Clang 20 Compiler Adds Support For Xtensa CPU Target

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  • phoronix
    Administrator
    • Jan 2007
    • 67373

    Clang 20 Compiler Adds Support For Xtensa CPU Target

    Phoronix: Clang 20 Compiler Adds Support For Xtensa CPU Target

    Back in early 2023 an Xtensa back-end was added to LLVM for the Cadence Tensilica Xtensa IP. Xtensa is used for DSPs, micro-controllers, and this 32-bit RISC architecture is also used for other hardware like data processing engines. Two years after the LLVM back-end was introduced, the Clang C/C++ compiler has added Xtensa target support...

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  • blackshard
    Senior Member
    • Oct 2009
    • 603

    #2
    Xtensa is extremely popular, since it is used in the ESP8266 and ESP32 chips, which are the de-facto standard in the IoT world

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    • caligula
      Senior Member
      • Jan 2014
      • 3342

      #3
      Originally posted by blackshard View Post
      Xtensa is extremely popular, since it is used in the ESP8266 and ESP32 chips, which are the de-facto standard in the IoT world
      Hasn't it been mostly closed source? I think one of the issues with ESP/ESP32 is that the SDK and dev toolchain were closed source unlike Arduino / STMIcro / RPi MCUs..

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      • Raka555
        Junior Member
        • Nov 2018
        • 681

        #4
        I am already waiting for the announcement that it will be dropped because of bit-rot ...

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        • Gamer1227
          Phoronix Member
          • Mar 2024
          • 68

          #5
          Originally posted by blackshard View Post
          Xtensa is extremely popular, since it is used in the ESP8266 and ESP32 chips, which are the de-facto standard in the IoT world
          For the next few years.

          ESP has stopped developing new Xtensa chips a few years, now only doing RISC-V. Actually lots of niche ISAs have been dying recently, thanks to RISC-V being very modular and allowing custom instructions.

          I wonder for how long they will keep producing the Xtensa products, to support legacy code.

          Comment

          • Jumbotron
            Senior Member
            • Jul 2015
            • 1262

            #6
            So am I just hallucinating but didn’t a while ago AMD partnered with Tensilica for their audio DSP to be integrated into AMD SoCs ?

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            • klokik
              Junior Member
              • May 2018
              • 38

              #7
              Don't forget all the current Intel and AMD SoCs using Xtensa HiFi Audio DSPs running Sound Open Firmware

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              • Developer12
                Senior Member
                • Dec 2019
                • 1584

                #8
                Originally posted by caligula View Post

                Hasn't it been mostly closed source? I think one of the issues with ESP/ESP32 is that the SDK and dev toolchain were closed source unlike Arduino / STMIcro / RPi MCUs..
                The SDK is 100% open source with two (really one) exception: The wifi/bluetooth driver.

                That's changing though. At CCC this year was a presentation on the rapidly-maturing reverse-engineered wifi driver for the ESP's wifi. After letting the blob do radio calibration (still a very complex job) they can now send and receive packets over wifi.

                Incidentally, this effort is largely (entirely?) written in rust, which might explain why LLVM support for the ESP's CPU came a year before it was added to clang. You don't need clang support to target the ESP with rust, only basic LLVM backend support.

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                • Developer12
                  Senior Member
                  • Dec 2019
                  • 1584

                  #9
                  Originally posted by Gamer1227 View Post

                  For the next few years.

                  ESP has stopped developing new Xtensa chips a few years, now only doing RISC-V. Actually lots of niche ISAs have been dying recently, thanks to RISC-V being very modular and allowing custom instructions.

                  I wonder for how long they will keep producing the Xtensa products, to support legacy code.
                  The RISC-V versions of the chips haven't seen as much uptake or traction. RISC-V is still very niche.

                  Comment

                  • Developer12
                    Senior Member
                    • Dec 2019
                    • 1584

                    #10
                    Leave it to Michael to be completely ignorant of the most popular embedded processor made since the AVR atmega328p. There are ungodly numbers of ESP32s being made and deployed, all using xtensa CPUs. There is literally nothing else in the market.

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