Unlike many realms of human endeavor, when it comes to designing embedded systems, the goal is often to use as few resources as possible. In embedded systems, less is more, in many ways. Using less resources means less cost, less heat generation, more battery life, more reliability — and best of all, a more successful product. (more…)

David Sugar, Bayonne GNU maintainer, writes . . . In announcing the third milestone release of Bayonne, the telephony server of the GNU project, I believe it would be of benefit to more clearly define what Bayonne is. In the broadest possible sense, Bayonne is what could be called a “middleware” platform for developing telephony voice response services, though it is unlike any existing telephony… (more…)

In this article, LinuxDevices.com founder Rick Lehrbaum explores the age-old question, “How much RAM memory and disk space does an embedded system require to run Linux?” Along the way, Lehrbaum seeks the sage advice of Lineo CTO Tim Bird, MontaVista embedded Linux evangelist Bill Weinberg, and Red Hat CTO Michael Tiemann. Lehrbaum writes . . . (more…)

ZDNet News editor John G. Spooner reports that Intel plans to introduce five new chips in its mobile Pentium family this month. Three are speed enhancements, while the other two are low-power versions targeted at the mini-notebook market. Spooner writes . . . (more…)

Nancy C. Hanger writes, at LinuxOrbit.com, about plans by VTech to introduce an embedded Linux OS for its Helio PDA (info). VTech apparently has put together an aggressive strategy to support Helio with Linux-based PDA apps, including backwards compatibility with existing Helio apps and a “emulator” to allow… (more…)

Santa Rosa, CA -- (press release) — The Embedded Linux Consortium today announced that Ralf Doewich has won the organization's Logo Design Contest from a field of more than 50 competitors. The winning logo and several runner-ups may be viewed here. (more…)

Our ongoing Influential Executives Interview Series features influential top-level executives speaking about embedded Linux technology, the embedded Linux marketplace, and their companies' embedded Linux strategies and products. Collect them all! (more…)

Ken Popovich, editor of eWEEK, reports on IBM's emerging strategy of supporting Linux-based supercluster systems . . . (more…)

Atlanta, GA — (press release) — Axtar Ltd., a UK-based developer of programmable communications solutions for public network operators and service providers, has announced OneSwitch, the industry's first standards-based Central Office programmable telephony switch to use both the Red Hat Linux operating system and the CompactPCI (cPCI) form factor. (more…)

Murry Shohat (Interim ELC Executive Director) writes . . . “I am pleased to announce our new Board of Directors. Please join me in offering congratulations to the winners. More than 70% of you found time to vote. It was quite a race, with the lead changing hands several times and 2- and 3-way ties happening many times as new votes arrived. (more…)

Imsys (Sweden) used the occasion of JavaOne 2000 in San Francisco to unveil an unusual new system-on-chip microprocessor that supports native on-chip Java bytecode execution — but also runs embedded Linux. The device, called the Cjip, achieves a high degree of on-chip functionality via an unusual approach: dynamically alterable microcode. (more…)

LinuxDevices.com has initiated a new Embedded Linux Poll. This one focuses on the value of open source software. The poll asks: “What do you value most about open source?” Respondents are requested to select and prioritize their top three reasons, from among seven choices:

• so I can add functionality directly within the OS
• it represents “insurance”, even if it's never needed
• it… (more…)

EE Times editor Margaret Quan reports that the 36-member HomePlug Alliance will release a specification for a a 14-Mbit/sec data rate power line based home networking standard by end of this year. Quan writes . . . (more…)

Half Moon Bay, Calif. — OnCore Systems Corporation today announced two new embedded Linux usage models for system developers who use the company's real-time microkernel foundation along with Linux: Linux OnDemand and Linux OnCall. The first of these permits Linux to be loaded and unloaded dynamically; the second is an API that makes direct OnCore microkernel calls, eliminating Linux scheduler and… (more…)

Half Moon Bay, CA. — OnCore Systems Corporation says it is the first company with demonstrable Linux support for the new IBM PowerPC 750CX microprocessor. In a related announcement, OnCore claims sub 5-microsecond response times for task switches between random Linux applications and real-time tasks. (more…)