AM35x-OMAP35x Graphics SDK Getting Started Guide

Content is no longer maintained and is being kept for reference only!

Introduction to the Graphics Engine

Content is no longer maintained and is being kept for reference only!

TI SOCs like AM335x (Sitara SOCs) are enabled with 3D cores, capable of accelerating 3D operations with dedicated hardware. The dedicated hardware is based on SGX series of devices from Imagination Technologies. The graphics cores only accelerate graphics operations, and do not perform video decode operations. For video acceleration, refer to respective Technical Reference Manuals for the SOCs.

The APIs that are accelerated with this hardware are,

- OpenGL ES1.1

- OpenGL ES2.0

Note that OpenVG 1.1 is deprecated.

In order to program and use the Graphics Engine, one of the above APIs need to be used. The APIs can be used to create standalone applications, but is typically used as a back-end to accelerate various higher level application frameworks like Android, Qt, Xorg. The enablers for these frameworks are described in more detail in next sections.

Since the 3D accelerator (SGX core) is outside the ARM core, the Graphics drivers run on ARM core, and contain OS specific driver code to memory map the SGX core and program the engine from the OS running on the ARM core.

TI provides a Graphics SDK, that comes with drivers and example code for developing software based on the OpenGL-ES APIs. This page discusses the software aspects of programming the 3D hardware, using the Graphics SDK, from code running on the ARM.

Overview

Below table lists the various TI families supported by this SDK, and the SGX core information

TI System on Chips, and SGX cores

TI SOC Name	SGX Core	SGX Core Revision	SDK folder suffix	Max SGX Core Frequency (MHz)
OMAP35xx, AM35xx Rev.2.0	SGX530	1.0.3	es2.x	110
OMAP35xx, AM35xx Rev.3.1	SGX530	1.2.1	es3.x	110
AM37xx, DM37xx	SGX530	1.2.5	es5.x	200
AM387x, C6A814x	SGX530	1.2.5	es6.x	200
AM389x, C6A816x	SGX530	1.2.5	es6.x	333
AM335x	SGX530	1.2.5	es8.x	200

Use the procedure in below link

http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/GSG:_AM35x_and_OMAP35x_Rebuilding_the_Software#How_to_check_for_SGX_core_revision

to determine the right version to install at run time.

Download Information for TI SGX Graphics SDK

The latest Linux Graphics SDK can be downloaded from the below link. The download does not require any registration.

http://software-dl.ti.com/dsps/dsps_public_sw/sdo_sb/targetcontent/gfxsdk/latest/index_FDS.html

The latest Android Graphics SDK can be downloaded from the below project pages.

http://code.google.com/p/rowboat/ (or) Directly via git, using

git clone git://gitorious.org/rowboat/ti_android_sgx_sdk.git TI_Android_SGX_SDK

Graphics SDK Quick Installation Guide

The below page discusses how to get started on the Graphics SDK, and includes debugging information.

http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/Graphics_SDK_Quick_installation_and_user_guide

Release Notes

• Release notes for all Linux Graphics SDK releases are maintained in this page.

• Release notes for all Android Graphics SDK releases are maintained in this page.

Debugging SGX Issues

This SGXDbg article provides step-by-step instructions for debugging SGX driver issues.

Additional information

The following pages provide additional information that applies to a variety of platforms, including the OMAP35x:

• OMAP35x Graphics SDK Known Issues and Limitations lists issues related to the Graphics SDK software till 3.01.00.01 Graphics SDK version. For releases after 3.01.00.01 Graphics SDK version please refer to the release notes.
• For users who are on on the EZSDK 5.00.00.56 release and would like to update to the latest graphics SDK release 04.03.00.02 in their current EZSDK setup/installation, please review the upgrade instructions here.