San Jose, Calif. — Force Computers Inc., today demonstrated a Linux based open, scalable, high availability platform at the Embedded Systems Conference. Force partnered with MontaVista Software Inc. to demonstrate multiprocessing with Hard Hat Linux and CompactPCI hardware.

Force showed MontaVista's HardHat Linux running on its CompactPCI hardware in a Multiprocessing Demonstration based on the X-Pilot game. The X-Pilot game is a multi-user, client-server game using TCP/IP to communicate among the various players. This game demonstrates the multiprocessing capability of MontaVista's Hard Hat Linux running on Force Computers' CompactPCI (CPCI) platforms. The server is configured to run on one CPCI board while multiple clients are configured to run on the other CPCI boards, that can also include the CPCI board configured as the server itself.

The Force Centellis 8730 system contains a Pentium II-based CPCI-730 processor board, which communicates with two CPCI-731 peripheral-slot Pentium II-based boards. The CompactPCI backplane network device driver uses the on-board PCI-to-PCI bridge as the controller between the CPCI-730 and the CPCI-731 boards. The PCI-to-PCI bridge is configured to cross-interrupt each board as a packet of data is exchanged. Shared memory is established between the boards to serve as the actual communications medium. Developed as a Linux loadable module the backplane device driver can be installed and removed repeatedly on a running Linux system for testing purposes. This loadable module design removes the requirement to reboot the system each time a test of the device driver or network-based application is run.

Taking advantage of the Hard Hat Linux IP routing mechanism, TCP/IP traffic can also be routed from one CPCI-731 board to an Ethernet network using the Ethernet connection on the main CPCI-730 board.

 
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