Timesys announces LinuxLink support for Mercury Computer Systems Ensemble 5000 Series VXS HCD5220 Module

High-productivity framework enables customers to leverage true open-source software while minimizing development time

Pittsburgh, PA, USA – August 4, 2009 – Timesys Corporation (https://timesys.com), provider of LinuxLink, the first commercial software development framework for building custom embedded Linux based products, today announced LinuxLink support for the Ensemble™ 5000 Series VXS HCD5220 module from Mercury Computer Systems.

The innovative HCD5220 module, based on two dual-core 8641D processors, is a high-performance computing module for sensor-networked environments such as radar, SIGINT/EW and industrial applications. The HCD5220 is supported by the rich set of features available from the cross-product Mercury MultiCore Plus® software infrastructure, which allows for ease of portability while offering an open software development architecture. The Timesys LinuxLink solution for this platform provides full support for the on-board resources including internal and external Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, serial RapidIO and ANSI-compliant system management.

Mercury’s customers use the LinuxLink framework to minimize their time to market through the easy-to-use wizard that facilitates the creation of an initial Linux starting image, as well as the award-winning “Factory” build engine that enables them to develop a completely custom and highly optimized Linux platform.

LinuxLink 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 Mercury 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.

The HCD5220 LinuxLink solution is sold directly by Mercury, as part of its MultiCore Plus® comprehensive set of software solutions available for the platform. Following the customers’ selection of LinuxLink, they receive technical support and package updates directly from Timesys’ Linux experts.

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.

“We are delighted that Timesys has made LinuxLink support available for the HCD5220 platform,” said Dave Knorr, Senior Product Manager at Mercury. “This software development framework provides our customers with the flexibility to choose from a wealth of open-source packages and a wide variety of development tools, all while working within a high-productivity environment that accelerates the entire software development and debug process for a faster time to market.”

“We anticipate great success from our partnership with Mercury,” said Charlie Ashton, Vice President of Business Development at Timesys. “LinuxLink provides features that are well aligned with the needs of their customers in defense and industrial applications. We look forward to helping their customers bring to market compelling products that fully leverage open-source software.”

About Timesys

Timesys is the provider of LinuxLink, a high-productivity software development framework for embedded Linux applications. The LinuxLink framework includes the Linux kernel, cross-toolchain, application development IDE, an award winning build system called Factory, a vast library of middleware packages, software stacks and libraries, documentation and expert technical support. LinuxLink enables development teams to consistently build and maintain a custom, open source embedded Linux platform through regularly updated Linux sources, proven middleware packages, and a scriptable GNU-based build environment. LinuxLink reduces the time, resources, risk and cost associated with building a product based on open source Linux. For more information, visit https://timesys.com.

Timesys Press Contact

Theresa Kisha
Tel: (+1) 412.325.6362
Email: theresa.kisha@timesys.com

About Mercury

Mercury Computer Systems (www.mc.com) provides embedded computing systems and software that combine image, signal, and sensor processing with information management for data-intensive applications. Mercury serves a broad range of applications in the aerospace and defense, homeland security, industrial inspection, telecommunications, and other computationally challenging markets.


Editors’ Notes:

Timesys is a registered trademark of Timesys Corporation.
Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States and other countries.
Multicore Plus is a registered trademark, and Ensemble is a trademark of Mercury Computer Systems, Inc.
All other company and product names mentioned are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.