Timesys announced a LinuxLink subscription for the PowerPC 460EX system-on-chip (SoC) from AppliedMicro (formerly AMCC). The subscription provides the latest 2.6.30 kernel for Applied Micro's industrial-focused 460EX SoC and Canyonlands evaluation board, and includes drivers for a variety of on-chip peripherals, says the company.

The 460EX LinuxLink subscription offers drivers for on-chip peripherals, including the PCI and PCI-Express ports, USB 2.0 interface, DDR2 controller, SATA port, and gigabit Ethernet controllers, says Timesys. The subscription builds upon earlier LinuxLink support for AppliedMicro's 4xx processors, says the company.

AppliedMicro 460EX block diagram
(Click to enlarge)

The 460EX SoC targets high-end industrial control, imaging, and networking applications. Announced in 2007, the Power Architecture SoC gained early support from MontaVista Linux. Clocked from 667MHz to 1.2GHz, the 460EX is touted for its low power dissipation, floating point unit, and optional security engine. A similar 460GT SoC adds features such as interfaces for Serial RapidIO (SRIO), designed for wireless infrastructure.

Canyonlands evaluation board (Click for details)

The LinuxLink subscription also supports the Canyonlands evaluation board (pictured at right), which AppliedMicro, then preferring to be called AMCC (Applied Micro Circuits Corp.), shipped in early 2008. The Canyonlands board is equipped with a 460EX SoC, two gigabit Ethernet ports, a USB 2.0 host port, and a USB 2.0 OTG port. It also offers expansion via two PCI-Express connectors, a PCI connector, two serial ports, a JTAG connector, and a trace connector.

LinuxLink

With the Timesys LinuxLink 3.0 upgrade earlier this year, the DIY subscription service introduced a new build engine, web-services-based automation, and a new interface and Toolkit. It also launched more robust versions of the "Factory" and "ReadyKit" programs, which debuted last year. Each Factory-built Linux platform includes a GNU-based cross toolchain, hundreds of application-specific root filesystem (RFS) package sources, and commonly used open source development tools, including GDB, OProfile, and Mpatrol, says Timesys.

In addition, the subscription is said to include access to the company's recently updated Eclipse-based TimeStorm Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for use in application development and debugging. Subscribers also receive technical support and targeted documentation, says the company.

Stated Chris Bergen, Director of Systems Engineering at AppliedMicro, "A number of our existing customers already use LinuxLink with other 4xx processors, and the addition of the 460EX support allows AppliedMicro and Timesys to continue providing our mutual customers with the solutions that they prefer."

Availability

The LinuxLink subscription for the 460EX is available now, says Timesys. A limited time offer enables developers to obtain free LinuxLink access to quickly configure, build, and evaluate embedded Linux on the Canyonlands platform by registering here, and entering promotion code AMCC460. More information about LinuxLink subscriptions for AppliedMicro processors may be found here.

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