Timesys Corporation, provider of LinuxLink, the first commercial software development framework for building custom embedded Linux based products, today announced LinuxLink availability for the PowerPC 460EX processor from AppliedMicro.

With full support for the 460EX Canyonlands evaluation platform, Timesys' LinuxLink solution is based on the latest 2.6.30 kernel and includes drivers for on-chip peripherals such as the PCI and PCI-Express ports, USB 2.0 interface, DDR2 controller, SATA port and 10/100/1G Ethernet controllers.

The release of LinuxLink for the 460EX processor represents the latest stage in Timesys' support of AppliedMicro's Power Architecture-based SoCs, extending the support already available for other 4xx processors within the LinuxLink framework.

Users of the PowerPC 460EX benefit from the LinuxLink framework which features an award-winning build system (called Factory) that provides both an easy-to-use wizard for creating an initial Linux starting image and a build engine that enables customers to design and build a completely custom and highly optimized Linux platform from source code.

The Factory wizard allows customers to choose from the latest GNU-based optimized toolchains enabled with uClibc and glibc libraries. The framework allows for creation of a footprint-optimized root file system (RFS) with application-specific features selected from hundreds of available software packages. Package categories include multimedia, networking, storage, security, industrial and more.

For maximum flexibility, developers take advantage of both the online build system and the desktop-hosted version. With either interface, customers leverage the best Linux code from AppliedMicro as well as from the open source community. The desktop version offers more flexibility than any other Linux build platform by allowing users to integrate third-party packages and proprietary software. LinuxLink's update service automatically notifies customers of changes to any of the components used in their project.

LinuxLink customers have access to commonly used development tools, including, but not limited to GDB, OProfile and mpatrol. These tools help customers ensure the quality of their final product. Customers receive technical support from expert Timesys engineers and have access to a vast suite of documentation.

The subscription includes access to the recently updated Eclipse-based TimeStorm tools that provide an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for use in application development and debugging.

"We are delighted that Timesys has added PowerPC 460EX processor support to the LinuxLink framework," said Chris Bergen, Director of Systems Engineering at AppliedMicro. "A number of our existing customers already use LinuxLink with other 4xx processors, and the addition of the 460EX support allows AppliedMicro and Timesys to continue providing our mutual customers with the solutions that they prefer."

"We are excited about adding LinuxLink support for the 460EX processor," said Charlie Ashton, Vice President of Business Development at Timesys. "LinuxLink is well suited for AppliedMicro's target markets, offering an aggressively-priced development environment combined with easy access to a wealth of open-source software components. Our mutual customers leverage all the benefits of using open-source software through working within a framework that minimizes their schedule risk while accelerating their development cycle."