TI Linux Strategy:Community first,

Commercial complement

William A MillsChief Technologist, Open Linux

Solutions

Texas Instruments

Introduction

•Basic summary

•How we got here & share lessons learned

•How we see your options

•What next?

•Questions and feedback

Chose your path

Community first path• TI delivers LSP/DVSDK to community

• Kernel, multimedia, and graphics

• Smaller set of applications

• Customer builds up solution• Open source assets

• Customer assets

• Faster access, newer kernels

• More customer responsibility

Commercial complement path• Commercial Linux partner pulls from

community

• Partner adds value: Production testing, tools integration, support, application bundles, etc. for customers

• Service and subscription sales

• Executing with a number of commercial vendors

TI LSPDevelopment

Pull from latest priorKernel tree

Fast

Fresh

Roll Your Own

Stable

SystemTested

Call MESupport

Commercial Community

Linux Options

Or Before

TI processor customers can CHOOSE your Linux path: Community or commercial

Where we are• When TI first entered the embedded Linux space it formed a relationship with

MontaVista

• Early in the relationship, TI relied on MontaVista for its Linux expertise

• TI’s main value in a Linux solution is in – Kernel drivers

– DSP and/or Multimedia acceleration (on most parts)

– Graphics processor acceleration (on applicable parts)

• TI came to realize kernel development needs to be– as public as possible

– as close to upstream as possible

– as up-to-date as possible

• TI views solution deployment as a different stage– We think there are multiple valid choices here

• TI has made changes to be more agile, to put more focus on the community, and to support multiple commercial vendors

• Meanwhile, MontaVista has also made changes to adapt to the same trends

Kernel.org

MontaVistaBaseline

TI PSPKernel

MontaVistaLSP

Davincitree

ComericalCustomer

Old kernel development flow

Kernel.org

ComericalCustomer

TI DriverDevelopment

ComercialLinux

Provider

Davincitree

CommunityCustomer

New kernel development flow

TI LSP TI LSP

TI DVSDK

TIME

Commercial Linux Vendor

Value Add

TI

LSP

Bui

ld-u

p

VA

LUE

• More testing• Tools integration• Popular middleware• Call-me support• Maintenance• Etc.

• Kernel• I/O drivers• Multimedia DSP

Evolving commercial complement Linux products

Community first

Commercial complement

Deployment models

1) Community: Stay current with the tip• Must be flexible to ship new kernel versions

• Will require due diligence & testing for each version pulled in

• Skill level: III (Moderate)

2) Community: Maintain your own baseline• Allows control of changes made: little or a lot

• Will require in-house kernel team

• Will require due diligence for each version pulled in

• Skill level: V (Advanced)

3) Commercial: Commercial Linux provider maintains the baseline

• Most stable & tested

• Most support

• Skill level: I (Easy)

Deployment models

2.6.26 2.6.27 2.6.28 2.6.29 2.6.30TI Driver

DevelopmentBug Fixes &

FeaturesBug Fixes &

FeaturesBug Fixes &

Features

Vendor Patches

Stay upw/ Tip

OwnStable

Vendor LinuxV.x

Vendor Linux V.x + 1

Publicgit

GIT Linux DVSDK/SDK release plans

Release

OMAP3530 Done, see DVSDK 3.0 page

OMAPL-138 Will be released as GIT Linux from day one

OMAPL-137 GIT Linux release will be made after OMAP-L138

DM355, DM365 Under development in DVSDK 3.10, Q409/Q110 release

DM6467 Under development in DVSDK 3.11, Q409/Q110 release

GIT Linux v. MVL Pro 5.0 ComparisonNote: MontaVista Linux 6 is leveraging community kernel

MVL 5.0 Pro GIT Linux

Kernel Version Uses 2.6.18 (Sept 2006) Uses latest available kernel

Kernel bug-fixes Applied to 2.6.18, so no need to change kernel versions

Applied to current release, which changes every few months. User may need new kernel to get a fix.

File System Comprehensive host and target file systems with GUI tools for optimization.

Not part of kernel. TI is addressing through Arago. Initially may be less user-friendly than MVL.

Linux run-time Licensing

No but need to maintain MV license for access to updates and some tools. Contact MontaVista for more information.

TI offering is clearly free as GIT Linux distributions are open source.

Tools licensing GNU Tools free. IDE requires annual subscription.

GNU Tools free.

CodeSourcery offers IDE w/ annual subscription.

Developer network support

MV and its partners Multi-vendor, including MV

Commercial Linux partners

Partner Products Device Support

MontaVista MVL 6.0. This will take the TI GIT release and productize it.

OMAP-L138 is likely first product

WindRiver Systems WindRiver Linux. Back ports GIT PSPs to Linux 2.6.27, which is the basis for their current offerings.

OMAP35x is released. OMAP-L138 under development.

RidgeRun Directly contributes to TI GIT work (DM365). Offers competitive pricing for SDKs, support, and NRE for add-on features. GStreamer experts

DM355 and DM365 supported

Commercial Linux Partners

Partner Products Device Support

Timesys LinuxLink combines tools, Linux kernel ports, test benches, applications, and support.

OMAP35x, OMAP-L137, DM355, DM6446

Mentor Graphics

(formerly Embedded Alley)

Will be our partner for Android, which requires Linux

OMAP35x will be first

Ingenient Does own Linux ports as part of vertical product offerings in multimedia products

Most OMAP and DaVinci devices

Do your research

•There is no one right choice

•Each project and team has its own needs

•However, many people underestimate what it takes to “DIY”– Make an informed choice

– Think about what is required for the whole product and product lifecycle

– Learn from others

Conclusion

• Linux community first, commercial complement is TI’s new way of offering the best of both Linux worlds to customers– Fast updates, fresher kernels and roll your own flexibility of community

first• For innovation and maximum leverage of device architecture features and

performance

– Stable, system tested, call-ME support of commercial for solid productization

• For efficient and robust productization and ongoing product support

– With coherency between the two as much as possible• We are focusing on the community development and open standards

• More and more commercial Linux vendors are doing the same

• Transitions between community and commercial, and different levels of commercial becomes easier as more focus moves toward upstream

References• Greg Kroah Hartman on kernel development

– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2SED6sewRw

• Cost of Deployment Models– See: “Embedded Linux Total Cost of Development Analyzed”

– At: http://www.embeddedforecast.com/

– Also: Google “embedded linux diy” etc

• DaVinci™ technology & OMAP™ platform community resources– Wiki: http://wiki.davincidsp.com/ or http://wiki.omap.com/

– Wiki documents mailing list, git repositories, etc

• Arago project: http://arago-project.org/

• Estes Baby Bertha (Skill Level I)– http://www.estesrockets.com/rockets.php?pid=001261