Wind River has updated its Linux distro with a graphics stack based on GTK, X.Org, the Qt framework, and Wind River Tilcon Graphics Suite. Wind River Linux 4, Update Pack 2 offers Linux Standard Base (LSB) certification, Carrier Grade Linux 5.0 registration, and Intel Atom and Texas Instruments AM3x Sitara and OMAP35x processor optimization, the company says.

Wind River Linux 4, Update Pack 2 is billed as the first commercial embedded Linux platform to provide a pre-integrated hardware-through-middleware graphics stack for both x86 and ARM architectures.

Update Pack 2, or Wind River Linux 4.2 as it is referred to in a Texas Instruments (TI) testimonial quote farther below, builds on the Wind River Linux 4 commercial embedded Linux runtime and development platform with a GUI (graphics user interface) stack aimed at embedded UI and HMI (human machine interface) designers. The update supports embedded GUI development with "a smaller footprint, faster performance and lower power consumption than do-it-yourself alternatives," says Intel subsidiary Wind River.

Helicopter flight control simulator developed with Wind River Linux 4, Update Pack 2
(Click to enlarge)

It was only a matter of time before Wind River fully integrated the Tilcon Graphics Suite it received when it acquired Tilcon Software in early 2009. Wind River Tilcon Graphics Suite 5.7 began the process, by adding hooks to Wind River Linux and Wind River Workbench.

Aimed primarily at the defense, aerospace, industrial, and medical market segments, Wind River Tilcon Graphics Suite provides a codeless development environment for embedded displays. (In June 2010, version 5.8 broadened its embedded target operating system support from Linux and VxWorks to Windows CE and Windows XP, and added support for more hardware platforms, including the Intel Atom.)

In addition to integrating Tilcon Graphics Suite, Update Pack 2 provides Wind River Linux with Nokia's cross-platform, embedded-oriented Qt framework, the most recent version of which added a high-level "Qt Quick" UI stack . The Development Toolkit is not only targeted at graphics, but is available as a general embedded development tool that has been optimized for Wind River Linux. Qt applications can be debugged with Wind River Workbench, says the company.

Update Pack 2 is also said to supply the GNOME Foundation's open source GTK graphics libraries and the X.Org 7.6 X Window environment.

Building automation and medical monitors built using Update Pack 2
(Click on either to enlarge)

The update works out of the box with the Intel Embedded Media and Graphics Driver on Intel Atom processors with Open GL, says Wind River. The software is also said to be optimized for the Open GL ES and PowerVR drivers on the Texas Instruments (TI) industrially-focused AM35x and AM37x ARM Cortex-A8 "Sitara" system on chips (SoCs), as well as the latest 1.5GHz AM389x. It also works with TI's earlier, Cortex-A8 OMAP35x processors with Power VR and Open GL ES 2.0, the company adds.

Linux Standard Base (LSB) certification is also available, says Wind River. This assures compatibility with all LSB-compliant third-party applications, including Skype and Gmail, says the company.

Beyond the GUI additions, Wind River Linux 4, Update Pack 2 is said to add:

• Web 2.0 Cross Web Development Toolkit for debugging, deploying, and testing directly on targets using HTML/Javascript and web-page rendering languages
• StrongSwan open source VPN solution for improved IP security
• SEEdit, a simplified language for creating and editing Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux) security policies
• Preempt_rt real-time Linux support extended to all major embedded architectures and more than 30 BSPs
• Carrier Grade Linux 5.0 registration, joining MontaVista Linux CGE 6.0 for that networking-focused honor, as indicated here
• Wind River Workbench 3.31 integration, featuring streamlined Linux development and new tools including user space tracing, a packages reporting tool, and a BSP cloning wizard
• Wind River Hypervisor 1.3 integration, plus a new virtual serial device driver
• Expanded BSP support over multiple architectures, plus a new ISO/USB boot: menu

Stated Vasu Jakkal, senior marketing manager of low power embedded software, Intel, "Wind River's introduction of a fully integrated graphics stack delivers significant benefits to customers and enables important open source technologies for the industry."

Stated Jake Alamat, director, marketing, Sitara ARM microprocessors, Texas Instruments, "Wind River's Linux 4.2 integrated graphics stack works with our TI-provided Linux SDK and is bundled with our PowerVR driver to enable fast development of secure next-generation devices with high-end graphics."

Availability

Wind River Linux 4, Update Pack 2 is available now, says Wind River. More information may be found at a web-page entitled Wind River Linux 4: The Graphics Release.

---

This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.