View source for Migrating from x86 architecture to Naon

==Introduction==
Computational power achievable by system-on-chips built around Cortex-A8 processor make them an appealing solution for several applications that historically have been implemented on x86-based systems.

This article, written as a list of commonly asked questions, aims to help system integrators and developers who are used to work on x86-based machines to make a sort of comparison between these two different approaches in order to ease the migration process to Naon-based platforms.

Following images show simplified block diagram of x86-based PC-like architecture and Naon architecture.

[[File:X86-pc-arch.png|300px|thumbnail|center|x86-based PC-like architecture]]

[[File:Naon-bd.png|300px|thumbnail|center|Naon SOM architecture]]
This image shows in detail internal architecture of DM8148 digital media processor.
[[File:Dm8148-block-diagram.png|300px|thumbnail|center|Naon SOM architecture]]
The first notable difference is about the integration level. By definition, system-on-chip such as DM8148, are designed to address embedded systems where footprint - in terms of PCB area and power budget - has to be minimized but, at same time, no significant compromise in performance is acceptable.

Reading of [[Deploying Embedded Linux Systems]] is recommended to complement issues here described.