BOTHELL, Wash. – June 15, 2017 – Datalight is excited to announce the release of NitroBoot, a software solution for improving boot times on Linux-based embedded systems. As OEMs have continued to move to Linux and Android, more are experiencing user frustration due to slow boot times. NitroBoot is unmatched in providing fast boot times for feature-rich Linux systems that can experience slow startup times.
Devices from a variety of industries, such as automotive, medical, industrial and consumer electronics demand fast boot times. For example, drivers need their IVI system to be usable within one second from the time they turn the key in the ignition, while slow boot times in medical devices can negatively impact patient care, leading to bad outcomes.
“Our customers are always looking for ways to improve the startup time of their devices to help their customers be more productive,” said Roy Sherrill, Datalight CEO. “NitroBoot helps us address the need for boot time improvements beyond what we have been able to do in the storage stack alone.”
NitroBoot makes traditional strategies to shorten startup time, such as hand-pruning device drivers, sleep mode, and hibernation obsolete. While these methods can deliver some improvement, each presents drawbacks that can be overcome by using a tested solution built specifically for this purpose.
NitroBoot achieves fast boot times by combining hibernation techniques with proprietary technology to ensure boot time remains fast even as the memory size grows. Instead of needing to restore the entire image before the system responds, NitroBoot preferentially restores the memory areas necessary for booting the key pieces of the system required to accelerate time to first response to user input. Because NitroBoot does not require standby power like sleep mode does, devices can cold boot just as quickly and will run longer on limited battery power in the field.
Three different operation modes (Dynamic mode, Static mode and Static+ mode) enable device manufacturers to tailor NitroBoot to restore the system to right where the user left off or to a pre-determined “factory fresh” state. Other customization capabilities allow NitroBoot to be used successfully in a secure boot environment.
NitroBoot has been integrated into a wide variety of Linux kernels and for a number of popular ARM chipsets and development boards. The software development kit allows for integration into most embedded environments. Datalight and its development partners are available to customize integrations for specific systems. Evaluation versions are available for a number of readily available development boards, including the NXP SABRE SD, Renesas SalvatoreX or even the inexpensive Raspberry PI.
This product is available immediately from Datalight and its worldwide network of resellers.
