Category: Operating Systems

Operating Systems used in Embedded Devices

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 1 Comment on Daisy: An Exynos 5250 (Cortex A15) Based ChromeBook

Daisy: An Exynos 5250 (Cortex A15) Based ChromeBook

Thomas Taschauer has reported on his blog that Google was working on several Chromebooks including one codenamed “Daisy” powered by an an ARM chip by just looking at Chromium OS’ issue tracker. By looking more into details, we can find out that Daisy development makes use of the kernel config for  Samsung SMDK5250,  Samsung development board for the Exynos 5250 (Dual Core Cortex A15) processor. Daisy also appears to have an Ethernet port, a feature not seen on other Chromebooks which only feature WiFi or 3G for connectivity. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011. www.cnx-software.com

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments on Mele A2000 Android 2.3 Media Player Powered by AllWinner A10

Mele A2000 Android 2.3 Media Player Powered by AllWinner A10

Last month, I ordered a Mele A1000 in order to hack it to run Linux as it uses the same processor – the Cortex A8/Mali-400MP based AllWinner A10 – as the one planned for the low cost Rhombus Tech board. I have yet to receive the device, but Mele (迈乐) has already released  the Mele A2000, an Android 2.3 set-box box also powered by AllWinner A10. Here are Mele A2000 specifications: CPU: ARM Cortex A8 AllWinner A10 @ 1 GHz (It can be apparently be overclocked up to @ 1.5GHz) GPU: Mali 4000 Memory: DDR3 512MB RAM / 4GB Nand Flash OS System: Android 2.3.4 (Upgradable to Android 4.0) External Storage: Supports SD card up to 32GB, supports 2.5″ SATA HDD up to 1TB, Supports max 16GB USB flash disk Video codecs: HD MPEG-1/2/4. H.264. HD AVC/VC-1, RM/RMVB, Xvid/DviX 4/5/6, RealVideo 8/9/10, VP6 Video Formats: ts, m2ts, tp, trp, mkv, mp4, […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Vim Touch: Vim Editor for Android

Vim Touch: Vim Editor for Android

Many Linux developers or admins use vi or vim in Linux to edit source or/and configuration files and some may want to use it in the go in their smartphone or tablets. Some hacks are available to install vim on Android via ADB on a rooted device, but now, it has all become nice and easy, as a touch enabled version of vim called VimTouch is also available on Android. VimTouch supports full vim syntax and finger touch gestures to help VIM much more usable on touch screens. This vim editor for Android includes the following features: Touch to scroll Fling to scroll Long press to zoom-in Two-fingers to delete lines (“dd”) or new lines (“p”) Single tap to send “ESC” Read email attachments Single instance to open files in vim window Real VIM runtime You would think it is rather cumbersome to use vi/vim on a mobile device, but reviews […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Calixto Systems Announces TI AM335x VERSA SOM

Calixto Systems Announces TI AM335x VERSA SOM

Calixto Systems is a technology company based in Bangalore, India, providing System-on-Modules (SoM), evaluation boards (EVM) and consultancy services for Android, Linux and WinCE. The company has announced an update to its VERSA  families of system-on-modules by including support for Texas Instruments Sitara AM335x processors.  The previous version is based on TI OMAP-L138 C6-Integra DSP+ARM Processor. The AM335x SoM will provide higher performance than the previous module and targets industrial automation, smart grid, remote terminals, healthcare, handheld point-of-service (POS) terminals and weighing scales. Here are M335x VERSA SOM specifications: Texas Instruments AM335x (Cortex A8) processor @ 720 MHz with 3D Graphics Support (PowerVR) 256/512 MB of DDR3 SPI Flash Wireless LAN (b/g/n) (Optional) Bluetooth 4.0 (Optional)  Two 10/100 Ethernet (One PHY on SOM) 24 bit LCD with Touch Screen interface 2x USB 2.0 OTG, 2x CAN, 4x UARTs McASP, PRU , SPI, I2C etc. 200 pin SODIMM connector Dimension: 34mm x […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on ARM Development Studio 5 (DS 5) Demos At Design West

ARM Development Studio 5 (DS 5) Demos At Design West

ARM has shot a few video demos of their ARM Development Studio 5 (DS 5), a software development tool suite for ARM platforms, at Design West 2012. The first video shows DS 5 running on the Xilinx Zynq-7000 platform (dual cortex A9 + FPGA), and we can see the memory map, registers, call graphs and stack usage. We can also see real-time processor switching and the function that takes the most CPU resources (profiling). The second videos showcases ARM DS-5 Streamline, a performance analyzer, which helps determine how well programs are running on a Linux or Android platform, on an Samsung Exynos 4210 platform (Origen board?). This tool also to profile both the dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 and ARM Mali-400 MP GPU in the platform. We are shown three types of reports: CPU/GPU Loading Threads usage Power Usage per application The third and last video shows ARM DS 5 on Freescale i.MX6 […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Express Logic Releases ThreadX-Lite RTOS for ARM Cortex-M

Express Logic Releases ThreadX-Lite RTOS for ARM Cortex-M

express_logic_threadx

Express Logic has unveiled its ThreadX-Lite Real-Time Operating System, a priority-based, preemptive scheduling RTOS for ARM Cortex-M development. It is exclusively be available via IAR Systems and is integrated with the C/C++ compiler and debugger tool suite IAR Embedded Workbench. ThreadX-Lite  is “designed to be small, fast, and easy-to-use, while maintaining the functionality and efficiency of a highly optimized RTOS”. ThreadX-Lite targets Cortex-M0, M0+, M3, and M4-based microcontrollers from Atmel, Freescale, Fujitsu, Infineon, NXP, STMicroelectronics, and Texas Instruments. ThreadX-Lite is a subset of ThreadX RTOS, both RTOS share features and capabilities packaged in an object library as well as ThreadX API, but it is not very clear what the differences between the two are from the resources available. Here are the key feature of this RTOS: Small-footprint (small as 2KB, automatic scaling) Fast execution (sub microsecond context switch) Unlimited threads, semaphores, timers, queues, block pools, byte pools, and event flag groups […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Linaro 12.03 Release with Kernel 3.3-rc3

Linaro 12.03 Release with Kernel 3.3-rc3

Linaro has just released version 12.03 based on Linux Kernel 3.3-rc3 and Android 4.0.3. Among the key points, hardware video decode in now supported in Origen (Android),  Android runs in A15/A7 platforms, libav AAC optimization provides about 2x performance improvement and QEMU supports Samsung Exynos 4240 and Calxeda Highbank (work done upstream). Here are the highlights of the release: Android Linaro Android has support for DS-5 version 5.9. Hardware accelerated Multimedia is now integrated on Origen. EEMBC, denbench and coremark have been ported to Android and are running in LAVA. android.net ConnectivityManager unit tests have been built and integrated in all builds. Hardware decode of H264 and MPEG4, 1080P and 30 FPS is enabled on Origen. Origen now has 1080p HDMI Graphics and Video Support. Android runs on A15, A7 and A15/A7 fast models. ARM’s big.LITTLE has been tested running Android using a set of unit tests. Kernels of prebuilt […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on Xilinx Zynq-7000 Extensible Processing Platform (EPP): Dual Cortex A9 + FPGA SoC

Xilinx Zynq-7000 Extensible Processing Platform (EPP): Dual Cortex A9 + FPGA SoC

The Xilinx Zynq-7000 EPP (Extensible Processing Platform) is a new class of device, offering a mix of a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 subsystem (including cache, memory controllers, interface, and peripheral functions) with a 28-nm programmable digital FPGA and programmable analog capabilities. This  combination opens the door to a range of demanding applications, including automotive (video processing and analytics requirements for driver assistance systems), broadcast (high-bit-rate bandwidth for high-accuracy video processing and analytics), and industrial control systems that combine high-processing demands with tight integration requirements. There are actually 4 models which share the same processing subsystem (CPU core, memory, peripherals, etc…) and only differ by the programmable logic used: Z-7010 – Artix-7 FPGA with 28K logic cells. Z-7020 – Artix-7 FPGA with 85K logic cells. Z-7030 – Kintex-7 FPGA with 125K logic cells. Z-7045 – Kintex-7 FPGA with 350K logic cells. The Zynq-7000 EPP platform allows concurrent software and hardware development: System […]

EmbeddedTS embedded systems design