MontaVista says its commercial embedded Linux distribution now supports a dual-core Freescale SoC (system-on-chip) processor aimed at networking and telecommunications applications. MontaVista Linux Professional Edition is now available with a “Linux support package” (LSP) for Freescale's MPC8641D processor, which integrates two e600 PowerPC cores clocked at up to 1.5GHz.

MontaVista describes the MPC8641D Processor as having a “unified” SoC architecture containing two high-performance e600 cores, along with high-speed interconnects such as Serial RapidIO, gigabit Ethernet, and PCI Express. The MPC8641D also features dual memory controllers, and an implementation of Freescale's MPX bus capable of scaling to 667MHz.

MPC8641D dual-core architecture
Freescale says the MPC8641D supports either symmetric multiprocessing (SMP), in which one OS shares both cores, or asymmetric multiprocessing (AMP), in which two instances of the same or different OSes run on the chip “largely unaware of each other.”

MontaVista says that the development of products based on multi-core technology requires “a different design point with regard to application interaction, performance, and concurrency.” It says its Professional Edition distribution includes cross-development tools and “software optimizations” that can reduce prototyping and debugging time.

Additionally, MontaVista says that together with Freescale, it offers “end-to-end” multicore product development packages aimed at achieving higher performance and “lower latency to memory.”

Jeff Timbs, director of digital systems marketing at Freescale, stated, “MontaVista and Freescale continue to deliver powerful commercial-grade, end-to-end solutions that enable companies to develop, run, and manage device software efficiently and at low overall cost.”

MontaVista CTO Jim Ready stated, “MontaVista has the building blocks for advanced multicore development and debugging capabilities for telecommunications, networking, aerospace and defense, and many other industries.”

Ready adds, “[MontaVista and Freescale] are laying the groundwork for future [Linux support] on other dual processor platforms, such as the MPC8572 Dual Core Processor.”

Availability

MontaVista's LSP for the MPC8641D appears to be available now.

MontaVista says that in 2006, it has supplied LSPs for more than a dozen Freescale processors, including the MPC8540ADS, MPC8548CDS, MPC8349MDS, and MPC8560ADS.

MontaVista will demonstrate its MPC8641D LSP and tools at Freescale's Technology Forum this week in Paris. MontaVista is a “global sponsor” of the event, it says.

MontaVista competitor Wind River also announced MPC8641D support, in July.

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