Metrowerks Sets Agenda for Embedded Linux OS Development.AUSTIN, Texas -- Customer Wins, Broad Solutions and Industry Firsts Underscore Metrowerks' Approach to Embedded Linux The Linux operating system configured and enhanced to work in a wide variety of applications, including handheld devices, network appliances, industrial machines and consumer electronics devices. The modularity of the Linux kernel makes it well suited to embedded systems. OS Development An ambitious and innovative approach to embedded Linux(R) OS development is meeting with marketplace success and establishing a leadership position for Metrowerks Corporation. With flexible pricing, fully maintained board support packages (BSPs), and feature-rich, end-to-end development solutions for leading architectures, Metrowerks offers a comprehensive lineup of embedded Linux solutions that help customers speed and simplify the creation of products based on the Linux OS. "The quality, breadth and integrated nature of Metrowerks' offerings position the company as one of the early leaders in the embedded Linux development solutions market," said Chris Lanfear, embedded software Instructions that permanently reside in a ROM or flash memory chip. Embedded software may be immediately available to the CPU or, for faster execution, may be transferred to RAM first and then executed. group director for Venture Development Corporation. "Metrowerks provides the kind of single-source, comprehensive offerings that are fueling the rapid adoption of Linux technology throughout embedded markets." This approach is paying off in the marketplace, where more than 100 customers now use Metrowerks Linux OS development technologies and services, including world-class companies in the wireless, transportation and network communications industries. Lowering the Cost of Entry Metrowerks now complements its traditional license-based pricing with flexible subscription models for its comprehensive line of embedded Linux technology development tools, including Metrowerks CodeWarrior(TM) development suites that run on Linux hosts and support development for a variety of leading semiconductor architectures. The subscription model provides broader development support to Metrowerks customers, spreads costs over time and lowers risk by limiting the up-front commitment involved with adopting embedded Linux technology. "This pricing model will further foster the adoption of Linux across embedded markets, and position Metrowerks as an attractive resource for companies looking to incorporate Linux technology into their product designs," said Matt Harris, president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. , Metrowerks. Subscription pricing for Metrowerks embedded Linux development technologies is available beginning November 1, 2004. Comprehensive Support for Embedded Linux OS Development By offering a single source for development, run control, code analysis and development tools, as well as hardware, software, services and commercial Linux distributions  The external links in this article or section may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies. , Metrowerks is bringing professional quality and reliability to embedded Linux markets. The company supports developers throughout the embedded Linux development process, from board bring-up and kernel-level debugging (programming) debugging - The process of attempting to determine the cause of the symptoms of malfunctions in a program or other system. These symptoms may be detected during testing or use by real users. to driver development and application creation - all within a Linux OS development environment. For developers, this single source strategy delivers turnkey development capabilities for an out-of-the-box experience that speeds time to market and provides a unified development toolchain that allows managed collaboration for entire engineering organizations. Innovation and Tools Leadership Metrowerks' approach to Linux development has established a track record of innovation and "industry firsts". The company was a leader in offering non-GDB-based environments (GNU debugger The GNU Debugger, usually called just GDB, is the standard debugger for the GNU software system. It is a portable debugger that runs on many Unix-like systems and works for many programming languages, including Ada, C, C++, FreeBASIC, and Fortran. ) to address development tasks from device driver development to application creation. The company is also among the limited number of companies providing tools that support the creation of a Linux kernel The nucleus of the Linux operating system. The Linux kernel, which was developed by Linus Torvalds, was integrated with software from the GNU Project and other sources to create the actual Linux operating system. See Linux, GNU/Linux and kernel. and facilitate kernel-level debugging, driver development and application development tasks. Metrowerks also collaborated with Enea Embedded Technology to help the company deliver the first integrated software Separate software components or applications that have been combined into one package. See integrated software package. platform for telecom and datacom systems. Metrowerks and Enea offer a seamless link between the Linux OS and the Enea OSE OSE - Open Systems Environment (TM) Real-Time Operating System (operating system) Real-Time Operating System - (RTOS) Any operating system where interrupts are guaranteed to be handled within a certain specified maximum time, thereby making it suitable for control of hardware in embedded systems and other time-critical applications. (RTOS (1) (RealTime Operating System) An operating system designed for use in a real time computer system. See real time system, embedded system, process control and OS-9. ), enabling original equipment manufacturers to deploy and distribute fault-tolerant, high-availability software across systems utilizing multiple, heterogeneous processors and DSPs. Broad Linux OS Support for Freescale Freescale Semiconductor Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. is an American semiconductor manufacturer. It was created by the divestiture of the Semiconductor Products Sector of Motorola in 2004. Freescale focuses their integrated circuit products on the automotive, embedded and communications markets. , the parent company of Metrowerks, understands the value that embedded Linux technology offers its customers. As a result, Freescale engineers work closely with Metrowerks to ensure that Freescale customers have world-class tools and BSPs customized for its processors. Metrowerks offers the most comprehensive Linux OS development support for Freescale platforms in the industry. Several leading Freescale architectures are shipped with Metrowerks BSPs already pre-flashed, helping customers to simplify development and speed time to market. Metrowerks offers freely downloadable BSPs for Freescale's MCF5272/5282 and i.MX architectures, as well as for the following Freescale platforms containing PowerPC(R) cores: MPC (1) (Mobile PC) A handheld or laptop computer. See handheld computer, laptop computer and Ultra-Mobile PC. (2) (MultiPath Channel) See multipath. 5200, MPC74xx, PowerQUICC(TM) I, PowerQUICC II(TM), and PowerQUICC III. Additionally, Metrowerks sells CodeWarrior suites for Linux OS hosted development environments that support Freescale's i.MX and ColdFire(R) architectures and the PowerPC architecture, enabling Freescale customers in the industrial controls, wireless and networking equipment industries to assimilate Linux into next generation products. Shaping the Future of Embedded Linux Development Metrowerks has an established history of supporting the open source development community by contributing to industry standard organizations. Metrowerks executives have served in leadership capacities with the Embedded Linux Consortium. Also, Metrowerks is an active member of the Consumer Electronics Linux Forum (CELF CELF Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (language assessment) CELF Consumer Electronics Linux Forum ), an industry group focused on the advancement of Linux technology as an open source platform for consumer electronics devices. Five Metrowerks engineers sit on CELF working groups. Metrowerks also plans to soon join the Open Source Development Labs (OSDL See Linux Foundation. ), a global consortium dedicated to accelerating the adoption of Linux technology by enterprise companies. About Metrowerks Metrowerks Corporation creates CodeWarrior software and hardware products and services for developers that focus on the consumer electronics, transportation, wireless, and networking and communications industries. The CodeWarrior product line includes hardware and software development tools and middleware that enable customers to decrease their time to market. Founded in 1985, Metrowerks is an independent subsidiary of Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. Metrowerks corporate headquarters are in Austin, Texas. Regional headquarters are in Munich, Singapore and Tokyo. For more information: www.metrowerks.com. About Freescale Semiconductor Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :FSL FSL - Formal Semantics Language. A language for compiler writing. ["A Formal Semantics for Computer Languages and its Application in a Compiler-Compiler", J.A. Feldman, CACM 9(1) (Jan 1966)]. [Sammet 1969, p. 641]. ) is a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial, networking and wireless markets. Freescale became a publicly traded company publicly traded company A company whose shares of common stock are held by the public and are available for purchase by investors. The shares of publicly traded firms are bought and sold on the organized exchanges or in the over-the-counter market. in July, 2004 after more than 50 years as part of Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT). The company is based in Austin, Texas, and has design, research and development, manufacturing or sales operations in more than 30 countries. Freescale Semiconductor's 2003 sales were $4.9 billion (US). For more information: www.freescale.com. Metrowerks and CodeWarrior are trademarks of Metrowerks Corp in the U.S. and other countries. Freescale (TM) and the Freescale logo are trademarks of Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. |
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