This article from RTC Magazine examines the risks and other tradeoffs associated with four approaches to satisfying real-time requirements of Linux-based embedded applications. The alternatives considered are: (1) run Linux as a task within (and under control of) an external real-time kernel; (2) use Linux without modification, hoping for satisfactory “soft” real-time performance; (3) convert… (more…)

Synad Technologies announced a hardware/software reference design for a dual-band, remotely-configurable, Linux-based wireless access point based on its Mercury WLAN chipset. The company claims a unique (patent pending) “band-interleaving” mode of the new “AgileAP” wireless access point reference design is unique in its ability to support all 802.11 standards concurrently from a single wireless radio –… (more…)

Linux Journal magazine has published an interview with the creator of the “K Desktop Environment” (KDE), Matthias Ettrich, about KDE's roots, history, and successes, and his thoughts on GNOME and future plans for KDE. Quoting from the interview . . . (more…)

Following a 2-day summit in Cambridge, UK, members of the Khronos Group's OpenGL Embedded Subset (OpenGL ES) working group announced that version 1.0 of their specification is ready for final review and ratification by Khronos Group members, a process which is expected to lead… (more…)

[Updated May 1, 2003] — Here's embedded industry analyst VDC's report on the Embedded Systems Conference held last week in San Francisco . . . (more…)

IBM's developerWorks website has published a “reference collection” of 100 articles that cover a full range of web services topics, including: what web services are, why use web services, case studies, web service design, messaging/SOAP, WSDL (Web Services Description Language), UDDI (Universal Description Discovery and Integration), SRP (Service Registry Proxy), security, reliability, transactions, user… (more…)

SuSE Linux announced a carrier grade Linux (CGL) edition of its server-oriented Linux operating system. SuSE's new CGL edition was developed in conjunction with HP, IBM, and Intel, and initially supports Intel-based hardware platforms, the company said. (more…)

SnapGear Inc. announced what it calls the world's first free “commercial grade” embedded Linux distribution that targets development of secure Internet-enabled products. The distribution supports a range of processors, both with and without memory management units (MMUs), and includes toolchains and library support, resulting in a “one-stop” executable and source collection, the company said. (more…)

Acunia Embedded Solutions unveiled a ruggedized on-board computer system for automotive telematics applications, at Microsoft's European Automotive and Telematics Conference. The “CarCube” is built around an upgradeable XScale-based embedded computer, provides interfaces for GPS, GPRS, wireless, WLAN, and other peripherals, and is suitable for use in mobile information, entertainment, and commercial fleet… (more…)

Although it doesn't run an embedded Linux OS, we couldn't resist informing our readers of this amazing little creation from Lantronix that we found at last week's Embedded Systems Conference. It's an RJ-45 connector with a built-in 10/100Mbps Ethernet media access controller. (more…)

Market researcher Venture Development Corp. (VDC) reports that in 2002 the overall embedded software market suffered one of its worst years on record, and that one of the hardest hit embedded software product categories was design automation tools (DATs). (more…)

Intel announced that it has released software under an open-source license that allows developers to build computers that see and “read lips” the way humans do, to better understand spoken commands. The lip-reading approach is immune to the inevitable inaccuracies that occur when speech recognition algorithms are employed in noisy environments such as public places. (more…)

This online whitepaper at IBM's developerWorks website provides basic background on 802.11x architecture and security issues, and offers suggestions and tips for enhancing its security. Also included is the article, which is part one of an IBM series on securing 802.11x wireless systems, is a list of references for further info. (more…)

Eternal Systems unveiled a new software product for adding high availability and fault-tolerant capabilities to Linux-based systems requiring “five-nines” (99.999%) or greater service availability, at the Embedded Systems Conference in San Francisco last week. Targeted markets include communications (switches, radio network controllers), defense/aerospace (command & control), transportation, and… (more…)

[Updated 9:21 am PDT] — The 15th annual west coast Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) is taking place this week in San Francisco, packed with four intensive days of classes, tutorials, talks, special events, and a product and technology expo. According to conference organizers, over 10,000 attendees and more than 250 exhibitors were anticipated at this year's mega embedded event. (more…)