Set-top-box vendor hops on virtual platform technology

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Jun. 15, 2005

Amino is building an inexpensive Linux IP-STB (set-top-box) based on a single-core Texas Instruments DSP (digital signal processor) and virtual platform technology from Jaluna. Jaluna says its OSWare technology helped Amino minimize BOM (bill of materials) costs while re-using existing Linux software.

Previously, Amino shipped several high-end IP-STBs utilizing dual-processor architectures based on separate application processors and DSP coprocessors, including the AmiNet100 and AmiNet110 (pictured above).

According to Jaluna CEO Michel Gien, Amino wished to develop a less expensive product, and reasoned that by moving to a single-core DSP architecture, it could eliminate not only a secondary processor but also the secondary memory and other subsystems required to support it.

Gien says Amino examined several technologies that enable Linux to run directly on DSPs, ultimately choosing OSWare because it offered the most familiar Linux and DSP development environments. "[Other approaches] adapt Linux to the DSP BIOS environment. Our approach is really to bring together existing DSP and Linux environments, so developers can use familiar tools," Gien said.

OSWare partitions hardware resources between two operating system instances
(Click to enlarge)

Gien claims that OSWare for TI's DM64x/C64xx DSP enables device designers to save 20 to 25 percent on BOM costs for typical $100 devices, by eliminating redundant parts and simplifying hardware logic, while also minimizing device footprint. Jaluna shipped the product last fall, targeting designers of video phones, cameras, and digital video equipment, as well as set-top boxes. "OSWare for the TI DM64x is a complete package that addresses a clearly identified market," Gien stated.

Gien adds that Jaluna's R&D efforts are currently going mainly toward its EAL5 Linux project and other security-related applications. He said, "Security is our long-term vision. We want to translate into management and security platforms for devices, which will be the real use of OSWare. We're not ready to ship products, but that's where the investment is, across all products. We want to be the platform that will enable integration of pre-boot and management applications that let you reconfigure and dynamically update devices independently of what OS you have on the device."

Jaluna also offers versions of OSWare that wed Linux with VxWorks and Nucleus, as well as one that combines Windows CE and Nucleus.

Single-core DSP Linux technology is also available from Softier and ADI.

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