Runtime: Guideline for supporting a new CPU architecture

[zhengwb]

Although .NET Core now supports x86 and ARM platforms, some people in the community still want to add more CPU architecture. Is it possible to provide a guideline of support a new CPU architecture based on the experience of ARM?

[danmosemsft]

@zhengwb I'm curious what architecture(s) you have in mind?

cc @richlander

[RussKeldorph]

@zhengwb I'm not aware of a one-stop shop for porting guidance. The possibility has been discussed in the past, and you might find some useful info in issues dotnet/runtime#4234 and dotnet/runtime#10055 among others. dotnet/runtime#7006 contains a record of bringing up x86/Linux support, though a completely new architecture would probably be quite a bit more work than this was.

I think the way it has been done in the past is to defer the JIT work (the biggest single work item) by bringing up the interpreter on the new platform first. JIT porting began once basic tests were running. People have provided additional detail in the issues above, but it's not a definitive guide. While it would certainly be useful to produce such a guide, Microsoft doesn't plan to create one at this time. We'd certainly be supportive of a community effort, however.

[zhengwb]

@zhengwb I'm curious what architecture(s) you have in mind?

cc @richlander

Some customers want our application to run on MIPS.

[zhengwb]

@zhengwb I'm not aware of a one-stop shop for porting guidance. The possibility has been discussed in the past, and you might find some useful info in issues dotnet/runtime#4234 and dotnet/runtime#10055 among others. dotnet/runtime#7006 contains a record of bringing up x86/Linux support, though a completely new architecture would probably be quite a bit more work than this was.

I think the way it has been done in the past is to defer the JIT work (the biggest single work item) by bringing up the interpreter on the new platform first. JIT porting began once basic tests were running. People have provided additional detail in the issues above, but it's not a definitive guide. While it would certainly be useful to produce such a guide, Microsoft doesn't plan to create one at this time. We'd certainly be supportive of a community effort, however.

Thanks a lot, It's very useful. But it's really a big challenge for the first time to do this job.

[forestbat]

https://github.com/dotnet/core/issues/2778

[MeiChin-Tsai]

@zhengwb this is Mei-Chin. We don't have official guidance on porting to new architecture. But we don't mind to guide you through it.

[MetSystem]

Some customers want our application to run on MIPS.

[krishvoor]

@MeiChin-Tsai I am evaluating effort required to port coreclr to POWER (ppc64le arch) Systems, is there slack or it's equivalent where I can follow up on guidance to port to new architecture ?

[patriziobruno]

Guide for porting .NET to a new processor architecture
https://github.com/dotnet/runtime/blob/master/docs/design/coreclr/botr/guide-for-porting.md

[richlander]

I think we can safely close this now.