X window system servers in embedded systems

The MIT X window system architecture is composed of two major components: the client and the server. The server, the graphics algorithm component, lends itself well to being incorporated in an embedded system design. This could be either an accelerator board for a standard hardware bus or a standalone terminal design. In general, the X server has two drastically different functions to perform. The first is the set of graphics primitives and operators that work on the video and offscreen memory areas. The second is large sections of general-purpose code that needs to be executed before the server can determine what graphics functions to perform. The development of low-cost, high-performance reduced-instruction-set-computer (RISC) processors plays an important role in providing a good technical solution for the embedded X window system server. RISC parts can be used very effectively to address the needs of embedded X server terminal configurations. A pure RISC part, such as the AMD 29000 or Intel 80960 is ideal for the single-bit-per-pixel systems.<>