Timesys announced a free board support package (BSP) for the Freescale i.MX27 processor introduced last year. The BSP can be upgraded to a full LinuxLink subscription, providing additional software, tools and custom platform development support, says the embedded Linux developer services provider.

Designed for rapid design validation, the free Timesys BSP supports the evaluation board included in Freescale's i.MX27 ADS (application development system) kit. The BSP includes a Linux kernel, device drivers, toolchain, an initial root file system, documentation, and support. It lets developers boot Linux “within a few hours,” says the company, in order to evaluate their application software's performance on the platform.

The upgrade to a full LinuxLink subscription provides additional tools for developers to rapidly create custom embedded Linux software platforms, says Timesys. Subscriptions include access to numerous pre-compiled and tested Linux components based on the Linux 2.6.24, plus integrated device drivers, hundreds of glibc/uClibc packages, and open source and Timesys-developed tools including the TimeStorm Eclipse-based IDE.

Announced last June, and based on an ARM9 core, the 90nm-technology i.MX27 mobile application processor expands upon the earlier 130nm i.MX21 with on-chip video acceleration, more storage interfaces, and a 10/100 Ethernet port. Potential applications are said to include portable media players, video surveillance equipment, videophones, cordless and mobile phones, point-of-sale devices, industrial instrumentation, and healthcare-related devices.

Freescale i.MX27
(Click to enlarge)

Meanwhile, Freescale is expected to announce two new i.MX processors in the coming months: the i.MX35 appears to be aimed at automotive telematics applications, whereas the i.MX37 appears to be more of a general consumer electronics system-on-chip.

Availability

The free i.MX27 BSP and LinuxLink subscription are available here. LinuxLink for i.MX27 and the i.MX27 ADS Evaluation Board will be demonstrated in the Timesys booth (#946) at the Embedded Systems Conference in San Jose, Calif. on April 15-17.

 
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