TimeSys has added support for five Intel storage processors to its “LinuxLink” online service for roll-your-own embedded Linux developers. Additionally, Intel has started bundling 14-day LinuxLink trial subscription with its hardware development kits for select I/O storage processors, TimeSys says.

Intel I/O storage processors supported by LinuxLink now include the IOP342, IOP321, IOP331, IOP332, and 80219. TimeSys says LinuxLink provides the “only commercially supported Linux solution” for the IOP342, Intel's newest storage chip.

No details are available as yet about the IOP342, which has not yet been officially launched by Intel.

LinuxLink

TimeSys launched LinuxLink in August of last year, in a radical departure from the “distribution and tools” business model embraced by other commercial embedded Linux vendors. The company promised to work closely with semiconductor vendors, including Freescale, Intel, MIPS, and ARM, to make LinuxLink a convenient clearinghouse for the latest kernel patches and optimizations developed by processor vendors, as well as for pre-built, validated binaries and source distributions from free and open software projects popular with embedded developers.

LinuxLink additionally avails subscribers of a processor-optimized cross-development environment, alerts to relevant updates, and an online, interactive support community. The “Developer Exchange” support community includes representatives of TimeSys, Intel, and the greater open source community, TimeSys says.

According to TimeSys, Intel currently bundles a 14-day trial LinuxLink subscription with its hardware development kits for the five I/O storage processors named above. Intel customers can optionally extend their subscriptions according to the terms of several flexible pricing models, TimeSys says.

TimeSys calls LinuxLink the only commercial Linux offering appropriate for the largest group of embedded Linux developers — those building and assembling their own custom Linux distributions from a variety of sources. The company says that compared with offerings from other vendors, LinuxLink provides greater flexibility and customizability.

CEO Larry Weidman stated, “We look forward to equipping Intel customers with the only enablement model designed to support their efforts to create and maintain their own commercial-grade custom Linux platform.”

Intel's GM of storage group marketing, Mike Wall, stated, “Intel Storage Group engineers maintain the Intel XScale technology IOP branch of the Linux kernel tree. By working with TimeSys to pair our latest Linux kernel ports with the developer resources available through a LinuxLink subscription, we are giving our customers yet another option.”

TimeSys also recently began offering LinuxLink subscriptions to customers of Freescale's MCF547x and MCF548x chips, the first ColdFire microcontrollers equipped with MMUs (memory management units).

 
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