynamic loader
- Object file tools (archiver/librarian, dump/disassemble, etc.)
- Instruction-set simulator
The ClearSpeed Cn language is based on ANSI C with extensions to support the data-parallel architecture of the CSX600. The main addition to standard C is the definition of mono (scalar) and poly (parallel) data types.
The Cn compiler supports inline assembler, pragmas for controlling data layout, and vector instructions.
Libraries
The SDK includes the following standard C libraries. Most libraries include support for mono and poly data. These libraries are based on the Newlib open-source library.
- Standard utility functions (stdlib.h)
- Character type functions and macros (ctype.h)
- Standard input and output (stdio.h)
- String and memory functions (string.h)
- Wide character strings (wchar.h)
- Locale functions (locale.h)
- Math functions (math.h)
- Random Number Generator
- Vector Math Library
Note that not all functions in these libraries are implemented as some do not make sense for a coprocessor or embedded processor.
In addition, a set of extra libraries are included which support architecture-specific features.
- Debug printing functions (dprint.h)
- Memory transfer functions (string_ext.h, async_string.h)
- Inter-PE communication functions (swazzle.h)
- Thread support (semaphore.h)
- Other functions (misc.h)
The Cn compiler also supports a set of intrinsics for operating on vector data to allow more efficient exploitation of the floating-point pipeline.
Documentation
The ClearSpeed Advance Accelerator Board comes complete with installation guide and release notes. In addition, the SDK has the following set of documentation:
- Getting Started Guide — introduces the SDK and the Cn language
- SDK Reference Manual — describes all the tools and programming languages
- Debugging with GDB — the standard GDB user guide
- Standard Libraries Reference Manual — documentation of all the functions in the standard libraries
- Instruction Set Reference Manual — defines the CSX600 instruction set
The SDK also comes with a number of example source code programs.
Compatibility
The ClearSpeed SDK is currently supported on the following platforms:
| IA32 (x86) | AMD64/EM64T(x86-64) | |
|---|---|---|
| SUSE Enterprise Linux 9 |  |
|
| RedHat Enterprise Linux 3 | |
|
| RedHat Enterprise Linux 4 | |
|
| Microsoft Windows* | |
|
*This includes Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2003 32-bit, Windows Compute Cluster 64-bit and Windows 2003 64-bit.
Obtaining the SDK
Only developers who have purchased the SDK can download the developer package from the ClearSpeed Support website (support.clearspeed.com). You will be provided with a login account in order to download the developer package.
The SDK is provided with a single-user floating license. This is managed by the FLEXlm license manager. To allow multiple concurrent users, the appropriate number of licenses must be purchased. Time limited evaluation licenses are also available. No license is required, and no royalties payable, on any software developed with the SDK. Note that the Cn standard libraries are licensed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) or similar terms and any software linked with those libraries must comply with those license terms.
This package is available as tarballs for Linux or as zip files for Windows. Once you have downloaded the installation packages, you should use tar on Linux, or a suitable unzip program on Windows, to unpack the contents. The release notes and installation instructions will be placed in the docsdirectory. Each of the individual components can then be installed as described in the appropriate installation documents. Latest software download details found here.
Further information