Linux powers Atmel microprocessors

BANGALORE,INDIA: Atmel Corporation, a provider in microcontrollers, announced on Monday the availability of the latest Linux mainline release, v2.6.27, for its 400 MHz ARM926EJ-S based AT91SAM9G20 embedded microprocessor and for other members of the AT91SAM9 family.

The short time interval between product availability and publication in the official Linux kernel is due to the well-established Linux support for AT91SAM9 MPUs, and peripheral re-use across the product family, said a press release.

A Linux distribution based on Linux v2.6.27 is available from Atmel's AT91SAM Linux portal. It includes the complete Linux v2.6.27 kernel, the Linux patch for the AT91SAM9G20-EK, device drivers, pre-built demonstrations and the Angstrom/OpenEmbedded building environment.

The portal is a gateway to a wide and growing community that provides Linux self-support for Atmel's entire ARM9 based range of embedded 32-bit microprocessors.

Alfredo Vadillo, Atmel's Managing Director for ARM(R) microcontrollers, commented, "The availability of our development of the latest Linux kernel, for the AT91SAM9 MPUs, demonstrates our commitment to support the strong market demand for Linux on AT91SAM9 product family."

Complementary products and support are available through TimeSys, including an embedded Linux ReadyKit for the entire AT91SAM9 series including the AT91SAM9G20, it added.

The ReadyKit comprises a pre-built Linux kernel, device drivers, a GNU-based cross toolchain, a glibc-based root filesystem complete with selected development libraries, 14 days of technical support and access to a wide range of support documentation, said a the release.