Tag Archives: Embedded

H265/HEVC using Gstreamer on Snapdragon 820 (Linux)

by Kelvin Posted on December 29, 2018

If you’ve been doing any Linux development recently on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, then you’re probably using the Linux kernel that Linaro are looking after on behalf of Qualcomm.

Linaro’s development is progressing well but I still occasionally come across something that hasn’t yet been implemented in the 820’s Linux kernel, particularly in the Venus codec driver. The Venus codec driver does generally work well but I have occasionally needed… Continue reading

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RTOS for DaVinci DM365/DM368

by Kelvin Posted on September 18, 2013

Atomthreads RTOS now supports DaVinci DM365/DM368, the digital media processor from Texas Instruments.

dm368

The ARM9-based device comes with a wide range of source code and libraries for Linux, but there was previously no open source RTOS alternative for customers who would prefer to use a more lightweight scheduler. One of the major benefits of using an RTOS on the DM36x SoCs is to significantly reduce the startup time, from power-on to video recording.… Continue reading

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OpenEmbedded for Marvell Kirkwood

by Kelvin Posted on February 14, 2012

I recently published a BSP layer to add support for Marvell Kirkwood devices to OpenEmbedded, the build framework for embedded Linux. The Kirkwood SoC is used in several common products including plug computers like the Sheevaplug, and the BSP allows you to run OpenEmbedded-based distributions such as Angstrom on these devices.

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Using DaVinci DM365 Codecs Without Linux

by Kelvin Posted on January 10, 2012

Developers making Linux-based products with the Texas Instruments DaVinci DM365 or DM368 will find a plethora of example source code and libraries that allow you to easily build your own applications. However if you want to build a non-Linux product (to use your existing RTOS for example) you will find little guidance on where to start.… Continue reading

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Universal Device Driver Framework for Embedded Systems

by Kelvin Posted on July 13, 2010

Recently I’ve been considering how useful it would be if the embedded systems world had something similar to Perl’s CPAN: an open repository of software modules useful for embedded systems and portable across any RTOS. This was partly triggered by a thread on StackOverflow from someone who wanted to know why he couldn’t find a ready-rolled device driver to interface his CPU with a peripheral device.… Continue reading

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RTOS for Raisonance RCSTM8

by Kelvin Posted on June 28, 2010

Atomthreads now contains support for Raisonance’s STM8 compiler RCSTM8. We now support all three available STM8 compilers (Cosmic, IAR and Raisonance) so you can choose to use Atomthreads for a project safe in the knowledge that switching compilers will be pain-free.… Continue reading

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STM8 RTOS for IAR Embedded Workbench

by Kelvin Posted on May 28, 2010

This week Atomthreads became the first RTOS to support Embedded Workbench (EWSTM8), the STM8 compiler launched by IAR last month. EWSTM8 provides a full professional-grade development and debug environment with support for hardware debuggers including the low cost STM8S Discovery platform. IAR offer a 30-day evaluation of the full version, as well as a time-unlimited 8KB “Kickstart” edition (with a few non-core features disabled).… Continue reading

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Atomthreads: Free RTOS for STM8

by Kelvin Posted on February 20, 2010

I have just completed a port of the Atomthreads RTOS to the STM8 microcontroller. Anyone interested in running an RTOS on the STM8 can download the source code from http://atomthreads.com.

This has to be one of the easiest architectures I’ve ever ported an RTOS to. There are only six CPU registers and only three of these are general purpose registers for compiler use. Continue reading

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Atomthreads: Open Source RTOS

by Kelvin Posted on January 20, 2010

Last week I released Atomthreads, a free RTOS for embedded systems. This project grew from a task scheduler I created some time ago and subsequently extended with semaphore, mutex, queue and timer modules. The result was a lightweight and portable set of kernel sources which can be dropped in to any embedded systems project to add a thread scheduler. It has been useful to me so I decided to open source it in case it proves useful to anyone else. Continue reading

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STM8S Discovery Evaluation Board

by Kelvin Posted on November 24, 2009

I came across the STM8S Discovery board today, which is selling at the notable price of just £4.25 from Farnell (also £4.22 from Future Electronics). With this pricing, ST are clearly trying to stimulate interest in the STM8 architecture by appealing to the tinkerer market. It remains to be seen whether this can be converted into serious design wins.

STM8S Discovery

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Omnima Embedded Controller and OpenWRT

by Kelvin Posted on September 30, 2009

If you’re in the market for a low cost embedded Linux development board then look no further than the Omnima embedded controller. £23 gets you a MIPS platform with Ethernet and USB host ports, 16MB of RAM and (via OpenWRT) a wide-ranging repository of pre-packaged Linux applications and libraries. Compared to the likes of the Arduino, this is a lot of bang for your buck.

EMBCompactCase-B

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eCos Synthetic Target with Ethernet

by Kelvin Posted on February 27, 2009

One of the convenient features of the eCos real time operating system is the ability to develop and test code on your Linux development PC without downloading to target hardware. This can be done using hardware emulation (via QEMU or VMWare) or just using the built in “Synthetic Target” support. I have documented here the various steps required to install and configure the Synthetic Target on Linux (Ubuntu). As well as supporting basic eCos threading you can even run networking applications in this environment via the bundled synthetic Ethernet driver.

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