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Showing posts from June, 2013

OpenCL Starter

Hi guys.. Its time to understand some parallel programming. OpenCL seems to be the best candidate in this area. Being its specification fully open and adaptable to different  hardware platforms there is a huge leap towards it.       Parallel programming means taming parallel hardware... Mmm.. offcourse GPUs are the easily accessible parallel things...then comes the FPGAs.. then some mighty DSP processors... and also 32-64 core processing units... etc:.... So OpenCL specification is available for all above platforms. Vendors like Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, Altera, Tilera have already come forward with their SDKs for harnessing parallel beasts... So why don't join the league..  ??? As a user what u can do is to identify a platform cost effective to you.. and start coding.. You are in luck if u have some AMD ATi HD5400 series or above graphic card sitting silently (roaring mostly.. :) ) in your PC and an x86 CPU. What u will need is just some free software packages.. And adding the luc

USB-UART console using old nokia DKU-5 datacable. (3.3v TTL)

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Hi all.. lets do another beautiful DIY device... It will be a USB-UART dongle using Nokia Data Adapter DKU-5. What is it ??? A USB-UART dongle mimics a serial COM on PC. So... modern PCs lack DB-9 RS232 ports , but has plenty of USB ports. So there comes a lot of needs while you want to connect some boards ( Embedded linux boards, android TV boxes, Raspberry Pi, Beagle Board, FPGA kits, router/modem, HAM radio (ICOM/BAOFENG)  ) to your PC for low level debugging or programming. Since UART being the simplest of communications, all these board have a 3.3v or 5v TTL UART header to be hooked up... This header may consist of a Vcc,Tx,Rx,Gnd pins at one of above TTL voltages. So what we need to connect here is a UART- USB converter. Ebay can help you with cheap converters.. But it doesn't have the beauty of a DIY. So what i need ?? 1. Old DKU-5 nokia data adapter (CA-42 also works, but i had a DKU-5 only) 2. Some wires , soldering iron, strippers etc.. By luck CA-42