Mentor Blogs

In my 10+ years of embedded Linux work I’ve worked with a lot of Linux trace technologies including the Linux Trace Toolkit (LTTng), System Tap, and even the not so well know and the unlikely to be mainline dtrace for Linux port. These are all very powerful tools that can expose many of the internal details of a Linux system and, depending how you use each tool, create huge volumes of data along … Read More

Linux, Sourcery Analyzer, CAN/LIN

Next week in Barcelona over 400 Automotive industry experts are expected at the latest GENIVI All-Members meeting. Over 5 days, more than 100 separate meetings are scheduled, covering a wide range of topics relating to In-Vehicle Infotainment platforms. An on-going challenge with the GENIVI project is to build in sufficient flexibility that the platform can be used by a wide range of Tier One and OEM … Read More

Infotainment, Android, Infotainment Android Linux, GENIVI, Genivi Alliance, Linux, Automotive

My colleague Richard Vlamynck [who has been a guest blogger here] and I were discussing tracing and debugging. Like me, he has been doing software for a few years. Hence, when we considered tracing and instrumenting code, he commented “It used to be easy to see what effect trace statements had on your program because, as you put more or less trace cards in your Fortran deck, you could visually … Read More

Sourcery Analyzer, Linux, lttng, Nucleus, multi-core, Multi-OS

We just wrapped up our google hangout with Alison Chaiken and Ravi Puvalla discussing the use of Linux in automotive systems. It was a pretty interactive discussion and questions covered quite a wide range of topics including AUTOSAR, V2V communication, automotive networks and buses, as well as some opinions from attendees on security and liability. You can view the archive on the event page and post … Read More

vehicle to vehicle communication, AUTOSAR, google hangout, Automotive, v2v communication, v2x comunication, Infotainment, Linux

Allison Chaiken recently presented this information at the Embedded Linux conference in San Francisco. Alison and Ravi Puvvala will host a Google Hangout to discuss this topic further, with some question and answer opportunity. We hope you’ll be able to join us. Her abstract for the sessions follows: From the embedded point of view, a car is a LAN with a large number of CPUs ranging from internally … Read More

automotive network, GENIVI, Automotive, Infotainment, Linux

The role of Android as an alternative to embedded Linux has been a subject of quite a bit of discussion recently. As the use of open source software in automotive gains momentum there are differing opinions on the subject of using Android, Linux or both. The Linux Foundation recently wrote a post summarizing a discussion during a panel at the Android Builders Summit as well as some interviews from … Read More

Infotainment, IVI, Automotive, MontaVista, Virtualization, Linux, linux container

Voice activated features such as placing calls have been available in automobiles for many years. Today the most advanced systems under development and research are in the areas of autonomous vehicles. At the Embedded World Conference 2013 I was reminded about a car from the 1980’s that already had all these capabilities built in. Yes it was KITT (the Knight Industries Two Thousand)! The car was right … Read More

Linux, Infotainment, Automotive, Automotive IVI, Android, Embedded World, Autonomous Vehicle, AUTOSAR

I have always characterized the difference between desktop systems and embedded along the lines of “desktops are all the same; embedded systems are all different.” Although, if I think about platform based designs, this is less universal, but the distinction still mostly holds true. Commonly, I would cite this difference when considering the needs of embedded software engineers with respect … Read More

RTOS, device tree, BSP, ReadyStart, Linux, Nucleus

This is what some in industry would have you believe; I disagree  Thinking back to the 1990’s and 2000’s we heard the same thing about Linux as an OS for servers.  It’s clear from the use of Linux in servers today and the many consumer devices built on Linux that the OS and its ecosystem can meet very demanding business and technical needs, addressing and overcoming many of the shortcomings cited in … Read More

GENIVI, Infotainment, Automotive, IVI, Linux

RTOS’s have been around for a long time in the embedded industry.   And with the introduction of the TI RTOS, Freescale’s MQX, FreeRTOS and several others, I hear all the time that “RTOS’s have become a commodity.”  And to some extent, I agree.   While every RTOS has its pros and cons with various features and benefits, selecting the right one for “your” application requirements can be a little tricky.  … Read More

OSS, RTOS, Freescale, Android, Mentor Embedded, Nucleus, Linux, Medical

The trend of migration from a proprietary OS such as Windows® CE to an open source OS such as embedded Linux® and AndroidTM continues to accelerate. The motivations for moving are obvious – access to a rapidly evolving technology base via a thriving open-source community, source code access, royalty-free model and more. However, the effort to migrate from one design environment to a new one is … Read More

Linux, Android, Windows CE

I often tell people that my job is that of a “professional enthusiast”. I get enthusiastic about products/technologies, then infect other people with that enthusiasm. Well, that is the idea anyway. I enjoy doing this most of all when I get to stand up in front of an audience, as a direct connection with real live human beings is the best way to communicate. However, there are times when … Read More

Cortex-A8, ARM, Sourcery Analyzer, Linux, lttng

At the various shows I’ve been fortunate enough to attend this year sessions related the “The Yocto Project” seem to be of quite a bit of interest to people. Chris Hallinan (author of Embedded Linux Primer: A Practical Real-World Approach) has put together a few useful resources on the subject this year. As a public service I thought I’d try and consolidate them in one place, … Read More

Linux, Yocto

I was in San Diego yesterday for the Tracing Summit, part of the Linux Plumbers’ Conference. Topics included SystemTap, ftrace, perf, and GDB tracepoints… and of course LTTng. Even better than putting developers from all those projects in the same room, in the morning there were a couple presentations from tracing users: Frank Rowand and Vinod Kutty who use tracing on embedded systems and … Read More

GDB, Linux, ftrace, systemtap, tracepoints, lttng, perf

With apologies to Shakespeare, let me start off by clarifying that we are referring to Free/Libre Open Source Software; about how it is changing the embedded landscape and more importantly the ideas on efficient ways to benefit from this constant stream of innovation. Very few fields in technology have felt such an impact from open source movement as has embedded software design. The proliferation … Read More

GNU, Linux, Yocto, OSS