Oxford Semiconductor is shipping a Linux-based development kit for its recently-launched ARM9-based SoC (system-on-chip) for machine-to-machine (M2M) messaging applications, including factory automation, POS (point-of-sales), and building management. The DS-OXETHx954 kit comes with Wind River Platform Linux, and trial versions of Wind River and CodeSourcery tools.

Oxford announced its OXETHU954 chip last month. The SoC is based on a 200MHz ARM926EJS processor, with Ethernet, PCI, serial, and optional USB interfaces.

Oxford OXETHU954 function diagram
Oxford said its board for the OXETHU954 provides “all respective connectivity sockets,” including gigabit Ethernet, two USB 2.0 ports, four UARTs, a pair of PCI slots, and a MiniPCI slot. The board comes with 64MB of DDR1 SDRAM, and 16MB of flash memory.

On the software side, the Kit is “preconfigured with” a Linux BSP (board support package) and root file system said to support “all resources” of the chip and to include all required communication stacks.

Additional Kit contents include Wind River's Platform Linux carrier grade Linux distribution on a CD, and 30-day trial versions of Wind River's Eclipse-based Workbench tools, and Code Sourcery's Sourcery G++ (enhanced GNU toolchain) development tools.

Additional touted Kit features include:

• Support facilities aimed at rapid hardware prototyping
• I2C access to on-board EEPROM
• Real time clock
• Port expander for multiplication of the chip's standard GPIO capability
• Array of on-board pushbutton switches, LEDs, and header strips
• JTAG support

Adrian Braine, division marketing manager, stated, “In designing the development kit our prime aim was to give users the best possible 'out-of-the-box' Linux experience. We also wanted to provide a platform that would enable software development to get underway in advance of final hardware delivery.”

Availability

The DS-OXETHx954 software development kit is available from April 2007 and is priced at $2,000.

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