MontaVista achieves ultra-fast 1sec Linux boot time in embedded industrial apps

Virtual Freescale Technology Forum, SANTA CLARA, USA: MontaVista Software Inc., the leader in embedded Linux commercialization, announced the achievement of ultra-fast boot times on MontaVista Linux for embedded industrial applications.

At the Virtual Freescale Technology Forum this week, MontaVista is demonstrating a sample dashboard application fully operational in one second from cold boot, achieving a level of previously unmatched performance on any embedded Linux.

For industrial automation and other similar applications, fast boot and response time is critical to successful operation. Applications must be fully operational at power on and cannot be delayed due to the volatile nature of the platform and environment.

Variables such as power fluctuation, network failure, device availability, and memory management must be responded to with no loss of performance and functionality. These same demanding requirements are found not just in Industrial Automation applications, but automotive, aerospace, and military applications as well.

“The achievement of one second boot from cold power to operational status is a breakthrough in embedded Linux performance,” said Jim Ready, CTO of MontaVista Software. “It’s always been thought that embedded Linux could never perform at this level of speed and efficiency. We’re proud to be the first embedded Linux vendor to achieve and demonstrate this demanding level of performance.”

“The increase in control processing requirements, more sophisticated data communications and algorithmic processing requires greater interaction between processors and operating systems,” said Bruno Baylac, global director of industrial marketing at Freescale Semiconductor.

“MontaVista’s achievement of one second Linux boot time on Freescale processors based on Power Architecture® technology is a significant achievement.Industrial embedded real-time applications will see immediate benefits from this capability enabled by MontaVista Linux.”

This high performance design architecture leverages the many man-years of embedded expertise accumulated by MontaVista and leverages certain techniques and optimization technologies. The application was built on MontaVista Professional Edition Linux and Freescale Semiconductor MPC5121e hardware built on Power Architecture technology.

The application requirements demanded visual feedback of critical real-time data in one second or less from cold power-on. These performance improvements were achieved through a combination of careful tuning of the entire software stack and a highly optimized kernel.

MontaVista is providing demonstrations during the Virtual Freescale Technology Forum, July 14–16.