First commercial Linux support for new OpenVPX platforms
PITTSBURGH, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ — Timesys® Corporation (http://www.timesys.com), provider of LinuxLink, the first commercial software development framework for building custom embedded Linux®-based products, today announced LinuxLink support for four Ensemble™ 3000 Series and Ensemble 6000 Series modules from Mercury Computer Systems: the HCD3200, HCD6220, HCD6410 and SBC6120 platforms.
The newly supported processing modules each support one or more dual-core MPC8640D or MPC8641D processors. They are components within Mercury’s 3U and 6U OpenVPX systems, which deliver rugged solutions for high-density, high-performance computing, suitable for use in radar, EO/IR, and electronic warfare applications on both manned and unmanned airborne platforms.
Like the previously-announced LinuxLink solution for the Ensemble HCD5220 module, the LinuxLink framework for the new 3000 and 6000 Series platforms provides full support for the on-board resources including internal and external Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, serial RapidIO and ANSI-compliant system management.
Mercury’s customers use the LinuxLink framework to minimize their time to market through the easy-to-use wizard that facilitates the creation of an initial Linux starting image, as well as the award-winning “Factory” build engine that enables them to develop a completely custom and highly optimized Linux platform.
“Mercury selected LinuxLink as the operating system platform for these modules so our customers could benefit from both open-source software and productivity enhancing tools,” said Philippe Roy, Director, Product Line Management at Mercury. “Those LinuxLink characteristics are an excellent complement to our OpenVPX solutions, which deliver high performance within an industry-standard systems architecture.”
LinuxLink allows customers to choose from the latest GNU-based optimized toolchains enabled with uClibc and glibc libraries. The framework allows for creation of a footprint-optimized root file system (RFS) with application-specific features selected from hundreds of available software packages. Package categories include multimedia, networking, storage, security, industrial and more.
For maximum flexibility, developers take advantage of both the online build system and the desktop-hosted version. With either interface, customers leverage the best Linux code from Mercury as well as from the open source community. The desktop version offers more flexibility than any other Linux build platform by allowing users to integrate third-party packages and proprietary software. LinuxLink’s update service automatically notifies customers of changes to any of the components used in their project.
Included with LinuxLink, the “TimeStorm” Eclipse-based IDE provides application developers with a toolset that expertly handles embedded tasks like cross-compiling and remote debugging while including support for advanced features like profiling, testing and leak detection. With full support for a wide range of industry-standard JTAG probes, TimeStorm helps customers ensure the quality, reliability and performance of their final product.
The Timesys LinuxLink solutions for Ensemble systems are sold directly by Mercury, as part of its MultiCore Plus® comprehensive set of software solutions available for the platform. Once customers purchase a LinuxLink subscription from Mercury, they receive technical support and package updates directly from Timesys’ Linux experts.
“We are delighted to announce support for the new OpenVPX platforms from Mercury,” said Maciej Halasz, Director of Product Management at Timesys. “Many of Mercury’s customers using the earlier HCD5220 platform have already benefitted from the productivity enhancements provided by LinuxLink, so we anticipate strong success with the new systems, too. LinuxLink’s features are well aligned with the needs of Mercury’s customers in defense and industrial applications.”
About Timesys
Timesys is the provider of LinuxLink, a high-productivity software development framework for embedded Linux applications. The LinuxLink framework includes the Linux kernel, cross-toolchain, application development IDE, an award-winning build system called Factory, a vast library of middleware packages, software stacks and libraries, documentation and expert technical support. LinuxLink enables development teams to consistently build and maintain a custom, open source embedded Linux platform through regularly updated Linux sources, proven middleware packages, and a scriptable GNU-based build environment. LinuxLink reduces the time, resources, risk and cost associated with building a product based on open source Linux. For more information, visit http://www.timesys.com.
About Mercury
Mercury Computer Systems (www.mc.com) provides embedded computing systems and software that combine image, signal, and sensor processing with information management for data-intensive applications. Mercury serves a broad range of applications in the aerospace and defense, homeland security, industrial inspection, telecommunications, and other computationally challenging markets.
