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Abstracts
COMPANY:
Sun Microsystems
TITLE:
Future Direction of Sun and Linux
ABSTRACT:
TBS
SPEAKER:
Simon Tindall
Volume Products UK Business Manager
www.sun.com
COMPANY:
Microsoft
TITLE:
Linux and Future Integration
ABSTRACT:
As the growth of the computing industry continues it's relentless pace, operating systems
like Linux and embedded Linux are gaining popularly and market acceptance. While the total
Linux market share is small, it is growing and should not be ignored. This presentation
will look at a co-existence architecture, and some areas where integration should be
possible.
SPEAKER:
Thomas Lee (Microsoft Valued Professional)
Representing Microsoft
www.microsoft.com
COMPANY:
MontaVista
TITLE:
Commercial Embedded Linux Distributions vs. Downloading from the Internet
ABSTRACT:
Linux offers a unique opportunity among mainstream embedded operating systems in that it
is possible to download the entire operating system, and its source code, from the
Internet. Why then are there several commercial Embedded Linux Distributions, and what are
the differences, advantages and disadvantages between buying or building a solution? In
this session we explore issues such as the operating system itself, applications and
development tools and also how to get the best support for the latest hardware.
SPEAKER:
Ian Graham
Representing Monta Vista
www.mvista.com
Company: Metrowerks
Title:
Creating Embedded Linux Applications under Windows
Abstract:
Linux has become an opportunity for embedded developers to leverage a powerful operating
system that benefits from the cumulative efforts of the open source community. It provides
many advantages, including its royalty-free pricing, which helps lower development costs.
However, for many developers the limitation of having to use command-line based Linux
development environments for embedded Linux is an issue - either through company IT policy
or fear of the unknown, as they are used to work with "traditional" development
environments and tools. There is a need for Windows-hosted development tools that close
the gap and provide a graphical environment for complex application development on
embedded Linux targets. This presentation will show how intuitive, highly visual tools
such as Metrowerks' CodeWarrior Integrated Development Environment (IDE) can help shorten
the learning curve, reduce development time, and increase productivity within application
development for embedded Linux operation systems.
Speaker:
Mr. Olaf Mattmueller
Metrowerks
www.metrowerks.com
COMPANY:
LynuxWorks
TITLE:
A Practical View of Using Linux in Embedded Systems
ABSTRACT:
TBS
SPEAKER:
Stuart Fisher
www.lynuxworks.com
COMPANY:
WindRiver
TITLE:
Why has Linux not taken over the world?
ABSTRACT:
In recent times, there has been a growing interest around Linux in the embedded space. As
a result, Developers have shown interest in using Linux because of the following:-
· Free kernel and some free applications
· Source code availability
· Not controlled by a single company
· Easy and cheap to acquire and therefore to use for prototyping
Until recently it has been difficult to interpret the trends as many of them point in
different directions - embedded Linux companies are struggling to survive while at the
same time Linux is considered a significant competitive threat in select markets. While
Linux is a frequent competitor our win-rate is high. (Analysis of Wind River win/loss data
shows that our win-rate has averaged approximately 90% when faced and competed
head-to-head against Linux.)
Customers who pursue in-house development often find it to be a problematic business
model. Instead of focusing on value add and differentiating activities, they spend a large
amount of time and money on developing, integrating, and maintaining OS, tools,
middleware, drivers and protocols. Given the development challenges of working with Linux,
Wind River continues to see customers interested in migrating to a Wind River-based
solution and we believe we can offer embedded customers a more effective solution.
Whilst we recognize that some customers still will choose to use Linux, by moving away
from an in-house model and working with a reliable technology partner like Wind River,
customers will see the benefits and significant value.
This presentation is intended to explain our positioning, as well as communicate and
clarify current activities around Linux and show the benefits of moving away from an
in-house model.
SPEAKER:
Steve Harris
UK Regional Director
www.windriver.com
COMPANY:
Xilinx
TITLE:
Linux on Programmable Hardware
ABSTRACT:
Loadable modules have made Linux configurable at run-time a few years ago. Now, the
hardware and, especially, the on-chip peripherals are following. The Virtex-II Pro FPGAs
have up to four IBM 405 processor cores and up to 24 multi-gigabit transceivers integrated
within their user-programmable logic fabric. This allows for very high flexibility for
system architects to integrate the on-chip peripherals they need in the most optimal way.
Xilinx and its partner MontaVista integrate device drivers for the custom on-chip
peripherals into the Linux kernel source tree. The main focus of this work is to bring
together the high flexibility of the Linux operating system with the high versatility of
the Virtex-II Pro architecture.
As part of this talk we will explain how the hardware inside the FPGA device can be
upgraded even after deployment and how hardware functionality, similar to the Linux kernel
modules, can be loaded or replaced at system run-time. We will also point out how such
systems can be debugged both on the hardware but also on the software side and compare
with current methods based on logic analyzers and debuggers.
At the end of the talk we will compare Linux with VxWorks and point out the strengths and
weaknesses of the two different operating systems for a number of selected embedded
applications.
SPEAKER:
Paul Evans
Xilinx Inc.
www.xilinx.com
COMPANY:
2Net
TITLE:
Making Linux real-time
ABSTRACT:
In this session we will be looking at using Linux in real-time applications. Some
applications have hard real-time requirements, for example machine control systems, while
others such as multimedia applications, have soft real-time requirements. We will look at
how well Linux can perform both types of task, and how to measure responsiveness using
some standard bench-marks. We will go on to investigate ways of improving Linux response
times by patching the kernel, based on the work done by Robert Love. Finally we will look
at real-time sub-kernels such as RTLinux and RTAI for more demanding real-time
environments.
SPEAKER:
Chris Simmonds
2Net Ltd.
www.2net.co.uk
COMPANY:
Applied Microsystems Corp.
TITLE:
Measuring and Controlling Embedded Linux Systems: What to test, how to test and when.
ABSTRACT:
As much as 40% of all unplanned downtime in product development and test is the result of
software defects. Industry analysts report that over 50% of new embedded projects are now
eyeing Linux. For these nascent projects, the crucial consideration factor is their
ability to perform adequate, cost effective and time efficient testing and analysis of
their software systems to gain the competitive advantage in terms of productivity and
software quality. This session explores strategies and tools you can deploy when deciding
what to test, how to test and when to test your embedded Linux software projects. Topics
covered include performance optimisation, memory leak detection and correction, gaining
detailed visibility of your software execution, and analysing test effectiveness.
SPEAKER:
Nat Hillary
Applied Microsystems Corp.
www.amc.com
COMPANY: Tanglewood Algorithms Limited
TITLE:
Redesigning the Support Model
ABSTRACT:
Classically support has been bundled with software, both being purchased together from one
vendor. However in an open source world there is no longer a software vendor. This
requires a new way of thinking about the way in which support is obtained. There are two
main sources of support: Shared and value added. Shared support involves taking part in,
and possibly even contributing to, the open source process itself. It has the advantage
that it is often possible to direct queries to the maintainers, and in some cases the
original designers, of the software being used. Value added support is implemented either
by directly purchasing support from a vendor, or by obtaining training or consultancy. The
advantage of value added support is that there is some guarantee of the results.
In the classical model it was common for software vendors to compete to make the original
sale, and pay relatively little attention to post-installation support, which was not
universally perceived as a profit centre. Under open source vendors of support and
training must compete, leading to a general improvement in support standards.
The transition from proprietary to open source requires a redesign of the software
business model, in the same way that the invention of printing caused a revolution in the
concept of publishing.
SPEAKER:
Robert Billing MA
Tanglewood Algorithms Limited
www.tnglwood.demon.co.uk
COMPANY:
UWE
TITLE:
Linux: an Operating System for Wireless-Networked Mobile Robots
ABSTRACT:
Developed at UWE Bristol's Intelligent Autonomous Systems (IAS) Laboratory for conducting
experiments in collective mobile robotics, the LinuxBot is a proven and reliable
wireless-networked wheeled mobile robot capable of supporting a wide range of sensors and
actuators. The robot has a Linux-based software and communications architecture, which
embeds TCP/IP networking tools including FTP, Telnet and Web servers. This approach,
combined with a Robot Application Programmers Interface, provides an extremely powerful
and flexible platform for researching and developing a wide range of mobile robot
sub-systems: for instance navigation; sensing and sensor fusion; autonomous operation;
remote tele-operation or multi-robot co-operation.
When the author embarked upon the first installation of Linux onto a mobile robot in 1998,
its success as an embedded operating system for experimental mobile robotics was by no
means certain. Now, four years on, that decision has been strongly vindicated. A number of
research programmes have made use of the LinuxBot, and their success owes much to the
choice of operating system. This presentation will outline the pitfalls, issues and their
solutions in using Linux as an embedded operating system for mobile robots. The talk will
conclude with a critical assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of Linux for this type
of application.
SPEAKER:
Alan Winfield,
Intelligent Autonomous Systems Laboratory, UWE, Bristol.
www.ias.uwe.ac.uk
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