Peter Clarke of EE Times reports on the growing success of the Linux-supported ETRAX system-on-chip from Axis Communications. Clark takes a look at the ETRAX's architecture, its use of Embedded Linux, and some typical applications. Clarke writes . . .

“A modestly performing 32-bit RISC processor with a pedigree dating back to the early 1990s is quietly gaining momentum in the marketplace, having hitched its star to the Linux platform.”

“Axis Communications AB (Lund, Sweden) has used its Etrax architecture internally since 1993 as an engine for its own range of network-attached servers servers, cameras, printers and storage devices. The company is starting to use the Etrax as a controller for Bluetooth devices as it moves into wirelessly attached thin clients. But in the past few months, with the latest iteration of the architecture, Axis has also started to offer the processor on a Linux development board or as a component selling for $40.”

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