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Solutions for ARM
Operating Systems & Bootloaders for
ARM Single Board Computers |
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Technologic Systems' ARM solutions stand out in the market. The
ARM processors we use are ideal for embedded systems that require low
cost, low power, low instruction-set complexity, and high processing
performance. Since our design techniques focus on overall ruggedness
and reliability, our experience with the ARM architecture has allowed
us to create the ideal line of ARM single board computers for hostile
environments and demanding applications.
On the software side, our ARM computers are shipped with Linux running
out-of-the-box. We decided to provided Linux as the default operating
system because we embrace the open-source vision and believe in the
benefits provided by an open-source community of developers. Experiences
of users in the open source community provide the support developers need
to succeed in the embedded industry. Due to the widely varied challenges
common to the embedded industry, we believe this kind of support is
more useful for development than the support found in commercial and
proprietary solutions.
Technologic Systems provides software solutions for its ARM computers
which include bootup firmwares and complete Linux operating systems
and distributions. In addition, we offer tailored software solutions that
leverage the potential of our computers, such as fast bootup Linux (under
2 seconds bootup to Linux) and the Linux boots Linux mechanism. |
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TS-BOOTROM - Proprietary Bootup Firmware for ARM
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Our ARM single board computers have specific BOOTROM firmwares which
perform basic hardware initialization tasks and allow our computers to
boot an operating system from different storage media.
For example, on power up, the TS-7200 board executes proprietary
Technologic Systems boot-code, then immediately executes RedBoot. The
TS-BOOTROM is stored in flash memory and is used to perform the first
hardware configuration, such as the EP9301 initialization and TS-7200
hardware specifics, and to load the eCos/RedBoot system. The TS-BOOTROM
serves as a reusable way of initializing and checking hardware so that
it's not necessary to rewrite standard code for every desired OS. Some
of the TS-BOOTROM configuration tasks include:
- initializes the processor
- turns off the watchdog timer
- configures the serial UART to 115200 bps
- initializes and tests SDRAM and FLASH
- loads and runs RedBoot from flash
There is an intermediate boot loader on the TS-7000 computers which use
the NAND flash technology, named TS-NANDBOOT. For the TS-7200 series, this
is required because the EP9302 processor can't handle NAND devices. The
TS-NANDBOOT contains specific routines to read the NAND flash memory
and load the TS-BOOTROM, allowing the computer to boot from NAND.
Technologic Systems also designed the TS-SDBOOT used in
the TS-7300, TS-7400 and TS-7800. TS-SDBOOT allows the processor to
read/write code to an SD Card right after power up, using the TS-SDCORE
FPGA IP core. Using this improvement, our boards can be designed to
fully boot from an SD Card.
The TS-7800
SBC uses a more sophisticated bootup firmware which allows booting
from either a micro SD Card, full-size SD Card or from the on-board
2k-page NAND flash. It allows loading of Linux to a shell prompt
in under 2 seconds. Technologic Systems is able to provide more
functionalities to its proprietary BOOTROMs, should you need further
support. For more information regarding custom firmware designs, contact Technologic Systems.
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eCos/RedBoot - Feature-Rich Bootloader
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Technologic Systems provides eCos/RedBoot solutions for our TS-7200
ARM9 computers. eCos is an open source, royalty-free, real-time operating
system intended for embedded applications. RedBoot is a complete bootstrap
environment for embedded systems based on the eCos Hardware Abstraction
Layer.
On the TS-7200 embedded computers, RedBoot is used as feature rich
boot-ROM monitor that allows manipulation of the on-board flash, JFFS and
YAFFS images, loading and execution of a kernel or executable from either
tftp (trivial ftp), http or flash, and gdb debugging stubs. From RedBoot,
one can load and execute any standalone binary. Most commonly, a Linux
kernel or a Windows CE binary is used. One can also write applications
within the eCos environment and load them with RedBoot.
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Linux Bootloader for ARM - Linux Boots Linux
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Some of our more recent products, such as the TS-7400 and TS-7800
computers, make use of Linux as the default bootloader. This feature
is enabled by our fast bootup process together with a bootload Linux
user-space utility.
By using Linux as the default bootloader, all the benefits provided by
Linux, such as libraries and various binaries, are available for users
in a very early stage of the bootup process. This by itself is enough
reason to avoid bootload-specific software such as RedBoot and Uboot. Our
fast bootup solutions enable the Linux features to be available to the
users in less than 2 seconds after power on. Why make use of a complex
and heavy bootloader to load Linux when you already have Linux after 1
to 2 seconds?
Our Linux bootloader enables loading of Linux or any other operating
system from a binary file (operating system image) stored in any Linux
filesystem type (NFS, MTD, SD Card, etc). This also makes it easier
and faster for Kernel and OS developers to deploy their software. For
example, one can make use of this solution to test/debug a 2.6 Kernel
or WinCE image while booted to Linux 2.4 Kernel.
To learn more about the Linux bootloader, visit the pages below:
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Linux OS for ARM - Linux Kernels 2.4, 2.6, and 3.10
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Linux Kernel
When selecting a hardware platform for any embedded system project,
it is essential to evaluate the software support provided. Platforms
which offer full software support speed up time to market by
enabling full focus on the customer's application. Technologic
Systems provides Linux support for all our on-board hardware
and our full line of PC/104
modules. The Linux Kernel is the default operating system
shipped with all single board computers, computer on modules, and touch panel computers. Some third-party accessories
provided directly by Technologic Systems also have guaranteed support
through the provided Linux Kernel.
Real-Time Linux
For better system responsiveness and guaranteed hard real-time service
(high QoS), we can also provide real-time Linux operating systems either
through RTAI (Real Time Application Interface) and other real-time
interfaces or through modifications done to the standard Kernel closely
coupled to the hardware.
Linux Distributions
Technologic Systems provides Linux distributions that can be as small
as 4MB of on-board flash or as large as a complete embedded development
environment or a embedded server running out of a Large flash media.
The small Linux distributions are based on the Busybox project. The
TS-Linux is a mini-Linux distribution, shipped by default on the TS-7200
series, that includes Busybox, web-server, dropbear-server, FTP-server,
and more.
For larger and more complete Linux systems, we make use of the Debian
Linux distribution, enabling a desktop-like environment to run on a
rugged and low-power embedded platform. The user can take advantage of
all the benefits Debian provides, including a full GNU C/C++ development
environment, many Linux services (NFS, FTP, SSH, web server, telnet,
mail, database) and various Linux libraries and utilities.
In addition, any other Linux distribution that provides ARM support,
such as the Fedora project, can be used with our TS-7000 ARM computers. Contact us should you need an alternate
Linux distribution available for our ARM computers
Learn more
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