TimeSys will ship in Q2 a Linux 2.6 based distribution and toolset supporting IBM's reference board for the PowerPC 970FX, a 90nm version of the 130nm PPC970 or G5 chip. The 970FX is IBM's most powerful PPC chip, according to TimeSys.

TimeSys is working with IBM on the LDK, it says.

TimeSys competitor LynuxWorks earlier released a 2.6-based Linux distribution and toolkit for developers wishing to use the Apple Macintosh G5 as a development platform for the PowerPC chip. The 970FX is already available in some server-oriented G5 machines from Apple, and is expected to power desktop G5s soon.

TimeSys's LDK for the PowerPC 970FX will include a 2.6-series kernel, drivers, and TimeStorm tools that work “out of the box” on the IBM development board, it says.

The 90nm process PowerPC 970FX draws half the wattage of the original 130nm PPC 970, will be available at clock rates up to 2.5GHz. It was named Best Desktop Processor in the 2004 Microprocessor Report Analysts' Choice Awards.

"IBM customers will have a complete suite of tools to help them customize and validate their Linux system as they move from the 970 Reference Board to production hardware using the same tools for kernel, driver, and application development,” said TimeSys CEO Larry Weidman.

The PowerPC 970FX reference board LDK will be priced at $4,295 per developer seat, royalty-free.

 
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