Arabella Software has ported Linux to Motorola's MPC885 PowerQUICC family of communications processors, and has released free and commercial Linux reference designs based on Motorola's MPC885ADS evaluation board. The designs target inexpensive devices with integrated hardware security, fast Ethernet, and USB.

(Click for larger view of Motorola MPC855ADS evaluation board)

Arabella's free reference design supports a subset of the reference board's device functionality, including:

• dual Ethernet controllers
• UART
• USB (RS-232 emulation for serial console)

Arabella's commercial Linux distribution supports “the broad functionality provided by the MPC885, including hardware security acceleration, USB (host and client), ATM and many other chip-level functions,” according to Arabella.

“Our customized Linux support for the MPC885 family was written from the ground up by Arabella's team of PowerQUICC experts, to allow the customer to extract a high level of performance from the processors," said Bruce Donadt, Vice President of Sales at Arabella.

Arabella in December, 2003, launched Linux support for Motorola's MPC184 and MPC185 security processors, and is in the process of developing customized Linux solutions for other Motorola secure communications processors including the MPC8272 PowerQUICC II processor family and the MPC8555 PowerQUICC III processor.

The free Arabella Linux CD-ROM reference design for the MPC885ADS evaluation boards is available now, direct from Arabella, on request.

 
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