Mentor unveils Android, Linux strategy at DAC
With the buy, Mentor acknowledges demand for Google's Android platform in new, complex devices beyond mobile phones and the growing use of multicore processors running multiple operating systems.
By Rick Nelson, Editor-in-Chief -- EDN, July 30, 2009
San Francisco, CA -- Mentor Graphics announced its acquisition of Embedded Alley Solutions as a key component of its Android and embedded Linux strategy Wednesday afternoon at the Design Automation Conference. Mentor also announced the integration of its Nucleus Graphical User Interface tool with the ARM Mali graphics processing unit; it announced the availability of a Linux and Nucleus operating-system combination for the Marvell Sheeva MV78200 dual-core embedded processor; and it said that it is extending Embedded Alley's Android mobile-applications platform to support Freescale Semiconductor's QorIQ and PowerQUICC III processors.
Glenn Perry, general manager of Mentor's embedded-systems division, said Mentor would combine its Nucleus RTOS (real-time operating system) and associated tools and services with Embedded Alley's Android and Linux development systems to offer device manufacturers a single source for the operating systems they need for embedded designs. The goal, he said, is to support Mentor's customers in supplying complete systems—not just silicon—to their own customers.
"Mentor's strategy acknowledges two strong trends we see in embedded-device development today," Perry said. "One is a huge demand for Google's Android platform in new, complex devices beyond mobile phones for which Android was originally developed. The other is the growing use of multicore processors in multiple operating systems, usually Linux and an RTOS like Nucleus."
Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, commented on the applicability of Linux to embedded applications. "Today, every person in the modern world uses Linux multiple times every day," he said, adding that firms worldwide are expanding their use of open-source software because of the global economic downturn, and he suggested that Linux could help turn your smart phone, browser, or television into the next desktop computer. He acknowledged, however, that continued adoption of Linux in the embedded space will require professional support.
Mentor said that with the Embedded Alley acquisition, it could provide such support for Linux as well as Android and Nucleus, offering the products and services including development tools and runtime components necessary for customers to get into production.
Ian Ferguson, director of enterprise solutions at ARM, and Simon Milner, a vice president and general manager at Marvell, were on hand to voice their support for Mentor's multi-operating-system approach. Also on hand were John Bourgoin, CEO and president of MIPS, and Mike Wodopian, a vice president and general manager at RMI, which uses MIPS technology in chips including its Au1250 SOC, to tout their support for Android in the embedded space beyond mobile phones.
