Summary of VX/MVX Visualization Stuff

[David Hucaby]

Here's a bit of a scoop on the VX/MVX package soon to be released from Sun
for those of you who asked: (This first part is more or less quoted from a
glossy brochure that's available from your local Sun person)

The VX:	

o i860 processor running at 40 MHz (80 peak single-prec MFLOPS, 60 peak
  double-prec MFLOPS), 40 MIPS, 160 MB/sec pixel display rate.

o Dual frame buffer: 16 MB 32-bit VX frame buffer & 2 MB 8-bit GX frame
  buffer with digital combination of the two; Five 256x24 color LUT's (one
  dedicated to GX frame buffer); 4 MB program/data memory

o Multiple VX windows integrate into OpenWindows

o VX frame buffer is reconfigurable: 24-bit true color w/ 8-bit alpha, 4
  independent 8-bit channels, 8-bit GX frame buffer overlay

o Comes as either 1280x1024 @ 76 Hz (using 21" color monitor) or 1152x900
  @ 66 Hz (using existing 19" monitor)

o Single VME slot required

The MVX:

o Four (yes, 4) i860 processors at 40 MHz; this gives 160 MIPS, 320 peak
  single-prec MFLOPS, 240 double-prec MFLOPS, and 160 MB/sec pixel display
  rate.

o Four (yes, 4) MBytes of memory per processor (16 MB total)

o MVX is an add-on accelerator - you must have VX board already.

o Single VME slot required; must be adjacent to VX slot.

VX/MVX Buses:

o VXD block transfer bus: data transfer between VX & MVX at 320 MB/sec on a
  128-bit bus

o VXC random access bus: eliminates VME overhead with a dedicated 40 MB/sec
  32-bit control bus

VX & MVX Software:

o Accelerates Sun platform software libraries: SunIPLib (SunVision),
  SunARTLib (SunVision), and XGL.

o Accelerates SunVision visualization tools: SunVoxel, SunIP, SunART, SunGV
  (geometry viewing), and SunMovie.

o Compatible with SunVision SunVIP visualization user interface.

o Includes complete set of C developer's tools [I'll get to that in a
  minute.]

o This all requires at least SunOS 4.1 and OpenWindows 2.0.

===

Just from the glossy, it looks like you can get the VX (and MVX) for the
following systems:

	+ SPARCstation 330VX w/ 21" monitor
	+ SPARCstation 470VX w/ 21" monitor
	+ VX board add-on for SPARCstation 330, 370, and 470
	+ VX board, 21" monitor, keyboard for SPARCserver 390 & 490.
	+ MVX board add-on for VX configured systems

Now for the finer details: I talked with Sun in North Carolina (where the
VX/MVX was designed, and found out the following:

o The VX/MVX is not shipping until around May 1991. However, a Sun white
  paper is coming out real-soon-now (as of 02/19/91, it's still not ready)
  describing the VX/MVX.

o SunVision 1.1 comes shipped with the VX. SunVision 1.0 DOES NOT support
  the VX (it only works with the GX), so the 1.1 version is needed.

o As for the C developer's tools: the VX Visualization Pack comes with an
  i860 C compiler, linker, loader, debugger, and the standard Unix style C
  tools and standard libraries. However, the pack also includes a tasking
  and communications library for multiprocessor development on the MVX. As I
  understand, this is not a dynamic load-balancing kind of tasking library,
  but it does allow you to develop software that can use the processors on
  the VX/MVX independently and still communicate with each other. The
  communications library deals with downloading code to the VX/MVX, etc.

o Lastly, today's phone call to Sun revealed that the VX has been designed
  for stereo. However, when the first boards ship, stereo will not be
  supported due to insufficient testing. As I understand it, the first
  boards will be equipped to do stereo, but we won't be able to use it until
  around the end of 1991 or start 1992...

==

There it is - the VX/MVX summary as I see it. Don't take me too literally
on the details, as I've gotten some things by phone, and I probably don't
understand enough to be understood. Also, I have no connection with Sun,
so I'm sorry if I revealed anything that shouldn't have been. This looks
like a neat package, and I'm anxious to get one!!

   _________                     David Hucaby 
       /    \  _        ____     University of Kentucky MRI Center
      /     / /_\ \  / /___      800 Rose Street, HM103
_____/_____/ /   \ \/ /___       Lexington, Kentucky  40536-0084