http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/09/wsj-qualcomm-could-spend-over-30-billion-to-acquire-nxp-semiconductor/ Are we all supposed to finally shut everything down, use tablets and stay still while spoon fed - if entitled to the latter, that is. Dimiter ------------------------------------------------------ Dimiter Popoff, TGI http://www.tgi-sci.com ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.flickr.com/photos/didi_tgi/
What a nightmare...
Started by ●September 30, 2016
Reply by ●September 30, 20162016-09-30
Dimiter_Popoff wrote:> http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/09/wsj-qualcomm-could-spend-over-30-billion-to-acquire-nxp-semiconductor/ > > Are we all supposed to finally shut everything down, use tablets and > stay still while spoon fed - if entitled to the latter, that is. > > Dimiter > > ------------------------------------------------------ > Dimiter Popoff, TGI http://www.tgi-sci.com > ------------------------------------------------------ > http://www.flickr.com/photos/didi_tgi/They'll probably keep the Cortex-Ms flowing, but I'd be surprised if the heavier duty stuff they got from Freescale survives that acquisition. Hope no one's relying on POWER. -- Rob Gaddi, Highland Technology -- www.highlandtechnology.com Email address domain is currently out of order. See above to fix.
Reply by ●September 30, 20162016-09-30
On 30.9.2016 г. 19:28, Rob Gaddi wrote:> Dimiter_Popoff wrote: > >> http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/09/wsj-qualcomm-could-spend-over-30-billion-to-acquire-nxp-semiconductor/ >> >> Are we all supposed to finally shut everything down, use tablets and >> stay still while spoon fed - if entitled to the latter, that is. >> >> Dimiter >> >> ------------------------------------------------------ >> Dimiter Popoff, TGI http://www.tgi-sci.com >> ------------------------------------------------------ >> http://www.flickr.com/photos/didi_tgi/ > > They'll probably keep the Cortex-Ms flowing, but I'd be surprised if the > heavier duty stuff they got from Freescale survives that acquisition. > Hope no one's relying on POWER. >Well I have been relying on Power for 15+ years now. And for whatever they may keep - don't expect to see anything more than a few marketing blah-blah on a product page (they'll keep calling that sort of thing a "datasheet" though). Dimiter
Reply by ●September 30, 20162016-09-30
On 9/30/2016 3:14 AM, Dimiter_Popoff wrote:> http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/09/wsj-qualcomm-could-spend-over-30-billion-to-acquire-nxp-semiconductor/ > > Are we all supposed to finally shut everything down, use tablets and > stay still while spoon fed - if entitled to the latter, that is.I'm not sure about the meaning of your complaint. This Qualcomm move worries me because Qualcomm seems to have a single-minded mission for something huge and I'm not sure what it is. The worry is that they seem willing to bulldoze anything that doesn't serve that mission. JJS
Reply by ●October 1, 20162016-10-01
On 30.9.2016 г. 21:32, John Speth wrote:> On 9/30/2016 3:14 AM, Dimiter_Popoff wrote: >> http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/09/wsj-qualcomm-could-spend-over-30-billion-to-acquire-nxp-semiconductor/ >> >> >> Are we all supposed to finally shut everything down, use tablets and >> stay still while spoon fed - if entitled to the latter, that is. > > I'm not sure about the meaning of your complaint. This Qualcomm move > worries me because Qualcomm seems to have a single-minded mission for > something huge and I'm not sure what it is. The worry is that they seem > willing to bulldoze anything that doesn't serve that mission. > > JJSI wish it were a complaint - there is no one to complain to so it is just a moan I suppose. Slashing all of the large processors which have remained available on the market for non politburo members is a big deal for me, life and death really. On top of that about half of *any* processors now on the market will vanish overnight for virtually all users on this group. Dimiter ------------------------------------------------------ Dimiter Popoff, TGI http://www.tgi-sci.com ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.flickr.com/photos/didi_tgi/
Reply by ●October 1, 20162016-10-01
Hi Dimiter, On 9/30/2016 3:14 AM, Dimiter_Popoff wrote:> http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/09/wsj-qualcomm-could-spend-over-30-billion-to-acquire-nxp-semiconductor/ > > Are we all supposed to finally shut everything down, use tablets and > stay still while spoon fed - if entitled to the latter, that is.<frown> I suggest you consider preparing for the possibility of doing an end-of-life buy on the PPC's! [A downside of tying your implementation too tightly to that family]
Reply by ●October 2, 20162016-10-02
On 01.10.2016 г. 20:39, Don Y wrote:> Hi Dimiter, > > On 9/30/2016 3:14 AM, Dimiter_Popoff wrote: >> http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/09/wsj-qualcomm-could-spend-over-30-billion-to-acquire-nxp-semiconductor/ >> >> >> Are we all supposed to finally shut everything down, use tablets and >> stay still while spoon fed - if entitled to the latter, that is. > > <frown> I suggest you consider preparing for the possibility of doing > an end-of-life buy on the PPC's! > > [A downside of tying your implementation too tightly to that family]Hi Don, while I could do that with the 5200b the "family" thing is no help whatsoever. I know of no similar part being sourced by more than one maker so when they kill it that is it. It is still different, I can still buy parts Motorola has released 25 years ago - and this will come to an abrupt end should qualcomm buy nxp/freescale. Then I have plans for the t1042 (t1040) - how do you replace that? There just are no processors of that complexity & power on the market from anyone else, thus qualcomming them means an end to the processor market as we know it. Unless you are a politburo member so you are entitled to data on a part you are just out in the cold. Then how long do you thing it will take for TI and the rest to get qualcommed (by whoever). I guess we'll all have to learn to herd cattle or something. Someone somewhere has decided to put an end to uncontrolled computer development - and I don't think we can do a damn thing about it. Dimiter ------------------------------------------------------ Dimiter Popoff, TGI http://www.tgi-sci.com ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.flickr.com/photos/didi_tgi/
Reply by ●October 2, 20162016-10-02
On 10/1/2016 10:34 PM, Dimiter_Popoff wrote:> On 01.10.2016 г. 20:39, Don Y wrote: >> Hi Dimiter, >> >> On 9/30/2016 3:14 AM, Dimiter_Popoff wrote: >>> http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/09/wsj-qualcomm-could-spend-over-30-billion-to-acquire-nxp-semiconductor/ >>> >>> >>> >>> Are we all supposed to finally shut everything down, use tablets and >>> stay still while spoon fed - if entitled to the latter, that is. >> >> <frown> I suggest you consider preparing for the possibility of doing >> an end-of-life buy on the PPC's! >> >> [A downside of tying your implementation too tightly to that family] > > while I could do that with the 5200b the "family" thing is no help > whatsoever. I know of no similar part being sourced by more than one > maker so when they kill it that is it. It is still different, I can > still buy parts Motorola has released 25 years ago - and this will > come to an abrupt end should qualcomm buy nxp/freescale.There's never a "guarantee of supply", regardless of the component involved! Ages ago, you designed in parts based on the availability of second sources -- to provide some pricing leverage as well as some supply reassurances. Nowadays, most "advanced" devices are sole source so there is NO "drop in replacement" available from an alternate vendor, etc. My point was to consider the possibility that they may announce the device(s) you are using will be discontinued. And, perhaps, budget for one "final buy" when that time comes: "I use N of these per year and need to be able to sell the existing design for Y years so I'll order N*Y+e of THIS PARTICULAR COMPONENT" (Note that you don't have to buy all of the parts to build N*Y units as many of the components will continue to remain available, hopefully.) This buys you Y years to come up with a replacement (enhanced) design without risking losing sales in the interim (due to the unavailability of those KEY parts).> Then I have plans for the t1042 (t1040) - how do you replace that?I'm sure you'll be able to find "equivalent" components (in terms of capabilities, if not packaging). The problem will be that they (almost assuredly!) won't run PPC binaries. Hence my comment about being wed to the PPC family in your design...> There just are no processors of that complexity & power on the market > from anyone else, thus qualcomming them means an end to the processor > market as we know it. Unless you are a politburo member so you are > entitled to data on a part you are just out in the cold. > Then how long do you thing it will take for TI and the rest to get > qualcommed (by whoever). > I guess we'll all have to learn to herd cattle or something. Someone > somewhere has decided to put an end to uncontrolled computer > development - and I don't think we can do a damn thing about it.I see fewer and fewer firms designing component level systems. Instead, it seems that the processor/core comes from a "module vendor" and firms just add I/O signal conditioning. Folks being more concerned with whether or not they can "start debugging code TODAY" than fine-tuning the hardware to their specific design requirements. I've yet to finalize on a particular set of components as I'm hoping to ride the evolutionary wave forward until all my designs are done; then bind the designs to a particular set of components available/affordable at THAT time. Sort of avoiding the "premature optimization" that is inherent in selecting a hardware implementation.
Reply by ●October 2, 20162016-10-02
On 02.10.2016 г. 10:55, Don Y wrote:> On 10/1/2016 10:34 PM, Dimiter_Popoff wrote: >> On 01.10.2016 г. 20:39, Don Y wrote: >>> Hi Dimiter, >>> >>> On 9/30/2016 3:14 AM, Dimiter_Popoff wrote: >>>> http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/09/wsj-qualcomm-could-spend-over-30-billion-to-acquire-nxp-semiconductor/ >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Are we all supposed to finally shut everything down, use tablets and >>>> stay still while spoon fed - if entitled to the latter, that is. >>> >>> <frown> I suggest you consider preparing for the possibility of doing >>> an end-of-life buy on the PPC's! >>> >>> [A downside of tying your implementation too tightly to that family] >> >> while I could do that with the 5200b the "family" thing is no help >> whatsoever. I know of no similar part being sourced by more than one >> maker so when they kill it that is it. It is still different, I can >> still buy parts Motorola has released 25 years ago - and this will >> come to an abrupt end should qualcomm buy nxp/freescale. > > There's never a "guarantee of supply", regardless of the component > involved! Ages ago, you designed in parts based on the availability of > second sources -- to provide some pricing leverage as well as some > supply reassurances. Nowadays, most "advanced" devices are sole source > so there is NO "drop in replacement" available from an alternate > vendor, etc. > > My point was to consider the possibility that they may announce > the device(s) you are using will be discontinued. And, perhaps, > budget for one "final buy" when that time comes: > "I use N of these per year and need to be able to sell the > existing design for Y years so I'll order N*Y+e of THIS PARTICULAR > COMPONENT" > > (Note that you don't have to buy all of the parts to build N*Y units > as many of the components will continue to remain available, hopefully.) > > This buys you Y years to come up with a replacement (enhanced) design > without risking losing sales in the interim (due to the unavailability of > those KEY parts).Hi Don, I got that, in fact I had bought some processors when NXP bought Freescale, now I'll have to buy some more.> >> Then I have plans for the t1042 (t1040) - how do you replace that? > > I'm sure you'll be able to find "equivalent" components (in terms of > capabilities, if not packaging). The problem will be that they (almost > assuredly!) won't run PPC binaries. Hence my comment about being wed > to the PPC family in your design...I am far less sure one can find that than you are. Porting to another architecture is not prohibitive for me, I did make vpa some 16 years ago to move from 68k (cpu32) to PPC and now the vpa (virtual processor assembly) compiler (well I guess it is a compiler and not an assembler in spite of the language name) can be prepared for another architecture more or less in a straight forward manner. BUT, where is going this _documented_ part to come from? Right now there is none on the market - and it would be insane to hope this will improve. Second, it will feel like a huge waste having to go down from power to an inferior architecture - ARM, x86, MIPS etc. Survivable but not nice at all.> >> There just are no processors of that complexity & power on the market >> from anyone else, thus qualcomming them means an end to the processor >> market as we know it. Unless you are a politburo member so you are >> entitled to data on a part you are just out in the cold. >> Then how long do you thing it will take for TI and the rest to get >> qualcommed (by whoever). >> I guess we'll all have to learn to herd cattle or something. Someone >> somewhere has decided to put an end to uncontrolled computer >> development - and I don't think we can do a damn thing about it. > > I see fewer and fewer firms designing component level systems. > Instead, it seems that the processor/core comes from a "module > vendor" and firms just add I/O signal conditioning. Folks > being more concerned with whether or not they can "start > debugging code TODAY" than fine-tuning the hardware to their specific > design requirements. > > I've yet to finalize on a particular set of components as I'm hoping to > ride the evolutionary wave forward until all my designs are done; then > bind the designs to a particular set of components available/affordable > at THAT time. Sort of avoiding the "premature optimization" that > is inherent in selecting a hardware implementation.Just to warn you - don't be so sure you will find *any* part with enough documentation unless you are fine with one of those who remain in busyness - Microchip are still there and... not many others I think. STM perhaps. Renesas - I don't know how documented their stuff is, perhaps it is. But none of these makes any parts large enough to compare to Freescale's QorIQ series, none comes even close. So unless the Freescale part of NXP get sold to someone else willing to continue the job and just the rest of NXP get qualcommed we are pretty much doomed, all of us here. Unless one has his own silicon house one is just out of the computer trade within just a few years - and at least I cannot think of having one - being as small as I am. Dimiter ------------------------------------------------------ Dimiter Popoff, TGI http://www.tgi-sci.com ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.flickr.com/photos/didi_tgi/
Reply by ●October 2, 20162016-10-02
