>How secure are Intel's and Wind River's positions as the I2O pilot and co-pilot?
Very. And here's why.
The risk that I2O royalties under-perform our hopes and expectations has rested exclusively with possibility that I2O fails as a pervasive I/O standard. Were that to happen, then royalties from Intel and any expectation of receiving royalties from other sources would never become significant for WIND. Instead, if every chip maker begins making their version of I2O chips, and in particular their version of chips that integrate I2O with other functionality, then WIND investor should be thrilled, irrespective of whether we get a piece of each of these actions. In very simple terms, WIND is in bed with the world's largest chip-maker, and if it turns out that I2O succeeds as a standard, then WIND wins huge because Intel will get more than its fair share of the I2O chip business.
For I2O to succeed, it must be an open standard. Intel knew that from the outset, or else it would not have instigated the I2O SIG. WIND knows that, indeed they use the same tactic on their flagship product, Tornado. Being the dominate provider of a healthy, growing market is vastly better than being the sole provider of any high-tech niche.
Now, having said that, and knowing that WIND investors sometimes want it all, what would you do if you decided you wanted to enter the I2O chip business, either as an add-on to an existing processor or as a stand-alone chip? You will need a substitute for IxWorks - one that will be acceptable to the industry, with appropriate development tools, etc. Might I suggest that you talk with WIND about incorporating a version of IxWorks. Intel did, and they are regarded in many circles as quite knowledgeable about these things.
In other words, expect that WIND will be involved in many aspects of I2O, not just Intel's i960R series of chips.
>Can I2O be implemented without an RTOS?
Yes, at least to some extent. As I understand it, the I2O standard mostly specifies message handling functionality. An RTOS would only be required if some kind of data handling itself required deterministic timing, which can usually be avoided using flow control mechanisms.
>What are the i960Hx and i960Cx processors?
The i960 family of embedded processors from Intel implement a menu of selectable capabilities. As far as I know, out-of-the-box IxWorks only works with the RP and RD varieties. Perhaps Dave Lehenky can shed more light on possibilities of an IxWorks being implemented on other i960 chips.
Allen |
