Up-to-the-Minute, Complete Guidance for Developing Embedded Solutions with Linux



Linux has outstripped all competitors as today’s #1 operating system for embedded products. Christopher Hallinan’s Embedded Linux Primer has proven itself as the definitive real-world guide to building efficient, high-value, embedded systems with Linux. Now, Hallinan has thoroughly updated this highly praised book for the newest Linux kernels, capabilities, tools, and hardware support, including advanced multicore processors.



Drawing on years of experience as a consultant and field application engineer, Hallinan helps you rapidly climb the learning curve, whether you’re moving from legacy environments or you’re new to embedded programming. Hallinan addresses today’s most important development challenges, and demonstrates how to solve the problems you’re most likely to encounter.



You’ll learn how to build a modern, efficient embedded Linux development environment, and then utilize it as productively as possible. Hallinan offers up-to-date guidance on everything from kernel configuration and initialization to bootloaders, device drivers to file systems, and BusyBox utilities to real-time configuration and system analysis. This edition adds entirely new chapters on UDEV, USB, and open source build systems. Throughout, Hallinan presents extensive downloadable code examples–all assembled from operational hardware running the latest versions of embedded Linux.



· Tour the typical embedded system and development environment, and understand its concepts and components.

· Compare the standalone and integrated processors that Linux now supports.

· Understand the Linux kernel and userspace initialization processes.

· Walk through bootloading, with specific emphasis on Das U-Boot, the most popular Linux bootloader for embedded systems.

· Understand Linux device driver concepts, architecture, and licensing, and the role device drivers play in virtual memory operating systems.

· Choose the right Linux file system for your application.

· Use the Memory Technology Devices (MTD) subsystem to interface with flash (and other) memory devices.

· Make the most of BusyBox, the Linux embedded development environment, and the latest open source development tools.

· Expanded and updated coverage of kernel debugging.

· Build and analyze real-time systems with Linux.

· Learn to configure device files and driver loading with UDEV.

· Detailed coverage of the USB subsystem

· Introduction to the latest open source embedded Linux build systems in use today

· Reference appendices include U-Boot and BusyBox commands, SDRAM interface considerations, sample BDI-2000 configuration file, and more.