Much of the attention that Linux has received has been focused on its growing use in servers. However, Linux scales down as well as it scales up, and as a result, Linux has become an ideal operating system for a wide variety of systems. Nowhere has this been more evident than the world of embedded computing. Here’s why.
For more than twelve years, the capabilities and popularity of Linux have been building exponentially. Started in 1991 as something of a pastime for creator Linus Torvalds, Linux has since become a robust operating system and a worthy competitor to commercial software such as Microsoft’s Windows family and Sun’s Solaris.
Much of the attention that Linux has received has been focused on its growing use in servers. However, Linux scales down as well as it scales up, and as a result, Linux has become an ideal operating system for a wide variety of systems. Nowhere has this been more evident than the world of embedded computing.
In the simplest terms, an embedded system is a special-purpose computer that’s built in to a larger device to control that device.
Embedded systems are nothing new. In fact, embedded devices have been around since the 1950s — about as long as computers themselves. Compared to traditional computing (say, desktops, servers, and mainframes), the embedded computing universe is vast and diverse, encompassing computers of all sizes, from tiny wristwatch cameras, to personal digital assistants (PDAs), to telecommunications switches with thousands of nodes distributed worldwide.
Today, embedded systems can be readily found in your house (your microwave and TiVo), your workplace (industrial robots, network firewalls and gateways), your car (in your engine), and even on your person (your Blackberry, iPod, and cell phone).
Common to all embedded devices is a microprocessor and software dedicated to a single purpose. Memory requirements and…
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