Ralf,
> The LinuxThreads add-on which is considered to be standard part of
> Linux glibc implementations uses ll/sc.
Warning: you and I know these instructions are valuable. But NEC
believed (and perhaps still believe) that ll/sc are for
multiprocessors only, and in pursuit of this belief the Vr4100 core
has omitted these instructions. Vr4100 is the flagship of NEC's
MIPS-on-a-chip activities...
I'm not at all convinced that those 32-bit CPUs which claim 'MIPS-2'
(R3900, miniRISC4010) implement ll/sc either. Anyone in possession of
the manuals may like to correct me if they do.
Moral, directed at MIPS Technologies: if you're going to put a cute
feature on your CPU, why not explain why it was a good idea in words
which mere hardware engineers can understand.
Dominic Sweetman
dom@algor.co.uk
|