Introduction to LinuxLink Tools

Building Embedded Systems with Timesys Tools

Timesys provides cloud-based and desktop development tools and associated subscription services that include technical support to simplify and expedite embedded Linux development projects. Different Timesys offerings satisfy the development, debugging, and deployment requirements of the embedded Linux platform and application development roles. Timesys subscription services help ensure that the Open Source Software (OSS) on which your projects depend is up to date, automatically delivering the latest open source updates, fixes, and enhancements so that you can focus on your own development projects. Subscribers also have access to the embedded Linux development experts at Timesys, who are available to answer questions and provide the advice you need to succeed.

Timesys development tools for embedded Linux provide a powerful and consistent development environment that helps insulate your platform and application development efforts from underlying hardware changes, simplifying the move from development boards or reference hardware to the custom hardware that you have designed for final deployment and delivery to customers.

Introducing LinuxLink

LinuxLink is the product family for all of the embedded Linux development tools and associated subscription services from Timesys. The LinuxLink umbrella covers a variety of specialized tools and associated subscription services that satisfy the requirements of different embedded Linux development roles throughout the life of an embedded Linux project. In the following sections, we will provide a quick overview of the LinuxLink FREE Edition, PRO Edition and TimeStorm IDE.

LinuxLink FREE Edition

LinuxLink FREE Edition is a free, cloud-based development environment for reference hardware and vendor-specific development boards. While most hardware manufacturers deliver custom Linux platforms with their hardware, those vendor-specific platforms typically only provide a proof-of-concept subset of the open source software that you will need for prototyping your embedded Linux project. They are also rarely kept up to date, and therefore may not include the latest kernel updates and fixes to the open source software packages that they include. In addition, vendor-supplied Linux platforms are often based on different embedded Linux build environments (Buildroot, LTIB, OpenEmbedded, and so on), each with its own learning curve, configuration tools, build environment, and build products.

LinuxLink Free Edition provides web-based access to up-to-date kernel and open source package source code, making it easy to quickly prototype and benchmark both Linux and your applications on development kits and reference hardware. LinuxLink Free Edition is especially useful during hardware platform selection and comparison, providing a consistent set of kernel and software sources that:

• simplifies hardware platform comparison by delivering identical software platforms for different development kits and reference hardware,

• reduces prototyping time by providing a consistent Linux build environment across all supported architectures and processors,

• encourages accurate embedded Linux and application prototyping by providing access to a wide range of open source packages in Timesys’ online repository,

• eliminates delays associated with manually installing, configuring, and maintaining a local build environment, and

• encourages efficient collaboration by hosting build tools, configuration data, and platform prototypes in a cloud-based infrastructure that is continuously available to all of your developers.

The image, below, shows the Web-based interface that you will see when accessing a LinuxLink FREE Edition subscription for the first time.

LinuxLink PRO Edition

LinuxLink PRO Edition provides a powerful desktop build environment for embedded Linux platform customization and application development, debugging, and optimization, improving your turnaround time for configuring, compiling, and deploying new platforms and applications:

• Platforms — LinuxLink PRO Edition’s Desktop Factory is based on the core technologies used by the web-based LinuxLink FREE Edition, but executes locally, on a desktop system. More importantly, the Desktop Factory dramatically extends the platform configuration and customization capabilities of FREE Edition, making it easy with which to experiment and refine common platform development tasks such as kernel and RFS size minimization and general performance optimization.

• Applications — LinuxLink PRO includes TimeStorm, a graphical Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for embedded Linux applications that is based on the industry-standard Eclipse IDE. TimeStorm is designed to satisfy the specialized requirements of embedded application development, deployment, debugging, and testing, within a familiar Eclipse framework.

Desktop Factory

LinuxLink PRO Edition provides the right tools for all of your embedded development efforts — fast, menu-based configuration tools for platform builders, and a familiar graphical IDE for application developers. The Desktop Factory tool in LinuxLink PRO Edition enables platform builders to:

• quickly customize, rebuild, and redeploy your bootloader, kernel, and root filesystem,

• customize BusyBox and the embedded system startup mechanism, and

• switch between toolchains that use different C libraries to reflect hardware changes and easily explore size, capability, and performance tradeoffs.

Embedded Linux projects are typically prototyped on development kits or other reference hardware, but are eventually deployed on custom hardware based on the same architecture, processors, and auxiliary hardware, often in system-on-a-chip (SoC) form. Regardless of where you are in the hardware examination, selection, and customization cycle, the LinuxLink PRO Edition provides a consistent platform development environment that easily mirrors changes in your underlying hardware by enabling you to switch or rebuild toolchains while retaining all other aspects of your existing platform’s configuration.

TimeStorm Eclipse-based IDE

Customized for the requirements of embedded application development, the TimeStorm IDE provides significant productivity and workflow enhancements for embedded developers. The TimeStorm IDE:

• simplifies the cross-compilation process by providing target hardware and cross-compilation toolchain management plugins,

• enables easy integration of other Eclipse plugins that are available from the open source community or third parties,

• includes templates for standard C and C++ applications, and

• makes it easy to install, execute, and debug applications on your target hardware from your desktop system.

Unlike buy-once, update-yearly products, LinuxLink PRO uses a subscription model that guarantees continuous updates to the open source software from the Timesys repository that you are using in your project. The latest versions of the Desktop Factory and TimeStorm are always available from the LinuxLink Web site. TimeStorm also leverages the built-in update capabilities of the Eclipse IDE to provide instant access to updates in any TimeStorm or Eclipse plugin that you are using.

A Timesys LinuxLink PRO Edition subscription includes direct access to Timesys embedded Linux experts and support personnel to answer your questions without resorting to a search engine. Your PRO Edition subscription also includes access to an expanded set of online documentation and tutorials on embedded Linux development topics.

Embedded application developers can purchase additional licenses for the TimeStorm IDE after purchasing one or more LinuxLink PRO subscriptions. As discussed earlier, embedded Linux projects are typically prototyped on development kits or other reference hardware, but are eventually deployed on custom hardware. Purchasing additional seats of TimeStorm can jumpstart your application development process by enabling multiple developers to take advantage of all of the custom embedded capabilities of TimeStorm.

TimeStorm IDE

Development kits from hardware vendors often use different embedded development models, ranging from roll-your-own environments to open source embedded development environments such as Buildroot, LTIB, OpenEmbedded, and many more. Each of these embedded development environments has its own learning curve, and mastering multiple approaches to embedded development extends and delays your hardware evaluation and selection process. Purchasing additional TimeStorm seats provides a consistent development environment that is independent of different vendors’ approaches to embedded Linux development.

Each additional TimeStorm license includes direct access to Timesys’ embedded Linux experts and support personnel to answer your questions and provide advice on embedded application development.

Summary

LinuxLink FREE and LinuxLink PRO Editions, along with TimeStorm IDE, provide you with a complete spectrum of supported tools and embedded development expertise that is the product of years of experience with embedded Linux platform and application development. Regardless of where you are in the embedded device and application development process, Timesys LinuxLink products provide significant time and cost savings that can reduce time to market, increasing profits and maximizing your return on investment (ROI) in both project personnel and technology selection.

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(C) Copyright 2012 Timesys Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Other third-party disclaimers or notices may be set forth in online or printed documentation from Timesys.
This legend may not be removed from this software or documentation by any party.

Timesys, the Timesys logo, TimeStorm and Factory are trademarks of Timesys Corporation. Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks and product names are the property of their respective owners.