Games Platform Technologies (Part 1)- Hardware

Contents
Human-computer interface ................................................................................................................ 1 Communications medium ................................................................................................................... 2 Central processor unit (CPU)............................................................................................................... 2 Types ............................................................................................................................................... 2 Speed; ............................................................................................................................................. 3 The Cache ........................................................................................................................................ 3 The Front Side Bus .......................................................................................................................... 3 System Memory or RAM (Random Access Memory)...................................................................... 3 SRAM, DRAM, Flash or unified memory ........................................................................................ 4 The Rest of the System ................................................................................................................... 5 Overclocking.................................................................................................................................... 5 Graphic processor: .............................................................................................................................. 5 Nurbs Pixels and Polygons .............................................................................................................. 5 Display ................................................................................................................................................. 6 Sound .................................................................................................................................................. 6 Game storage medium ....................................................................................................................... 6 Power supply....................................................................................................................................... 6

Human-computer interface
HCI (human-computer interaction) is the study of how people interact with computers and to what extent computers are or are not developed for successful interaction with human beings. The user interface can be o an on screen menu driven , o Graphical User Interface (GUI), o command driven or o natural language interface Interface devices how you communicate with the games platform o Interface devices game devices, eg paddle, joystick, keyboard, joypad, mouse, wheel, pedals, eye toy Ports use a variety of ports including USB, fire wire, parallel, VGA, DVI,HDMI. Controller ports Media communications processor (MCP) the device that manages the computer communications ports i.e. USB/ parallel etc. 1

Communications medium Wireless, cabled etc., Modem (analogue to digital and back again); ergonomic design the science of designing things to fit the human form button configurations grouping functions and being consistent, touch screen, user-centred design test pilots Portability light weight, robust, small etc.

Communications medium
Platforms can be stand-alone Wireless, cabled etc., Modem for internet access (analogue to digital and back again). Controller ports can be wireless broadband enabled or cabled some have Bluetooth capability for connecting at v short range where others can be arranged in in a LAN (local area network either cabled or Wi-Fi) or as part of a WAN (wide area Network utilising the internet). Some platforms make use of 3G for roaming where others may WAP or GPRS technologies.

Central processor unit (CPU)

Meaning of CPU Central Processing Unit, is the brains of the computer. Sometimes referred to simply as the processor or central processor, the CPU is where most calculations take place. In terms of computing power, the CPU is the most important element of a computer system. On large machines, CPUs require one or more printed circuit boards. On personal computers and small workstations, the CPU is housed in a single chip called a microprocessor. Two typical components of a CPU are: The arithmetic logic unit (ALU), which performs arithmetic and logical operations. The control unit, which extracts instructions from memory and decodes and executes them, calling on the ALU when necessary. The term "Central processing unit" is, in general terms, a functional description of a certain class of programmable logic machines. This broad definition can easily be applied to many early computers that existed long before the term "CPU" ever came into widespread usage

Types
IBM, Intel and AMD are the pioneers in the field of microprocessor manufacturing. All these latest computer processor gained immense popularity after the 1980s as there was great development in the field of computers and technology. Intel 4004 was the first ever single-chip 4-bit microprocessor and it was released on November 15, 1971. The first 8bit processor was 8008 and it released on April 1, 1972. Processors such as Intel 8080, 8085, 8086, 8088, 80186, 80188 and 80286 followed in the forthcoming decade. The 80s saw the rise of 32-bit processors namely, the Intel 80386, 80376, 80486. Next came the landmark Pentium series of Intel. Pentium I, II, Celeron, III and IV processors proved to be effective too and found a lot of customers worldwide. In fact, personal computer systems became affordable after the Pentium III processor came into existence. 64-bit generators were created by Intel under

the Core Series. Core 2 Duo Processor, Intel Dual Core Processors etc are now used by many people all over the world. AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) entered the scene of microprocessor devices in the 1975 with the AM 2900 series. AM 2901 to 2914 were manufactured in the same year followed by 29000 microprocessors from 1987-95. AMD came up with high end microprocessors in the year 2003 with the production of the K8 series which included the Opteron Processor, Athlon 64, Turion Processors, Athlon 64 X2 and Turion 64 X2 families. The Phenom family was released in 2008 and was followed with upgraded versions such as Phenom X3 and Phenom II series. AMD has planned to come up with the Fusion microprocessor which combines general processor execution with 3D geometry processing and all other functions of GPUs together. This is being produced by AMD with the collaboration of ATI.

Speed;
The CPU speed, or processor speed, is the amount of cycles that a CPU can perform per second. This is otherwise known as a Hertz. For example, one Hertz means that one cycle can be completed in one second. A megahertz means that one million cycles can be completed in a second. A gigahertz, the most common form of processor speed, means that one billion cycles can be completed per second. Modern CPUs typically have multiple cores, such as dual-core, quad-core, and even 6-core CPUs. This multiplies the amount of cycles a CPU can make per second, as each core can perform its cycles in parallel to the other cores. Thats just one way two CPUs both rated at 2Ghz, for example, can still have different real speeds. If one has more core than the other it can do more in less time. There are other elements of CPU architecture that factor in its real world speed, however.

The Cache
A cache enables the CPU to access recently used information very quickly. A cache significantly affects CPU performance. Generally speaking, the larger the cache, the better the system performance boost. However, this is not always the case. A cache operates at a certain speed, just like the CPUs core. Some caches operate at the full speed of the CPU, while others operate at half that speed or less. A small cache that operates at full speed may be much more useful than a cache that is twice as large but operates at only half the speed of the CPU.

The Front Side Bus

The Front Side Bus (FSB) is the connection between the CPU and system memory. The Front Side Bus operates at a speed that is a percentage of the CPU clock speed. The faster the speed at which the Front Side Bus allows data transfer, the better the CPU performance.

System Memory or RAM (Random Access Memory)

RAM is used by the CPU to temporarily store data during calculations. It is therefore accessed many times a second and as RAM has an access speed faster RAM means that the CPU has to wait less 3

often for data. This effectively makes the CPU faster. The amount of system memory or capacity matters as well. The more system memory is available more applications can run at the same time, requiring less reliance on swapping, or the use of hard drive space for virtual memory. Swapping can seriously affect the performance of the system because hard drives have far lower access speeds than RAM. Capacity is typically measured in Mega or Giga Bytes, speed in MHz or GHz.

SRAM, DRAM, Flash or unified memory

Early RAM or RAM used for Cache is called Static random access SRAM. This memory uses multiple transistors, typically four to six, for each memory cell but doesn't have a capacitor in each cell. It is used primarily for cache. Modern RAM used has memory cells with a paired transistor and capacitor requiring constant refreshing (i.e. it is dynamic) it is called Dynamic RAM or DRAM The following are some common types of DRAM: SDRAM: Synchronous dynamic random access memory improves performance by staying on the row containing the requested bit and moving rapidly through the columns. The idea is that most of the time the data needed by the CPU will be in sequence and therefore accessed quicker DDR SDRAM: Double data rate synchronous dynamic RAM is just like SDRAM except that is has higher bandwidth, meaning greater speed (for DDR SDRAM 133 MHZ). RDRAM: Rambus dynamic random access memory is a radical departure from the previous DRAM architecture. Designed by Rambus, RDRAM makes use of a special high-speed data bus called the Rambus channel. CMOS RAM: a term for the small amount of memory used by your computer and some other devices to remember things like hard disk settings. This memory uses a small battery to provide it with the power it needs to maintain the memory contents. VRAM: VideoRAM, also known as multiport dynamic random access memory (MPDRAM), is a type of RAM used specifically for video adapters or 3-D accelerators. VRAM is located on the graphics card. The amount of VRAM is a determining factor in the resolution and color depth of the display. VRAM is also used to hold graphics-specific information such as 3-D geometry data and texture maps. True multiport VRAM tends to be expensive, so today, many graphics cards use SGRAM (synchronous graphics RAM) instead. Performance is nearly the same, but SGRAM is cheaper. Flash memory is a non-volatile i.e. remains even after the electric charge has been removed (unlike RAM) therefore it has to be has limitations with erase speed and is therefore used infrequently as system memory. Unified Memory is a new concept of memory technology which integrates DRAM and Flash memory together to implement multiple functions. The integration is expected to help reduce cost while 4

increasing memory density. With this technology, the time required for storing data (writing) into Flash memory is said to be reduced to as little as one second, compared to the longer writing time current technology requires. The new unified-RAM (URAM) is considered the next-generation fusion memory technology with a wide scope of applications, such as in digital TVs and on mobile devices, where multi-functions and high-performance are required. The technology is also expected to help accelerate and lead core technology for the memory industry

The Rest of the System

Everything in the system affects total system performance, from the rotational speed and access time of the hard disk drive to the speed of video RAM (Random Access Memory) and the GPU (Graphical Processing Unit) in the graphics card.

Overclocking
While a CPU is intended to run safely at a certain clock rate set by the manufacturer, it can often support even greater rates, and these maximum values are typically published by manufacturers for those who would wish to force the CPU to run faster. Overclocking, however, carries some risks. Since it typically involves pushing the CPU to operate beyond the rates deemed safe by the manufacturer, even if the CPU can theoretically handle them, it can cause the CPU to give off more heat, and in the process possibly lower its life span. More heat can also lead to some instability in its operation. This is why overclockers typically fit better cooling mechanisms on their CPUs to further help cool the CPU.

Graphic processor:
A graphics processing unit or GPU (also occasionally called visual processing unit or VPU) is a dedicated graphics rendering device for a personal computer, workstation, or game console. Modern GPUs are very efficient at manipulating and displaying computer graphics, and their highly parallel structure makes them more effective than general-purpose CPUs for a range of complex algorithms. A GPU can sit on top of a video card, or it can be integrated directly into the motherboard. In more than 90% of desktop and notebook computers integrated GPUs are usually far less powerful than their add-in counterparts. The processor is designed specifically to perform floating-point calculations, which are fundamental to 3D graphics. The main attributes of the GPU are the core clock frequency, which typically ranges from 250 MHz to 4 GHz and the number of pipelines (vertex and fragment shaders), which translate a 3D image characterized by vertices and lines into a 2D image formed by pixels. A dedicated Graphics card is the most powerful and fastest and renders graphics quickly an on board graphics card uses some of the RAM and is therefore less efficient. There are some blended solutions that use RAM when the dedicated card is unable to cope with the load.

Nurbs Pixels and Polygons

A drawing can be madeup of individual pixels but this demands a high level of processing and results in lag as each frame is built. A more efficient way is to render or draw the model using Non-Rational Bezier Spline (NURB). This is a way of representing a three dimensional shape as a mathematical equation computers handle maths very well meaning you can have a very smooth curve instead of a bunch of discrete points (or triangles) that you have with a polygon. NURBS are great for 5

modelling curved surfacespolygons are better suited for primitives or instances where you really need to mind the complexity of your model.

Figure 1 - Modelled with Polygons (left) and Nurbs (right)

Display
built-in external liquid crystal (LC) colour; monochrome

Sound
Sound cards audio processor mono/ stereo/ 3D/surround Channels/ sampling rate

Game storage medium

proprietary/ standard flash memory/SD/ universal media disc (UMD)/digital versatile disc (DVD)/optical disc/ magnetic tape internal/ external Speed/ size advantages and disadvantages antipiracy

Power supply
internal battery/ external source