Grammer Engine has announced that its next generation PromICE debugging tool will contain an Embedded Linux operating system. Grammer Engine's PromICE memory emulators represent an alternative to in-circuit emulators (ICE), replacing the memory (ROM or Flash) on the target development system under test and allowing compiled code to be quickly loaded from a host system.

Bob Blumenscheid, Grammer Engine CEO, says the new product, to be called PromICE.net, will be the first open source embedded development tool. “By running Embedded Linux on board,” says Blumenscheid, “we give our customers (the vast majority of whom are embedded software developers themselves) the ability to customize the product by adding features or capabilities.” A standard Software Development Kit (SDK) will be available to facilitate that process.

Unlike the current generation PromICE, which relies on serial and parallel ports to download code from a host system to an embedded target under development, the new PromICE.net is web-enabled and comes with a built-in Ethernet port. This allows code to be downloaded to a target under test from anywhere in the world via the Internet. Support for 10/100 networks is included within the NetSilicon 40 MHz ARM-based processor that functions as the heart of the system. That processor will be upgraded to a 50 MHz version later this year. The embedded OS within the device was implemented using uClinux operating system technology supplied by Red Hat, Inc.

“We began development of this project based on a proprietary OS (pSOS) and switched to Linx when it became available,” said Blumenscheid. “We have been very happy with the results.” “Grammar Engine is strategically committed to becoming an active participant in the open source movement,” Blumenscheid added. “We intend to use our Web site as a repository of our software as well as for software developed and shared by our community of users.”

 
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