| Wind River, TI team on Linux phone design |
Feb. 05, 2007
Wind River has joined the Texas Instruments (TI) third-party partner ecosystem, and will collaborate with TI's Dallas-based mobile handset division on advanced Linux and hardware/software tools support for TI's ARM11-based OMAP2430 smartphone processor. The partnership could also produce a Linux-based mobile phone reference design, according to Wind River.
Glenn Seiler, director of Linux Platforms at Wind River, told LinuxDevices that the deal "affirms Wind River's commitment to the mobile phone market," adding, "This is not just a BSP [board support package]. We're ensuring that our Linux and Workbench portfolio of tools -- including our Workbench on-chip debugging tools -- will all work with the 2430."
TI began sampling the OMAP2430 just over a year ago. Based on TI's OMAP2 implementation of ARM Ltd.'s ARM11 ISA (instruction set architecture), the chip was said to improve video performance four times, and imaging performance 1.5 times, compared to then-available mobile phone chipsets.
The OMAP2430 and available TWL4030 power management chip
(Click to enlarge)
Seiler said Wind River has already engaged with multiple customers using the OMAP2430, although he declined to say who. He did say that Wind River is actively working to reduce the footprint and boot time of the Linux kernel and Wind River's "PCD-LE" stack on the OMAP2430, and to enable support under Linux for the chip's impressive multimedia capabilities.
Wind River launched PCD-LE (Platform for Consumer Devices -- Linux Edition) in October of 2005, following up with a PCD-LE 1.3 release last summer. The stack is currently based on a 2.6.14 kernel, although 2.6.20 or 2.6.21 is on the roadmap for later this year, Seiler confirmed. In addition to ARM, PCD-LE supports XScale and MIPS architectures, and it targets automotive and digital video applications in addition to mobile phones.
Previously, Wind River belonged to the third party ecosystems of both Marvell and Freescale, Seiler said. However, TI is the market leader in chips for mobile phones.
Seiler said Wind River may also join the recently formed LiMo Foundation, an industry group comprised of six large telecom companies jointly pursuing a common Linux phone operating system platform. Seiler said. "The Foundation has set up a series of meetings for potential members, and we're looking at how Wind River can participate. This is yet another proof point to our commitment to the space."
Ultimately, Wind River's collaboration with TI will produce a BSP for the 2430 that will become a standard part of Wind River's PCD stack, Seiler said. Further along, it could result in a complete mobile handheld reference design by fall of 2007, with a preliminary edition available as early as mid-year. "We're actively developing product, and engaging with customers using this chip," Seiler said.
Wind River CMO John Bruggeman stated, "Wind River and TI are working together to provide an infrastructure that can be embraced by a wide variety of handheld device manufacturers looking for market advantage."
Advanced OMAP2430 multimedia support under Linux is also touted by Sasken Communication Technologies, which offers a "Multimedia Subsystem Solution" stack said to support the chip under MontaVista Linux.
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