NEW YORK — (company press release) — Monta Vista Software Inc., developer of the Hard Hat Linux operating system for embedded applications, demonstrates the ability of its embedded Linux distribution to handle the real-world mix of vendors and microprocessor architectures present in telecommunications and data communications applications. In a single chassis, MontaVista shows Hard Hat Linux running distributed computing applications on a combination of Intel Pentium and Motorola PowerPC microprocessor-based CompactPCI (CPCI) cards from industry leaders Motorola Computer Group, Force Computers, Inc., and Ziatech Corp. MontaVista is demonstrating this configuration at the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo from Feb. 1-4, 2000 in New York City.

The demonstration features four CPU cards (one CompactPCI system card and three peripheral CPUs) running Hard Hat Linux and Hard Hat Net to support the distribution of a compute-intensive graphics rendering across the loosely coupled available CPUs. The heterogeneous configuration, based on shipping Hard Hat Linux and Hard Hat Net products, not only demonstrates the viability of mixed architecture systems with stand-alone CPUs, but also highlights the ease of admixture in a Linux-based environment of sometimes-incompatible software bases (e.g., incompatible byte-ordering among CPUs), connectivity, and vendor-specific hardware characteristics. The underlying technologies of CompactPCI backplane networking (with Hard Hat Net) and Linux clustering can be combined with a variety of distributed computing schemes, such as CORBA, MPI, and Beowulf, to harness available CPU bandwidth and/or support highly-available and fault-tolerant systems.

“This demonstration represents the triumph of open source and standards-based computing,” states MontaVista Software President/CEO and embedded systems pioneer Jim Ready. “Traditional proprietary embedded technologies and
closed-source business models, after twenty years of industry evolution, have yet to yield the cross-architecture and inter-vendor synergy found in Linux running on standard CompactPCI platforms.”

In addition to supporting multi-processor heterogeneous distributed computing applications with Hard Hat Linux, MontaVista offers an array of facilities for embedding Linux on both COTS (Commercial, Off-The-Shelf) and custom
target hardware. MontaVista also offers an array of cross and native embedded Linux development tools, including C and C++ compilers, application and kernel debuggers, and configuration/scaling tools for the Linux kernel. The MontaVista Hard Hat development kits leverage the powerful working environments available on Linux workstations to target embedded Pentium and PowerPC microprocessor Linux applications.

Availability

Hard Hat Linux is available today from MontaVista Software as part of the company's software subscription packages; Hard Hat Net, provided by MontaVista as open source, is available for download on the MontaVista Web site (www.mvista.com). Both products will be demonstrated at MontaVista's booth # 165/167 from Feb. 1-4, 2000 at the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo, Jacob Javits Center, New York City.

About MontaVista Software, Inc.

MontaVista Software Inc., founded in 1999 by real-time operating system pioneer James Ready, delivers open-source software solutions for the worldwide embedded software market. MontaVista's principal offering is the Linux operating system tailored for embedded software applications. MontaVista products include Hard Hat Linux, a standard off-the-shelf binary distribution of Linux for Power PC and x86 architectures. Hard Hat Linux is supported by a comprehensive tool suite including optimizing compilers for C, C++ and other languages; high-level language debuggers; and performance monitoring tools. The company's Subscription Plans also provide Linux support, porting and customization services to customers worldwide. MontaVista headquarters are in Sunnyvale, Calif., in the heart of the Silicon Valley.

 
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