Resources for NVidia Tegra 2

NVidia Tegra 2 is currently one of the most powerful processor used in smartphones and tablets such as the upcoming LG Optimus 2X smartphone or the new version of Samsung Galaxy Tab.

NVidia describes the processor as follows:

NVIDIA® Tegra™ 2 is the world’s most advanced mobile processor, featuring the world’s first mobile dual-core CPU for up to 2x faster Web browsing; the world’s only ultra-low power (ULP) NVIDIA® GeForce® GPU for up to 5x faster gaming; and the world’s first mobile 1080p HD video processor for flawless HD video conferencing and playback. Get never-before-seen experiences on a mobile device with NVIDIA Tegra.

NVidia Tegra 2 is based on a dual core Cortex A9 running up to 1GHz, supports 32-bit DDR2 RAM and features NVidia Geforce GPU with OpenGL ES 2.0 support.

Contrary to many other companies finding the development kit, documentations and tools is straightforward. Once you get to the NVIDIA Tegra 2 Page, click on Developper Zone and download the supported operating systems:

OS Image (for NVIDIA development hardware ONLY)	Host Platform	Last update	Size	Link
Android 2.2 (Froyo)	Windows XP/Vista/7	11/11/10	478kB 71.1MB	PDF MSI
Android 2.2 (Froyo)	Linux	11/11/10	478kB 63.4MB	PDF RUN
Linux For Tegra (L4T) Release (kernel 2.6.32; git tag tegra-10.9.3)	Linux	10/29/10	1,082kB 121.9MB	PDF RUN
Linux For Tegra (L4T) Release (kernel 2.6.32; git tag tegra-10.8.2)	Linux	09/03/10	1,050kB 124.6MB	PDF RUN
Linux For Tegra (L4T) Release (kernel 2.6.32; git tag tegra-10.7.2)	Linux	08/10/10	1,052kB 126.5MB	PDF RUN
Unofficial Linux Support (Ubuntu, Gentoo, Fedora etc)	Linux	Ongoing	N/A	URL
Windows CE 6*	Windows XP/Vista/7	02/01/10	1.02MB 34.1MB	PDF MSI

The development documents and guides:

Title	Target OS	Last update	Size	Link
Tegra Android Setup Guide	Android	11/20/10	1.2MB	PDF
Tegra Hardware Introduction & Detailed Setup Guide	All	02/01/10	1.9MB	PDF
Android Upcoming Device Preparation Guide	Android	10/29/10	N/A	URL
Android Accelerometer Whitepaper	Android	11/11/10	983kB	PDF
Developing shader-based OpenGL ES 2.0 applications on the Tegra platform: An OS-independent tutorial providing details of the capabilities of the Tegra OpenGL ES 2.0 hardware and driver.	All	02/01/10	516kB	PDF
GameSauce 2010 slides and audio recordings. Speakers from NVIDIA, Adobe, China Mobile, Stonetrip, Allegorithmic and Unity.	All	08/13/10	N/A	URL
GDC 2010 Tegra presentation “Developing Killer Content For Advanced Mobile Platforms	All	04/01/10	N/A	URL

Some sample code:

Title	Target OS	Last update	Size	Link
Android NDK sample applications and documentation (NV_EVENT, accelerometer, audio, JNI performance, OpenGL ES 2.0 and multitouch)	Android	11/24/10	10.6MB	ZIP
Windows CE 6 OpenGL ES 2.0 sample applications	Windows CE	01/15/10	285kB	ZIP
Tegra Khronos Application SDK for Windows CE 6 with Windows XP/Vista/7 OpenGL ES 2.0 emulator	Windows CE	03/12/10	643kB 55.8MB	PDF MSI

and the development tools:

Title	Target OS	Last update	Size	Link
NVIDIA PerfHUD ES rendering analysis tool documentation & host machine installers	Android, Linux	08/10/10	N/A 845.7kB 12.5MB 1.7MB 1.7MB 9.5MB	Info URL PDF Windows Linux 32bit Linux 64bit Mac
NVIDIA Debug Manager for debugging Android NDK applications in Eclipse (supports NDK r4b; NDK r5 support coming soon)	Android	12/17/10	5.0MB 860kB	ZIP PDF
GDB debugging guide for setting up and debugging Android NDK based applications from within Eclipse	Android	10/11/10	6.2MB	ZIP
Setup files and guide to profiling and application analysis with oprofile	Android	05/02/10	44.6MB	ZIP
x86 Windows OpenGL ES 2.0 Emulator	Windows XP/Vista/7	15/01/10	478kB 4.3MB	PDF MSI

If you want to follow any updates for the OS, documents and SDK, I recommend you follow NVidia on twitter @ http://twitter.com/nvidiadeveloper although you’ll also receive updates for all their PC graphics card as well.

If you have any questions you can also visit the Tegra Forum which is relatively active.

If you need Tegra hardware for development, you’ll need to register with NVidia and they’ll reply within 7 to 10 days so that you can get the reference design for 399 USD. This is apparently only available for developers in the US and Canada.

For more detailed information check out NVidia Tegra 250 Developer Kit Hardware Introduction and Setup PDF.

Once retail products hit the market, you might just buy one of the phones or tablets to develop on it and I’m sure xda-developers will also take care of tuning and adding features to those devices.

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