[Updated Jul. 27] — Wind River says it supports Linux on a dual-core Freescale communications processor capable of SMP or AMP operation (symmetric or asymmetric multiprocessing). The company's Linux implementation for the MPC8641D is available with hardware and software tools, run-time environments, and middleware, including message-passing middleware based on TIPC (transparent interprocess… communications), the company says.

Wind River says it supports SMP and AMP options on the MPC8641D, with its Linux and/or its proprietary VxWorks RTOS (real-time OS). However, the company's demonstration at the Freescale Technology Forum (FTC) in Orlando this week appears to involve two instances of VxWorks running on the chip.

MPC8641D

Freescale's MPC8641D Dual Core Processor integrates two e600 PowerPC cores clocked upwards of 1.5GHz, and said to execute 2.3 instructions per clock cycle. On-chip peripheral interfaces include an MPX bus that scales to 667MHz, dual memory controllers, RapidIO, Ethernet, and PCI Express.

MPC8641D dual-core architecture
Freescale says the MPC8641D supports either symmetric multiprocessing (SMP), in which one OS shares both cores, or asymmetric multiprocessing (AMP), in which two instances of the same or different OSes run on the chip “largely unaware of each other.”

TIPC also demo'd

Wind River's FTC demo also showcases TIPC, an open source message-passing interprocess communications technology supported by Wind River's Linux- and VxWorks-based communications and networking products. Wind River says TIPC provides flexible “intra cluster” design options, such as the capability to assign distinct tasks to each core. Wind River CTO Tomas Evensen and Principal Technologist Maarten Koning lead the Multicore Association's TIPC Working Group, Wind River notes.

Additionally, Wind River launched a multicore initiative in March aimed at delivering multicore-optimized embedded development tools, among other objectives. Other Wind River products supporting the MPC8641D include its Workbench development suite, said to provide advanced multicore development and debugging capabilities, and Wind River ICE (in-circuit emulator), the company's newest JTAG hardware run control device.

Rick Morris, VP of worldwide design for Freescale's networking group, stated, “Multiprocessing and multicore technology are gateways to the vast improvements in device functionality.”

Wind River competitor Enea offers an open-source IPC technology positioned as a more scaleable alternative to TIPC. Another open source TIPC alternative is available from OpenClovis, which describes itself as a “close partner” of Wind River.

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