Santa Clara, CA — (press release excerpt) — Sun Microsystems, Inc. has signed an agreement with Lineo, Inc. to adapt and support Lineo's embedded Linux operating system products to run on UltraSPARC IIe-processor based end user-developed custom hardware. Lineo is working to create a full-featured UltraSPARC IIe processor-focused software development kit complete with the Lineo Embedix operating system. This kit will be licensed and supported by Lineo. Developers will also have free access to a basic version of embedded Linux operating system fine tuned to run on the UltraSPARC IIe processor.

The Lineo Embedix operating system and tools are carefully designed to ease complete product development and shorten release cycles, giving developers the ability to spend more time on product design. Lineo Embedix is a “100% Pure Linux” and royalty free solution. Embedix provides everything developers have come to expect from Linux combined with an infrastructure to support non-Linux services such as high performance hard real-time, multi-processor (DSPs, 16 bit, 32 bit, and non-heterogeneous architectures) support and native support for Legacy RTOS APIs. Embedix provides a tested, validated, approved, configuration managed software installation developed specifically at the target hardware.

Sun views the addition of embedded Linux as an application development option for end-user developed OEM products as a meeting point between the full featured, Solaris Operating Environment and hard-real-time embedded operating systems. Furthermore, owing to the royalty-free nature of the Linux licensing regime, developers can choose embedded Linux with hard real-time capabilities as a lower-cost alternative to commercial real-time OSes.

Embedded Linux also fits well into Sun's vision of the evolution of embedded systems. In particular, the company believes that embedded systems such as digital TV, telecommunications switches, routers and other network edge devices will require hybrid systems software that offers some real-time capabilities on satellite/network edge devices mixed with the sophisticated features and standardization inherent in Solaris-based applications running on upstream main servers.

The basic embedded Linux operating system fine tuned by Lineo running on the UltraSPARC IIe processor will be available from the Lineo and Sun websites beginning the first quarter of 2002. Lineo plans to offer the Lineo Embedix SDK with operating system and toolset, customized for the UltraSPARC IIe processor, in the third quarter of 2002.

 
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