Author: James B. Shearer
Date: 19:39:24 05/19/99
Go up one level in this thread
On May 19, 1999 at 08:37:00, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>On May 19, 1999 at 01:37:52, James B. Shearer wrote:
>>
>> Perhaps we are referring to different things. I was talking about the
>>program running on the host processor (RS/6000 for deep blue, IBM PC for Hsu's
>>new chip) which does the top plies of the search and feeds positions to the
>>chess chip. Writing this program from scratch would require substantial effort.
>
>no reason to 'write it from scratch'. It already exists. The only endian
>issue I see is between the host and the chess processor, and since the chess
>processor sits on the PCI bus, the interface on the circuit board can do the
>byte-swapping stuff needed to make the endian issue disappear... Which means
>that the 'stock' DB software could be re-used (the code supporting the chess
>processors, etc).
There are potentially other endian issues. It is easy enough to write
a program which only runs correctly on big (or little) endian machines. Perhaps
the "stock" DB has no such dependencies but it is not a given.
>
>>All of these start up costs require financing. I think Hsu will find it
>>difficult to raise sufficient funds since the revenue potential for a custom
>>chip based chess program is in my opinion insufficient to make this an
>>attractive investment.
>> James B. Shearer
>
>It sounds to me like a 'done deal'. IE he says "I have a start-up ..."
>not "I am testing the water to see if I can get a start-up funded and ..."
Actually he said "forming" which does not indicate a "done deal" to me.
Also a start-up can be "formed" without complete funding.
James B. Shearer
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