Mali400
Mali-400 MP (Mali400 for short) is a GPU (Graphics Processor Unit) from ARM Ltd. (ARM Holdings plc), designed for embedded systems.[1][2]
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Overview
The Mali series of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) are semiconductor intellectual property cores produced by ARM Holdings for licensing in various ASIC (Application-specific integrated circuit) designs by ARM partners. The core is mainly developed by ARM Norway, at the former Falanx company site.
Like other embedded IP cores for 3D support, the Mali GPU does not feature display controllers driving monitors (such as the combination often found in common video cards). Instead it is a pure 3D engine that renders graphics into memory and hands the rendered image over to another core that handles the display.
ARM supplies tools to help in authoring OpenGL ES shaders named Mali GPU Shader Development Studio and Mali GPU User Interface Engine.
All Mali400 GPU Variants conform to OpenGL ES 1.1 & 2.0 as well as OpenVG 1.1.
Variants:
The Mali core grew out of the cores previously produced by Falanx and currently constitute:
| Name | GPU Cores | CPU Level 2 cache size | Allwinner implementations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mali-400 MP | 1 | 256 KiB | A10 (sun4i), A10s (sun5i), and A13 (sun5i) |
| Mali-400 MP2 | 2 | 256 KiB | A20 (sun7i), A23 (sun8i), A33, H3 (sun8i), A64 A64 |
More information can be found on the ARM website.
Driver
Binary driver
For information on the binary driver, please refer to the binary driver installation guide.
Lima driver (Open Source)
Lima is a project to develop a completely open source graphics driver which supports ARM's Mali-200 and Mali-400 GPUs. This is a work in progress and not yet ready for general use.
The aim of this driver and others such as freedreno is to finally bring all the advantages of open source software to ARM SoC graphics drivers. Currently, the sole availability of binary drivers is increasing development and maintenance overhead, while also reducing portability, compatibility and limiting choice. Anyone who has dealt with GPU support on ARM, be it for a linux with a GNU stack, or for an android, knows the pain of dealing with these binaries.
See also
References
- ↑ http://www.cnx-software.com/2013/01/19/gpus-comparison-arm-mali-vs-vivante-gcxxx-vs-powervr-sgx-vs-nvidia-geforce-ulp/ GPUs Comparison: ARM Mali vs Vivante GCxxx vs PowerVR SGX vs Nvidia Geforce ULP
- ↑ http://blog.thinkteletronics.com/all-mobile-socsolutions/ All Mobile Soc/Solutions.
